CWC and Me (or is it "I"?)

I knew about the Mt. Diablo Branch of CWC for some time before joining. I had already been commercially published in the 1980s—a three-volume nonfiction work under the series title, Adult-to-Adult (Winston Press, Minneapolis, MN). Today, that title might sound sexy. Not then. The series was meant for Christian discussion groups. Since they sold well, I thought, “This writing/publishing thing is easy.”

I still didn’t think the series stamped my ticket as a “professional writer.” To be a real writer I undertook the task of writing a real book, a . . . drum roll . . . novel. It took eight years of writing and editing to arrive at a finished product and secure a literary agent. More editing delays. Finally, the book sold to a mass-market paperback house in Canada.

Any writer who knows the thrill of ripping open a box and seeing the cover of that first published book—although this wasn’t—will identify with my gut response. There it was! A Love Forbidden. A novel. A real book. With my name on the cover. I don’t mind telling you that I cried tears of authorial pride—and relief. I had finally met my own artificial standard for joining CWC.

I soon learned that, during those years of solitary labor, I would have benefitted greatly by association with a professional writing community. Such influence would have improved the quality of my writing. Just walking into the room for our monthly gettogethers, I am energized by the creative vibes electrifying the atmosphere. Dozens of novels and short stories buzz around inside the attendees, all in various drafts and phases of development. Memoirs, biographies and, of course, the imaginings of talented poets in our midst further ratchet up the voltage. I always leave having experienced a revival of my own creative juices. Over the years, dozens of my professional colleagues in CWC MD have also become dear and valued friends.

So, whenever I’m asked why I belong to the California Writers Club and faithfully attend almost every meeting . . . and why I have given back by serving two terms as president and still do as a board member, I reply with sincerity: “This is about the only place I can go every month where people understand the Writer-Me. When we converse about aspects of our creative calling, they know what I’m talking about.” Every writer needs this kind of affirmation.

Note: To date, I have published 12 books and adapted three of my seven novels into screenplays, which I currently market on InkTip.com. My most recent book is The Soul of Art (nonfiction). Another nonfiction work-in-progress is grinding its way through a tortuous first draft.

A Love Forbidden is still available free on Smashwords.com, iBooks, and other online e-book sites, as well as on Amazon.com for $0.99. It remains my "bestselling" book, after all these years.ins my "bestselling" book, after all these years.

(c) 2017 by Alfred J. Garrotto
All rights reserved

An Easter Interview With Author Judith Ingram

I am pleased to offer an inspiring Easter gift to my readers. Judith Ingram, my friend and colleague in the California Writers Club, Mount Diablo Branch, is an award-winning author of inspirational books. Her novels, including the  Moonseed Trilogy, draw on her training as a counselor and her love of story to create realistic characters, who grapple with deep and significant themes. Her non-fiction work, including A Devotional Walk with Forgiveness, weaves together principles of her Christian faith and her experience of growing through the painful and limiting consequences of an abusive childhood.

Reprint of a Judith Marshall Interview

Judith Marshall

Author and Interviewer Judith Marshall: Alfred J. Garrotto is an example of a prolific writer who has experienced both traditional and self-publishing. His genres are as varied as his publishing experiences.

Senior But Not Retired: Editor Carol Smallwood Interview

Carol Smallwood, co-editor of the anthology, Writing After Retirement: Tips from Successful Retired Writers, recently interviewed me about my career as a senior--but not retired--writer.

There’s More . . .

[ I am 40,000+ words into my current work-in-progress, a novella titled, There's More . . .  Recently, the California Writers Club, Mt. Diablo Branch (to which I belong), challenged our members to tell a story, not in thousands of words, but in 100 or less. I accepted the task. The following is my novella from start to finish. ]

A bat. A ball. A swing. A bullet.
A death. A guide. A life.

A bat—black-varnished, rays of setting sun splintering north, south, east, west, until tension-stilled,
at the ready. 
A ball—Virginal white. Never pitched, nor struck. Rocketing from hurler’s hand. 
A swing—fluid, potent contact, ball arrowing moundward. 
A bullet—fired in revenge, racing ball to target. 
A death. Accident? Murder? Projectiles: protagonists in this unplotted drama. The pitcher falls, forehead concaved,
a blackening hole deep at crater ’s base. 
A guide. Heaven-sent to assist at this unexpected crossing-over. 
A life—“There’s more, my son . . . .”

The End

Transcendent Moments

Still writing (and driving) in her 90s, my mentor and friend Muriel James, is one of the wisest persons I have known. She is a psychotherapist and an ordained minister.  Over the past 20 years,  she has also been the  #1 fan of all my books. We still meet occasionally at California Writers Club meetings (Mt. Diablo Branch). She is currently reading my latest novel, The Saint of Florenville: A Love Story. Can't wait to hear her reaction to the story of an American priest and a Belgian nun who are kidnapped and tortured in Bruges, Belgium.

The following quote is from a 1992 book she co-authored with her son. It contains remarkable human and spiritual insight, especially in light of the rapid emergence of Evolutionary Christianity.

“Occasionally we experience transcendent moments when there is a merging of the cosmic, holy, and human spirits. Everything seems united. These are mystical experiences in which, for the moment, we forget ourselves and feel at one with all that is. There are no boundaries, no distinctions of time and space. Transcendent moments such as these, when everything seems to be one, can happen at any time, in any place—perhaps when we stand in awe of the magnificence of the ocean waves, the wind blowing across a wheat field . . . At times like these, we may awaken to the sense that we are merging with some form of spirit beyond ourselves, a cosmic spirit.”—Muriel James and John James, Passion for Life: Psychology and the Human Spirit

______________________

Alfred J. Garrotto is the author of the suspense novel,

The Saint of Florenville: A Love Story.