Tag Archives: writing

Bay Area Book Festival 2026

Posted on June 7, 2026 by Pamela Rentz

You guys! Guess what? I talk with my hands.

Here’s a quick wrap up of my panel at the Bay Area Book Festival last weekend.

First of all, our trip to San Francisco was fantastic. We had an amazing time and I have more pictures that I will not promise to update later because things are hectic right now and I probably won’t get to it.

We stayed with friends who were terrific hosts. We had an amazing tour at Internet Archive. That was the only time during the trip I took very many photos so hopefully I will get some of that up here. We did a few touristy sight-seeing things – it’s was a picture perfect day. Super amazing.

Here we are. It’s L to R Naomi Darling who was the moderator and she is a book influencer and really good. And then Tashia Hart who is a writer but also does arty things, film making and things with food. (Here’s her YouTube Channel), Me as Pen Name, and Dani Trujillo who has 2 books out and some other writing out there.

Bob and I went to the book festival both Saturday and Sunday.

Saturday was a test run on BART and an afternoon to look around and check it out.

And Sunday was the panel.

We didn’t see as much of the festival as I would have liked but we did catch a couple of panels and walked through a lot of the booths. So many people selling and buying books. It was wonderful to see so many book lovers.

Also: my books I bought and had shipped for the book signing arrived a week late. So that was fun. I had a few books to put out there. Lots of support from family and friends. I really enjoyed meeting the others and chatting with them.

All in all a good experience.

I did a terrible job of taking pictures but we had dinner at the classic Scoma’s and outside are the fishing boats and there were a whole bunch of birds hanging out. This is an example of 1 bird. A man explained to us that there are anchovies under those screens to be used for bait and the birds were waiting for an easy snack.

That’s the scoop! Hopefully more later.

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And Now A Word From Our Sponsor

Posted on May 25, 2026 by Pamela Rentz

Pen name is going to be at the Bay Area Book Festival this weekend (May 30-31). My panel is on Sunday at 12:45pm.

I will be on the panel with Dani Trujillo and Tashia Hart and the moderator is Naomi Darling.

Check my social media for more info.

Just kidding. This is my social media. I downloaded Instagram to my phone again and, oof. It’s hard to believe that app could get worse. They must have teams of people sitting around figuring out how to make it more terrible.

“More ads!”

“More recommended posts!”

“She looked at the bra ad. Thirty more bra ads!”

“Partial snippets of posts to a completely different app.”

“More bra ads!”

“Ways to accidentally tap something that plays a horrible song.”

My website was dead during flower season so here is a picture of my beautiful tulips. Because of the chaos in my personal life, I barely remembered to enjoy them. I also dug up some bulbs because I’m trying to put more native plants in here.

I liked this because of that one tulip next to that plant that I am completely spacing on the name of. Some kind of rose something.

Oh. I forgot to mention that giant online retailer sent me a note that the giant stack of books I ordered for the event is delayed. So unless there is a Giant Online Retailer miracle, I just bought a stack of landfill. The books are being delivered to the festival.

Everyone cross your fingers!

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Remember When October was a U2 Album?

Posted on October 6, 2024 by Pamela Rentz

Hi! Happy October.

Every October I am surprised by how busy I am. Every time.

Here are some quick updates: I had to cancel my Atlanta trip because there was a hurricane at the same time I was supposed to travel. I am graduating from crowns and getting my first implant later this month (that’s a teeth thing). I am *this* close to finishing my first fan fic (Polin, Bridgerton). If you don’t know what that means you are unlikely to be interested.

Everyone else: drop me a note and I will ping you when it’s up. As soon as I’m done with that I am writing another romance. Don’t hold your breath because I am super distracted by a million other things so I’ll be lucky to have a first draft by this time next year.

And: I bought some raised beds.

I have been re-habbing this corner of the yard for a couple of years and this year I decided to just buy the dang beds and get them out there because I was close enough.

I planned to buy two and see how I liked them. But then the website did that thing where a big pop-up ad told me it was a holiday weekend special and it was 40% off if I bought 4.

You know how everything looks smaller when you actually get it? I said: Sure! I’ll get 4!

Look how gigantic they are. They are, I think, 12 pieces, each individually wrapped, plus 60 (?) fasteners. It took me 2 hours to assemble one. I have 2 up and I more or less leveled them and started throwing some garden refuse in there. I am so pressed for time before the season ends, I plan to hold back the other two.

I can either assemble later or I might try to sell them. We’ll see. I’d like to give the main garden patch a nice rest next summer.

They are pretty though!

And anyone who is thinking: oh, look. A faucet. That will be so handy for your drip irrigation.

Nope. That faucet has never worked. We’ve had at least 3 people come out and look at it. It’s a mystery.

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Loss Prevention – Out Today in Apex!

Posted on August 13, 2024 by Pamela Rentz

Generated with AI ∙ August 11, 2024 at 4:41 PM, then I tried to noodle in it with Photoshop but the software has changed so much and I’m so out of practice that I just clicked around the menus for 15 minutes before doing a filter then giving up. (This image isn’t associated with Apex — I just thought it would be fun to try make something that goes with the story. This is pretty close.

My short story Loss Prevention is available at Apex Magazine now! This is the story that they put up on May 5 for MMIP Day.

I haven’t been very productive the past few years so I am pleased I have something out there and I am very proud of this story. Hope you get a chance to check it out.

(Also, if you try and it isn’t there, it’s because I goofed. Sorry. Hopefully I will notice and fix asap.)

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May 5 is MMIP Awareness Day!

Posted on May 6, 2024 by Pamela Rentz

[Well, POOP: As per every single time, I was trying to write a post before dinner. Dinner was ready. Bob was waiting. I hurried to finish this and … Didn’t hit the publish button. Too late now. Story will be available this summer.]

Tomorrow is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Peoples Awareness Day.

Apex Magazine bought a story of mine called “Loss Prevention” that has a MMIP theme. The official publication isn’t until July but they will be running it on their Patreon tomorrow for free.

The story on Patreon on May 5 here.

More info:

Indigenous people, particularly women and young girls, are disproportionately affected by violence. A growing movement led by Native communities and advocates seeks justice for our lost people. May 5 is designated “Missing and Murdered Indigenous Persons Awareness Day” to memorialize these lost individuals and raise awareness of the tragedy.

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Heartbeat Braves is an Audiobook!!

Posted on May 16, 2023 by Pamela

Pen name was given the opportunity to turn Heartbeat Braves into an audiobook using digital narration.

I understand all the concerns about using digital narrators. I would LOVE to record my books with Indigenous voices but I don’t have the skills or resources to make that happen.

I wrung my hands and thought about it for quite some time but decided to give it a shot.

I keep reading the instructions and I guess it’s only available via the Apple Books app:

Heartbeat Braves.

I am listening to it right now. Madison does a good job but here are a few funny mispronunciations like when Linda tells them to polish their resumes and she says Polish, like of the country Poland. I also hear some typos and awkward sentences.

But I think it came out great. I hope people who prefer to consume their romance via audiobooks will give it a try.

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Little Notebooks

Posted on June 23, 2021 by Pamela

Well, I prepped several posts to make it easier to post in the middle of the week and still I struggle.

This is my little notebook I keep by my bed so if I have any ideas I can jot them down.

I use it for anything I don’t want to forget. Sometimes when something is coming up like a trip, I get anxiety about forgetting something so I write several versions of the same reminder. Whatever it takes to help get to sleep at night.

This little notebook I started almost 6 years ago. As I put my brand new notebook in the drawer I thought, if this one takes 6 years to fill up I will be [gulp] past my 60th birthday and probably close to if not retired by then. Hard to wrap my head around that.

Also — it looks like a fancy photo in my notebook but it’s photoshop to cover up the notes because they were a tiny bit personal. Probably wouldn’t make sense to anyone but I covered it up anyway.

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Clarionwest Beg-A-Thon Week #6 Wrap-Up

Posted on August 3, 2019 by Pamela

The workshop is finished. Everyone goes home today probably heartbroken, happy, and exhausted. I think I slept twelve hours the first two nights I got home. I’d already taken six weeks off work but they let me take Monday, too, because I needed it.

Check out Percy making some figs. Don’t think he has the juice to finish the job this summer but maybe we’ll get a few next summer.

In the interest of complete honesty: I failed at my meager write-a-thon goals. I’m still fiddling with my story idea and thinking I just need one more weekend to get it worked out which looking at history, there’s a good chance this story is doomed. But I can’t bring myself to trunk it yet. I never even looked at the kayak story which needs a little light tweaking and it’s ready to go out the door.

However, I also busted ass to get that last self-published book done in May so I could enjoy summer things and I am doing that. I’ve read almost 20 books since then and I’ve done lots of family things and made lots of pies. I’ve watched shows and a bunch of soccer matches and have a better garden than usual.

After this month I’m going to ramp back up.

A couple of pumpkins out front plus one blue hubbard squash.

If you forgot and think it’s too late. It’s not. You can donate anytime. All donations are welcome.

Donation Links:
Me.
Maggie.
Neile.
Everyone.

Here’s the address if you’d prefer to mail a donation:
Clarion West
P.O. Box 31264
Seattle, WA 98103-1264

Thanks to everyone who supported me and the workshop. We raised over $16K. Enjoy the rest of your summer.

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Clarion West Beg-A-Thon Week #2 Report

Posted on July 6, 2019 by Pamela

Our 4th of July was relatively quiet. We had a late lunch/early dinner at the inlaws. I made mac salad, lentil salad, and this glorious jello treat, plus an apple pie. Marilyn made watermelon salad, potato salad, and granny pea salad. Denise made a tri-tip and a platter of corn on the cob. This was for 7 people. No one went home hungry.

Lots of fireworks restrictions now so no mayhem outside our front door. We went to bed early with the windows and shades shut. I heard some racket around 11pm but otherwise it was uneventful.

Oakie, the Orleans cat, finds the most comfortable seat in the house.

Week two of the workshop has ended.

My main goal for the write-a-thon was to dust off a first draft NDN casino in space story and try to get it ready for submission. I was almost ready to give up last weekend but thought I figured it out and kept working on it.

Then Friday I almost gave up again and then I was sitting quietly trying to solve a completely different problem and I got another idea. I think I have successfully figured out what to do with this thing. I worked on it all morning, way longer than I intended, and I’m about 1/3 of the way through my revision.

This week’s goal is to finish the new draft.

Mom and Aunt Janet in the parade.

Donation Links:
Me.
Maggie.
Neile.
Everyone.

Here’s the address if you’d prefer to mail a donation:
Clarion West
P.O. Box 31264
Seattle, WA 98103-1264

Thanks for supporting nerd writers.

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Clarion West Beg-A-Thon Week #1 Report

Posted on June 29, 2019 by Pamela

Remember when that raccoon attacked the walls of water on my freshly planted baby tomato sproutlet?

The tomato never really recovered. This is a terrible picture. I tried to figure out a clever way to emphasize the tomato but this I best I can do at the moment.

It’s got tomatoes forming but it’s so spindly it can barely stand up under the burden.

For contrast, here’s the other tomato I planted at the same time.

I tried to take a photo of the giant weed farm the next door neighbors are growing in their front yard, but couldn’t get a shot that best showed the waving yellow flowers that will soon turn into white fluff and blow into our yard. I read on nextdoor that you can report your neighbors for neglecting their yard and it’s tempting. The situation over there hasn’t changed much. The noise in the middle of the night is less terrible and tolerable as long as all the windows are shut and the shades drawn. I am still coming to terms with the idea that I will never have my windows open at night as long as they live there.

Look at Percy! Two years old in May.

Write-a-thon Update.

Here’s a post I wrote a few years ago about the workshop and what it meant to me.

The first week of the workshop is finished. This is my week #1 report.

My original goal was to dig up a first draft I wrote years ago and get it ready to submit.

Upon re-reading the draft, I was concerned that it was such a mess. The set-up is fine but the hard part is finding an ending and I fiddled with it on and off all week and the magical portal where story endings fall out did not open for me.

This afternoon while I ate lunch I tried to decide whether to give up or not. I already know I am the kind of person that will flog on an idea long after it’s clear that I can’t figure out what to do with it.

It’s all made up, right? So there has to be a way to make up something that makes the story work. I hate to give up because I always think I *should* be able to come up with something.

While I ate, I wondered what would happen if I swapped the characters around and chose a different character as the main character and that gave me an idea. So I am going to spend one more day fiddling with it and if I have a clear idea what I want to do, I’ll work on it another week.

Otherwise I’m going to quit it and change to the kayak story and finalize.

This is my donor page.
Here is my classmate and TIRELESS beta reader Maggie.
Here is one of our workshop leaders Neile.
Here’s the list of all the writers if you want to browse.

Here’s the address if you’d prefer to mail a donation:
Clarion West
P.O. Box 31264
Seattle, WA 98103-1264

I just got my donation report and I already have donations! Already the first week we’ve raised almost $6,000. (Not me personally, all the write-a-thoners together.)

Thanks for supporting nerd writers.

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