First Word

Date: March 26, 2016 Time: 10am to 4pm Place: 267 Spoonbill Lane, Galt, CA 95632 This intensive 6-hour workshop is designed to take your novel idea from beginning to end. Michelle Gamble, CEO of 3L Publishing and author of 7 books and numerous publications and magazine articles, will be teaching the class. In the workshop you will walk away with the following: 1. a booklet designed to fill information as she walks you through the steps. 2. An overall critiqued discussion on the theme of your book. 3. A breakdown discussion about each elements of your book, including plot, subplots and characters. 4. Review and guidance of your first chapter (if you don't have one she will make suggestions on how to create one). This is an intensive, exclusive workshop. She will only be accepting five students. Once the number is filled, the workshop will be closed. The cost is $175 for an intensive afternoon of work. It includes: 1. Work book 2. 6 hours of intensive personalized a...

Pure As I rest in your arms The top of my head snuggled in the crook and the faint sound of chimes in the wind of silence and in the magnificence of a feeling spreading throughout my soul like a slow flow of water and the coming of the tide. Sweetness of the gentle suggestion of the moment that lingers between us like a well-spoken inspiration and quiet smile of appreciation as we enjoy the true bond of friendship. Innocence of the heart without strings of the loyalty without question of the beauty of essence. Warmth in the afterglow of touch in the slow, sensual nature of kiss in the quiet laughter of knowledge in the serenity of perfect connection. If I say this is love If I say this is friendship If say I love you ... And you love me ... Then the stillness embraces the joy of two hearts. ~ Michelle Gamble

Find out from screenwriter, director, producer and publisher how to transform a story from page screen. RANCHO CORDOVA, Calif .—Have you ever thought, “My book would make a great movie, but I have no idea where to start?” Join Scott D. Roberts, novelist, screenwriter, producer, actor and director, as he teaches the elements of taking a story from page to screen. Roberts is presenting June 20, 2015 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. as part of the CaliforniaWriters Club (Sacramento Branch) at Cattlemen’s Restaurant in Rancho Cordova (located near I-50 and Hazel Ave.). Join Roberts as he discusses: How to sell your book for acquisition Methodologies to adapt a book for screen Unique ways to write captivating and winning “log lines” that attract agents and producers Where and how to find an agent by overcoming the Catch-22 Understanding the buying process and knowing the difference between an option or a purchase Insider tips and tricks to gettin...

It's one thing to want to do something, it's another thing to actually do it. They can teach theory in the classroom, but until you've dug deep, gotten your hands sublimely dirty, and really entrenched yourself in the experience, you can't learn the most important lessons and realities. So, to help anyone else (and these are life lessons) here are some general tips. Do not beat yourself up if you're an editor and there's a mistake or even two . All those meticulous copy editors out there who are single minded about not making one mistake in a 50,000 to 75,000 or 100,000 word book have truly put too much pressure on themselves into a never-good-enough reality. If I have learned nothing else in editing ... there is going to be a mistake ... somewhere. It requires minimally two sets or preferably three sets of eyes to clean up a manuscript. If you're sense of "perfection" (which there is no such thing) is about the erroneous belief you will see ever...

Today's question from an author is a common mistake and misnomer. If you want the new rules of style in terms of word processing and digital printing, invest in the book The Mac is Not a Typewriter . Today's question: do you still put the double space after the period?  Old rules of business writing and even academic writing suggested we use the double space. Today the computer does it for us, and there is no need. Word processors put the right spacing in for the user. Older writers unfamiliar with the change in the rules still add the double space, which is unnecessary and removed during editing. The double space was used in typesetting methods where typesetters physically put the "plates" together with the words and used the spacing to distinguish between the end of the sentence and the start of the new one. Since the computer can now automatically do it, and the new digital printing methods don't require plates, it's gone away. Underlining titles now ...

The work smarter not harder formula is a tough one to figure out. I think it's a balance between a few key areas: team work, responsibility, delegation of the right tasks, and (this is a bonus) passive revenue. The last item (passive revenue) is the entrepreneur's ultimate dream goal: make your product sell itself and bring in constant revenue based on previous work. I am a fan of passive revenue. One of the key things it provides is unexpected income (my kind of bonus). Breaking down the other areas it works like this: Team work -- you need a competent team of professionals who know their jobs. They don't need direct supervision that can suck up your management time. The more time you spend managing people resources the less time you have to work as a CEO. The CEO should never be bogged in minutia (what I call small details). The minute you spend too much time on the grains of sands, the less time you have on the beach :) (and that's a semi metaphor), but the beac...

Getting a nasty head cold after being four years of cold-free, I am quickly reminded why coughing is painful. You know when you wake up and don't feel well, and the day beckons anyway. Yes, I feel this way. The day is crying to be lived, and I feel like (excuse the profanity) shit. I am missing all the holiday festivities. I haven't left the house all week. Tissues all over my desk. I'm a sick sad sack. I am apparently a productive one though because I finished the first draft of my new book Body in the Trunk . I am working with my book coach novelist and screenwriter Scott D. Roberts to perfect it. He's been sending me notes, and per his instructions I am on revisions. I love the book coaching process -- it's collaborative on your own project. I used to enjoy working with a writing partner to bounce ideas around, but I also prefer to develop my own projects solo, too. A book coach gives you an opportunity to have someone dedicated to your project who can give yo...

I have had what can only be described as the toughest week of my life. My boyfriend came close to dying on Monday! Not exaggerating, and I've never had anybody that close to me come so close to death -- and RIGHT in front of me. I am going to say one word: STRESS ! I have spent the entire week at his hospital bedside, and yesterday he turned back toward the positive. He was sitting up again, and he had some color in his face. I brought him a drawing from my 9-year-old daughter and that cheered him up immensely. I know that post-traumatic stress will set in soon, as it typically does with me. I'm one of these people who react appropriately during trials and then tend to lose it afterward ... the aftermath is coming soon, but that's okay as long as he's recovering and doing better. Next week I should return to my normal work hours. If you're a 3L client, please know it has been really challenging, but everything will be moving forward upon my return to full-time work....

I'm still tinkering with whether or not I should do my memoir or not. So, I thought I would publish a chapter and see if anyone actually reads it. (Warning: there are minor errors in this as it's a raw copy.) 1 The Intrepid Writer on the Road and Vomiting on Airplanes OK, so onward to my next job at the California Department of Water Resources. I have a lot of really fun and funny memories of my 2.5 years spent roaming up and down the State Water Project with my now long-time friend and photographer Dale Kolke. But before I tell you the most memorable moments of that job, I will give you a little bit of insight into what it’s truly like to work for state government and some of the less-than-satisfying moments working with what I would call today either crazy or inept. Me posing for photographer Dale Kolke for Earthquake Preparedness month. As I mentioned in the last chapter, state workers are an odd breed of laziness and often craziness. How the state breeds such oddit...