Grass Valley, Calif. December 12, 2016 – On Saturday January 21st, 2017, Sierra College in conjunction with Sierra Writers will host a full-day writers’ conference from 9-5 at the Grass Valley campus.

The first Sierra Writers’ Conference was held in January, 2016, for a half-day and was attended by over one hundred local writers.This year the conference will expand from half a day to a full day with four learning tracks, an inspirational keynote kickoff and a panel of experts answering remaining questions at the end of the day.

As a just-for-fun activity, there is a First Sentence Contest with five winners receiving autographed books from authors in attendance. An optional Critique Fest will be held Friday afternoon from 2:30-5 before the conference to allow attendees to receive feedback on their work from peers and a published professional as well as learning how to give and receive feedback.

Sierra College – Located in the Sierra Foothills community of Grass Valley, the Sierra College-Nevada County Campus serves the citizens of Western Nevada County. The beautiful 105-acre campus was built overlooking the city of Grass Valley atop what was formerly Litton Hill.

Sierra Writers’ – Writers helping each other – supports writers of all genres in Nevada County. Organized in 1982, we continue to offer a variety of prominent speakers and open reads. Members are encouraged to participate in fiction and non-fiction critique groups.

This is the web address for registration: http://www.eventbrite.com/e/2017-sierra-writers-conference-tickets-27206149325?aff=SierraCollege

Contact information: Lynette Vrooman at lvrooman@sierracollege.edu or http://www.sierrawritersconference.com/p/schedule.html.

Speakers:

Saturday workshop author/instructors are organized by track and session time.

Keynote: Molly Fisk: Poet, radio commentator, life coach, writing teacher, painter of barns and mason jars full of water … in general, a most extraordinary stimulator of creativity.

Theory/Info: Craft and Inspiration – how to, with details and examples.

Jordan Fisher Smith: Finding the Power in Your Nonfiction Story, Session 1, 10:50 – 11:50

Chris Olander: The Love Poem, Session 2, 1:10 – 2:10

C.S. Lakin: How Fiction Writers Can Effectively Show Emotion in Their Scenes, Session 3, 2:30 – 3:30

Theory/Info: Marketing and Publishing – how to, with details and examples.

Catharine Bramkamp: A Million Other Voices – Social Media: How to Start, How to Stay, How to Conquer. Session 1, 10:50 – 11:50

Judie Rae: Build Your Author Platform and Market Articles, Essays, and Poetry. Session, 2, 1:10 – 2:10

Mark Wiederanders: Finding Subjects to Write about That up the Odds of Publication, Session 3, 2:30 – 3:30