Meeting called to order by President Michelle Bassett at 6:33 pm PST.

Meeting called to order by President Michelle Bassett at 6:36 pm PST.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Diamond Valley Writers' Guild meetings were solely in-person meetings and therefore those meetings were not recorded. If anything good came from the pandemic it was that the video conferencing software and technology improved rapidly and allowed us to continue meeting in a virtual environment. Then, when the restrictions were lifted, we decided to continue using the hybrid system so that meetings could be recorded for replay and to allow our membership to grow beyond our local area. Since those meetings are part of our history, here is the summary list for all of the meetings from our inception until we began recording the hybrid meetings and posting them on our YouTube channel. 2016 Jan Inspiration – Ray Strait Feb Writing tips, getting started, etc. – Judy Howard, CJ Hernley, and Lynne Spreen Mar Developing Your Writing Style – Jim Hitt Apr Sci-fi/Fantasy – Jonathan Yanez and Tammy Salyer May Writing tips – Judy Howard Jun Critique group – panel: Vicki Hitt, Jim Hitt, Michelle Bassett Jul Decide on a publisher – Ed Lopatin Aug Poetry – Howard Feigenbaum (Facilitator) Sep Selling via social media – Lynne Spreen Oct Strategic Planning for Book Signings and Readings – Susan McBeth 2017 Jan Getting Started Panel – George, Gerry Prager, JoLynne, Lynne, and Marj Charlier Feb short story – Jim Hitt Mar Children’s books – Debby Johnson Apr Memoir panel – Vicki, Melodie, and Sandy Schuster May Compelling crime fiction – Dave Putnam Jun Researching the historical novel – Jeri Westerson Jul Paranormal thriller – Angie Martin Aug Poetry – Howard Feigenbaum (Facilitator) Sep Book Fair – Diamond Valley Arts Center event (no meeting) Oct Building Your Platform – Brooke Warner 2018 Jan Inspiration – Shelley Young Feb Publishing standards for your book – Angela Bole Mar Romantic suspense and erotica – Jackie and Miriam Pace Apr Creating characters – Eve, Arch, and Cindy May Self-publication - Marj Charlier Jun Productivity – Joe De Ladurantey and Greta Boris Jul Turn novel into audiobook – Lynne Spreen Aug Poetry – Howard Feigenbaum (Facilitator) Sep Horror Genre – Tim Chizmar and Mercedes Oct Marketing – Teresa Burrell 2019 Jan Memoir - Sandy Schuster Feb Websites for writers – panel – Michelle Bassett, Victor Swatsek Mar Getting Book Reviews – David Wogahn Apr Creating Compelling Characters – Roundtable Discussion May Find a Traditional Publisher – Pam Sheppard Jun Scenes – Helga Schier Jul Table Talk – Facilitated round tables on various topics Aug Poetry – Howard Feigenbaum (Facilitator) Sep Structure – Sandy Schuster Oct The Writing Life – Wes and Barry 2020 Jan Kick-start Your Creativity – Michelle Bassett Feb Shaping your story – Kathy Macias Mar Structure – Sandy Schuster CANCELLED As you can see March was cancelled due to obvious reasons and April saw the dawn of our new hybrid meeting format. NOTE: Even then the recorded meetings weren't posted on the official Diamond Valley Writers' Guild YouTube channel. Those videos were transferred to our official channel later on.

A twisted reflection. A deadly obsession. When a woman is found murdered and eerily staged to resemble Attorney Sabre Brown, it becomes clear this is no random crime—someone is sending a message. As Sabre fights in court to protect a vulnerable child, her personal and professional worlds begin to collide in chilling ways. Soon, more women turn up dead, each with disturbing ties to Sabre’s past. With the help of her investigator and partner, JP Torn, and a close-knit team of family and friends, Sabre races to uncover the truth—while a dangerous presence slips deeper into her life, mimicking her appearance, her routines... even her clothes. Who is the woman shadowing her every move? And what does she want? With time running out and the body count rising, Sabre must confront a terrifying question: Is she being hunted by a stranger—or someone she's crossed paths with before?

Meeting called to order by President Michelle Bassett at 6:38 pm PDT.

May 17, 2025 presented by Michael Welker AI is here, and its potential seems to know no bounds—at least, that’s the hype. The big questions: Will AI eliminate jobs traditionally held by creatives? What can it really do? How does it work? Should writers and artists be worried? In this talk, Michael explores these questions, clears up some of the confusion about what AI can—and can’t—do, and addresses common concerns among writers and artists. Michael Welker is the author of Blockbuster Blueprint: A Step-by-Step Guide to Crafting a Best-selling Story . He’s a creative producer and technologist, a former Walt Disney Imagineer, and currently works as a producer with Universal Studios. Michael has spent a decade building theme park projects around the globe, including Shanghai Disneyland in China and Super Nintendo World in Osaka, Japan. He’s also a self-taught software engineer with experience developing entertainment apps for PC and iOS. In short, Michael is a creative and technical professional who brings fantasy worlds—whether pages, parks, or pixels—to life. If you attended this meeting, let us know what you thought of it in the comments below. You must be logged in to post comments.

Max Fredericks can time travel. He doesn't know exactly how it works-just that it does. When it happens again, Max finds himself on the wrong side of the Iron Curtain in 1965 East Berlin. Still queasy from the shock of travel, he witnesses an abduction. The victim is a girl Max later comes to know only as Elsa, and the perpetrators are the Stasi-"the sword and shield of the state" in communist East Germany. Armed with comprehensive knowledge of the Stasi only a nerd from the future could possess, and assuming the girl is a damsel in distress, Max decides he's the hero of this story and sets out to rescue her. But what he doesn't know can hurt him. The clock is ticking as Max works to outsmart the Stasi, dead-dropping and brush-passing, double-crossing and being double-crossed as he goes. Can Max infiltrate the Stasi HQ without getting himself locked up in a gulag or shot as a spy? Why was Elsa targeted? And how can Max get back across the Berlin Wall and home to the present?

She stared down the barrel of her first husband’s shotgun. She bore the pain and uncertainty of her second husband’s affair. For Sue Andrews, love was always a dangerous game, physically and emotionally taxing—and destined to end in heartbreak. But when a friend compared her plight to the book When Bad Things Happen to Good People, Andrews became determined: she would stop being a victim and take control of her life once and for all. So after two marriages, two divorces, and moving from Illinois to Michigan to Georgia to Florida, she finally found herself back where she started again. In the wake of a life-changing high school reunion, it finally seemed like happiness was just around the corner—but it wasn’t long before health issues presented a whole new set of obstacles and setbacks to overcome. We’ve all heard that bad things happen to good people. But after soul-crushing abuse, near-death experiences, and so much heartbreak, is it really possible to learn to live and love again? Andrews explores these issues with plenty of heart and humor in her thought-provoking personal memoir To Live and Love Again .

A man is dead. But is it a heart attack, like almost everyone thinks, or murder? His daughter thinks it's foul play-after all, she's just received a letter from her dad saying that if he dies unexpectedly, someone has killed him. Now Attorney Wade Nevlin finds himself on the case of a lifetime as he works to find the killer and avenge his friend's death. Will the Jacksonville Judas get away with murder? Written to honor the friendships author Sue Andrews made while living in Jacksonville, Florida, for almost twenty years, Jacksonville Judas is a page-turning whodunnit for readers who like seeing good triumph over evil and playing out of the moral that those who persevere will win.

An Amorous Sequel to All Jane Austen's Novels Three weddings and an engagement are the happy result of a trip to Bath for the season taken by Elizabeth Darcy, her husband, and their younger sisters, Kitty and Georgianna. Nursing an aching heart due to a recent miscarriage, Elizabeth is encouraged to take the journey as a means of raising her depressed spirits in a fresh and convivial setting. Courtship and conflict occur when familiar characters from all six of Jane Austen’s novels meet new ones and would be matchmakers try to affect outcomes. Wealth and consequence do not always equate to good character as Darcy learns. A vain and manipulative woman finds a path to restoring her status in a match bound to disrupt family life for her husband. Feminist themes emerge as Georgianna discovers newfound interests and builds self-confidence.

A book of short stories that will take you on a journey through time. There are humorous stories of adventure, murder, lost treasure, fantasy, folklore and more. From Train, plane, automobile, boat, horseback and by foot. A comical look at the world around us, both the past and the present. Characters from every sort of life caught up in tales that run from two pages to 20 some. Escape the familiar world around to one that you still know but seen from a bit of a different perspective. Enter grocery stores, museums, taverns and small towns. Head down roadways, up dangerous canyons, across vast open spaces. They all have tales to tell that will put a smile on your face, and a bit of odd thought in your mind. Wander around in the somewhat twisted head of a man bringing a bit of joy to a world that is in dire need of it.

“Spirit Dog” was the name the Indians called Adolphus a dachshund that traveled the Texas Road to Oklahoma Territory with Jeffery Martin and his family Adventure begins at Fort Gibson when they explore a riverboat where they discover a captive Cherokee Indian boy named Hawk. The threesome head for freedom only to be captured by fierce Osage Indians. Unlike the Indians’ wolf dogs, Adolphus is a strange new breed with a long, low body, short legs and drooping ears that fascinates the Indians. He must be a spirit! At the Osage village they are befriended by an Indian Princess called the Ancient One. An opportunity to escape comes at the annual salt boiling but now the boys hesitate leaving an ailing Ancient One behind. As their plans to escape begin to evaporate she helps them find a solution and a way back home. Their adventure brings the boys and dog closer together with their competitive spirits growing into admiration, and a new respect for living in America’s expanding West. Set against a background of history and folklore. Grades 3-5.