The Healdsburg Literary Guild is delighted to publish this new book, Healdsburg Alive!-Eight Sonoma County Writers Pay Homage to a Great Northern California Town. It follows a number of previous Guild publications, including Present at the Creation and three books entitled A Day in the Life of Healdsburg, in addition to several poetry chapbooks. This new book provided writers in the Healdsburg area with a four-session workshop in which to hone their writing skills along with an opportunity to publish their pieces. Armando Garcia-Dávila, Healdsburg's 2002-2003 Literary Laureate, led the workshop. The price of admission included marvelous meals prepared by Armando. The workshops met four times in 2010-once in each season. Armando opened sessions with a discussion of writing prompts, techniques, seeds, and subjects the participants might consider. Writers were then on their own for about three hours to wander Healdsburg and surrounding areas in Sonoma County, looking for inspiration for a story or a poem. Although the stated premise of the workshop was to write a piece that matched each season, writers followed whatever muse grabbed them and led their pens in preparation of a first draft. The group then reconvened and writers read their drafts. A lively discussion followed, offering each writer comments, ideas, and encouragement. Armando then selected and edited pieces for the book. And voila, we have Healdsburg Alive! We hope you enjoy it.
About the Author: David Beckman lives in Santa Rosa. His poems appear in Present at the Creation, the 2006 anthology of Sonoma County poets; in From the Hills, Jackass Review, Blue Jew Yorker, and Western Friend. His chapbook, Times Three, appeared in 2009. His latest chapbook, Language Factory of the Mind, was published by Finishing Line Press in December 2011. Armando Garcia-Dávila has won awards for his prose and poetry and was named the Healdsburg Literary Laureate for 2002-2003. He refers to himself as the "Blue Collar Poet," and says, "I am neither an academic nor an intellectual and try to write in the voice of the common man." Simon Jeremiah lives on the right bank of the Russian River, where he keeps a small retreat for artists and writers. He is a founding member of the Healdsburg Literary Guild and remains active in the local arts community. David Mechling has been writing for only a short time but has found his way into the local Sonoma County publications of The Sitting Room and the 2010 Vintage Voices. Watch for his collection of poetry and stories titled Daveisms, miscellaneous ramblings from a suburban kind of guy. Mona Mechling considers herself a "dark Erma Bombeck". Her first story was published in the Vintage Voices anthology at age 50. Her writing is inspired by life in the 'burbs. Watch for her story collection, The Fridge Magnet Chronicles, coming soon to a bookstore near you. Chris Peasley is a writer of poetry and prose living in Windsor. She has published one book titled The Rows Between, an entertaining book of poetry with art by her husband, Bill Geer. She is also included in a number of collections including Present at the Creation and A Day in the Life of Healdsburg-2007. Waights Taylor Jr. is a Santa Rosa writer and poet. His first non-fiction book, Alfons Mucha's Slav Epic, was published in 2008. His second book, Our Southern Home: Scottsboro to Montgomery to Birmingham-The Transformation of the South in the Twentieth Century, was published in October 2011. Margo van Veen lives in Santa Rosa. Her poems appear in First Leaves, the 2009 anthology of Bay Area writers, and in Continent of Lights, the 2010 anthology edited by David Madgalene, as well as on line at Burning Bush. She performs her poetry throughout the Bay Area.