Mt. Diablo Branch is Proud to Feature “Three of Our Own”
at our annual Holiday Celebration Meeting Saturday, December 13, 2008
We continue our December custom of spotlighting great writers within our own membership. This year we are pleased to present a panel of three distinguished writers and good friends, from whom we can learn a great deal about the art and craft of professional writing/publishing. Each will offer tips for writing, producing and marketing our work.
Barbara Bentley
In her just-published memoir A Dance With the Devil: A True Story of Marriage to a Psychopath, Barbara shares how her fairytale dreams collided with the world of psychopaths and domestic violence. After finding the strength to stand up for herself in her marriage, she discovered that she still had to fight against victimization by the California’s antiquated divorce laws. Barbara took on the state legislature and, in successfully petitioning to change the laws, showed that one person can make a difference. Over the past month, Barbara has appeared on KGO-TV’s “A View From the Bay” and done numerous radio and print media interviews. A Dance With the Devil reads like a page-turning novel.
J. Gary Gwilliam
Gary is a local trial lawyer. Over a span of 40+ years, he has tried nearly 200 jury trials to verdict—the majority of them wins. Yet, he attributes his most important life lessons to his defeats. In Getting a Winning Verdict in My Personal Life: A Trial Lawyer Finds His Soul, Gary details with searing honesty his struggles with alcoholism and failed relationships. His is a captivating story of healing, love and triumph over his own personal and professional demons. Gary will share with us his insights about writing an intimate memoir.
Katie Clark Vecchio
Katie Vecchio is a ghostwriter and "literary consultant." She helped research and edit four New York Times nonfiction bestsellers in the last several years and, in 2007, was ghostwriter for a popular nonfiction political book, Target: Caught in the Crosshairs of Bill and Hillary Clinton. She also completed developmental editing of The Keeler Migraine Method, published by Penguin/Avery in November. She has helped many other authors finish and polish their fiction and nonfiction manuscripts for submission to agents and publishing houses, and is currently ghostwriting two nonfiction books. Katie will discuss the nature of working as a ghostwriter and editor, and why she loves being a writer behind the scenes.
Meeting Photos
