Healdsburg Alive!: Eight Sonoma County Writers Pay Homage to a Great Northern California

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.