Upcoming guest speakers

Explore the transformative possibilities of AI for writers and creators. Through engaging discussions and practical demonstrations, we'll uncover how AI tools can enhance creative practice without compromising authenticity or human voice. This talk from Sam Stern provides a balanced, hands-on introduction to integrating AI meaningfully and ethically into your creative work. Join us to demystify AI, spark your imagination, and empower your creative journey in an ever-evolving technological landscape.

Sam Stern is a Senior Content Creator at Esalen Institute, where he hosts the Voices of Esalen podcast, a deep-dive interview program focused on Human Potential with over one million downloads to date. He is a cum laude graduate of Brown University and received an MFA in Critical Studies and Integrated Media from CalArts. His deep interest in emergent technologies focuses in particular on the creative and relational impact of AI on everyday humans.

There is no guest speaker scheduled in August 2025 due to the CCW annual summer picnic. Regular third Tuesday monthly meetings resume in September.

Elizabeth Kracht is a literary agent with Kimberley Cameron & Associates and the author of The Author’s Checklist: An Agent’s Guide to Developing and Editing Your Manuscript. She has an MFA in fiction from San José State University. She also works as a freelance developmental editor coaching writers. She is a sought-after speaker, teaching both nationally and internationally, for conferences such as San Miguel de Allende and Matera Writers’ Conferences, as well as ThrillerFest in New York, among many others. She also teaches for online venues such as Writer’s Digest and Writing Day Workshops. 

Elizabeth represents both literary and commercial fiction as well as nonfiction. In fiction, she represents thrillers, mysteries, literary, commercial, women’s, and historical. In nonfiction, she is interested in finding true crime, investigative journalism, narrative/creative nonfiction, prescriptive, voice- or adventure-driven memoir, high concept, science, spirituality, sexuality, self-help, and pet stories. Elizabeth’s websites can be viewed at: www.elizabethkracht.com and www.kimberleycameron.com 

Join us at our annual "Booktoberfest" meeting where we will have CCW authors who have published in the last year read excerpts from their latest works. After our usual club business meeting and the readings, CCW authors will be selling their books, signing copies, and answering questions from the attendees.

Ava Homa is an acclaimed author, speaker, activist, and faculty member at California State University, Monterey Bay. Her debut novel, Daughters of Smoke and Fire (HarperCollins & Abrams, 2020), was featured in Roxane Gay's Book Club, the Unplugged Book Box, and Women for Women International. The novel earned a place among the 'best books' in outlets such as the Wall Street Journal, the Independent (UK), and Globe and Mail (Canada). It received the 2020 Nautilus Silver Book Award for Fiction and was a 2022 William Saroyan International Writing Prize finalist. A groundbreaking work in English by a Kurdish woman, Daughters of Smoke and Fire has been incorporated into university curricula at institutions such as George Mason University, the University of Toronto, and Southern Methodist University.

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Ava's collection of short stories, Echoes from the Other Land, was nominated for the 2011 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. Her essays, written in English, Kurdish, and Persian, have been published in outlets like the BBC, Literary Review of Canada, Open Democracy, and Literary Hub. Her short stories and non-fiction pieces have been anthologized and she has delivered speeches across North America and Europe, including a memorable appearance at the United Nations in Geneva. She holds a master’s degree in creative writing and is a 2023 California Arts Council fellow.