California Writers Club, Mt Diablo Branch

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Karen Stephen

In 2001, I got bitten by the fiction-writing bug after running into my former high school chemistry teacher, turned award-winning author, at my Fortieth high school reunion. Encouraged by his review of the first draft of a novel I had written several years earlier, I began taking writing classes and participating in professionally led critiquing groups. DEGREES OF OBSESSION took shape over the next several years and was self-published in 2005 with the help of my writing mentor Margaret Lucke. I was thrilled to have the opportunity to promote it at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books at UCLA.

My second novel, MOTHER TONGUE: LINGUA CORSA, released in 2014, was a suspense novel with romance and thriller elements set amid the danger and chaos of the Nationalist separatist movement in modern-day Corsica. The back story was based on a wild adventure I had at nineteen involving, a British yacht and a crew of 13 equally dissolute young people, who sailed the Northern Mediterranean, and, among other things, tried to sneak two Foreign Legionnaires off of the island of Corsica! We failed in our mission, but I never forgot our many stories of intrigue and foolishness that would evolve eventually into MOTHER TONGUE.

I was born in 1943 in Chicago, Illinois to a father who was off a few days later to fight the good fight in as a naval officer in WWII and a mother who had graduated from the University of Chicago in Political Science in 1937—quite the feminist. My maternal grandmother was also a four-year college graduate—in German and Latin—back in the early 1900s. When the war was over, my parents divorced and my mother took me and my older brother on an odyssey across America, starting at a dude ranch near Tucson, progressing to a custom-built home in the shadow of Cheyenne mountain in Colorado Springs, then on to a duplex on the wrong side of Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills and, finally, to a life on the beach in La Jolla, California. There, I mastered the art of body surfing and the art of the writing under the guidance of my Honors English teacher. I graduated near the top of my high school class in high, gave the commencement address, and went on to Stanford University to major in chemistry. Love took priority over Bunsen burners, and I switched to a psychology major, which allowed time to pursue my first real romance—the back-story for DEGREES. Trekking from one university to another, but still garnering top grades, I graduated from San Diego State in 1965. Moving on to graduate school at the University of Illinois, I received a Masters in 1968 and a Doctorate in Psychology in 1970. Over the next forty years I worked in both the public and private sector, first as a research psychologist and then as a clinician. I retired in 2009 from the nation’s largest HMO and from my role as a union leader. In 2014, I was called back into the fray and served as the Mental Health Clinical Director for a large health plan serving the Medi-Cal population in 14 northern CA counties.

In the 1990s, I established an online presence as a psychologist using the moniker Doctor Flamingo-Online. I wrote multiple articles on many psychological subjects, aimed primarily at mid-life women and developed an author website. I also began writing Poetry for Recovery. My most interesting endeavor was to create Book Trailers for both of my novels—an intricate process using special movie making software (trailer for Degrees, trailer for Mother Tongue). I also enjoyed turning two of my poems into Video Poems. All are available on my websites: karenstephen.com and doctorflamingo-online.com. My Twitter handle is: @DocFlamingo My FaceBook page is: https://www.facebook.com/karenstephenauthor

I am the mother of two grown children and am devoted to my four grandchildren. I collect antique flamingos and admit to having a neon flamingo in my bedroom, which makes it look like a pink bordello! I live in the San Francisco Bay area.

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By Karen Stephen

Mother Tongue 
Degrees of Obsession

     

 

 

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Virtual Meeting for February

Penny Warner
Talking the Talk: How to make your dialogue sound realistic

 

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Pre-Meeting Events

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Members’ Books

From Shadow's Perspective
From Shadow's Perspective
Colossus-HOME book cover
Colossus-HOME book cover
Five Plays for Young Audiences
Five Plays for Young Audiences
The Blue Jeans Rebellion
The Blue Jeans Rebellion
The Mona Lisa Sisters
The Mona Lisa Sisters
FDN
FDN
Blood Debt- A Vince Torelli Mystery
Blood Debt- A Vince Torelli Mystery
Oh Little Ham of Buffalo: A Korean Adoption Memoir
Oh Little Ham of Buffalo: A Korean Adoption Memoir
Granddad's-Garden
Granddad's-Garden
The Scattered Autumn Leaves
The Scattered Autumn Leaves
Just a Girl: Growing Up Female and Ambitious
Just a Girl: Growing Up Female and Ambitious
I'll Paint a Sun
I'll Paint a Sun
Forgiving-Day-by-Day
Forgiving-Day-by-Day
Shadow Birds
Shadow Birds
Meet the Principal
Meet the Principal
The Burning Barn
The Burning Barn
Race to Radar
Race to Radar
Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever
Husbands May Come and Go but Friends are Forever
Between Shadows Eyes cover
Between Shadows Eyes
Maracaibo Oil Brat Book Two cover
Maracaibo Oil Brat Book Two
The Fire Trail book cover
The Fire Trail
Inheritance book cover
Inheritance
Confessions of a Middle-Aged Runaway
Confessions of a Middle-Aged Runaway
Rhino in the Room cover
Rhino in the Room
Another New Years Eve cover
Another New Years Eve
MP
MP
Diplomatic Immunity
Diplomatic Immunity
Retribution
Retribution
Sin Eater
Sin Eater
Dream Me
Dream Me
The House at 758
The House at 758
Going Places
Going Places
Help Your Group Thrive
Help Your Group Thrive
Never Too Late
nevertoolate.png
Rhythms Primeval cover
Rhythms Primeval
Ingalls 43
Ingalls 43
Chronicles of an Occupational Prostitute
Chronicles of an Occupational Prostitute
“Get 10,000+ Twitter Followers—Easily, Quickly, Ethically is one of the best books on building a Twitter audience that I have ever read. I’ll be recommending this must-have guide to our clients for years to come.”
twitter cathy turney
“Get 10,000+ Twitter Followers—Easily, Quickly, Ethically is one of the best books on building a Twitter audience that I have ever read. I’ll be recommending this must-have guide to our clients for years to come.”
you_want_me_to_do_what
you_want_me_to_do_what
worlds_apart
worlds_apart
women health
women health
women health movement
women health movement
what is life
what is life
west winds
west winds
visiting_the_sins
visiting_the_sins
verbally_abusive_relationship1
verbally_abusive_relationship1
uncommon_friendship
uncommon_friendship
theres-more
theres-more
the-missing-kennedy-668x1030
the-missing-kennedy-668x1030
9781602901261-Perfect.indd
9781602901261-Perfect.indd
talent
talent
stained glass
stained glass
soul-of-art-amazon-cover-small
soul-of-art-amazon-cover-small
silk mills
silk mills
shipbuilder
shipbuilder
second opion
second opion
running_with_the_enemy
running_with_the_enemy
rolys_relic
rolys_relic
road_to_california
road_to_california
remember
remember
remember childhood
remember childhood
raconteur
raconteur
quotient_of_murder
quotient_of_murder
powerpoint-talk-projector-file-version-2-002
powerpoint-talk-projector-file-version-2-002
plague_of_scoundrels
plague_of_scoundrels
people-cover-five-star-pub-rev
people-cover-five-star-pub-rev
paper-boat-cover
paper-boat-cover
night_tamales_roses
night_tamales_roses
mermaid
mermaid
meditation_on_woman
meditation_on_woman
margie-hamilton
margie-hamilton
madness_in_miniature
madness_in_miniature
intothemist-500x750
intothemist-500x750
husband
husband
hana_lani
hana_lani
getting_a_winning_verdict
getting_a_winning_verdict
german voices
german voices
fredlandia
fredlandia
fouringarden
fouringarden
fourbears
fourbears
evening sun
evening sun
dream dancing
dream dancing
devotionalwalkforgiveness
devotionalwalkforgiveness
death_by_chenille
death_by_chenille
controlling_people
controlling_people
concubine_sage_book_cover
concubine_sage_book_cover
come_together
come_together
career_savvy
career_savvy
amber dust
amber dust
51lkbgbm3l-_sx311_bo1204203200_
51lkbgbm3l-_sx311_bo1204203200_
51it6kneyll-_sx326_bo1204203200_
51it6kneyll-_sx326_bo1204203200_
stolen identity
stolen identity
sherlock
sherlock
maracaibo_oil_brat_bk1
maracaibo_oil_brat_bk1
lights camera
lights camera
janus
janus
dance_with_the_devil1
dance_with_the_devil1

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Critique Group


CLICK HERE for information about our Critique Groups and how to join.

 

Upcoming Events

Open Mic Night!
Come to CWC-Mt. Diablo’s First Open-Mic Night! Sign up to read or listen. December 16, 6:00 pm on Zoom. Click here for details and link to register.
NorCal Events Calendar
Click here to see what other NorCal branches are doing. You might want to attend one of their meetings!

Click here to learn about workshops, conferences, and other writing opportunities in the community.

Join Our Branch

Writers need each other.
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CWC Calendar

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Member Spotlight

Telling a Story on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RPQ9migj54 The Heartland League of Women Writers has published an audio version of Phyllis Houseman's story on Youtube.
MT. DIABLO MEMBERS IN THE 2020 LITERARY REVIEW
Huzzahs to five of our own! Fran Cain, Robert Poirier, Marian Lonsdale, Jill Hedgecock, and Suzy Orpin.
George Cramer Awards
The results of the Public Safety Writers Association 2020 writing contest were announced July 12, 2020. George Cramer placed in several categories: Flash Fiction Non-Published First Place Joe Flash Fiction Non-Published Third Place Welcome Home Short Story Non-Published Honorable Mention Hard Time Fiction Book Non-Published Fourth Place A Tale of Robbers and Cops In the weeks to come, George will post his flash-fiction stories, “Joe” and “Coming Home” to his webpage, followed, in three parts, by the short story. “Hard Time” was the inspiration for a chapter in A Tale of Robbers and Cops. Visit my webpage at: https://gdcramer.com/

 

This will be updated regularly with information 
about upcoming member news and awards.

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Art Embraces Words
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