{"id":244117,"date":"2011-01-09T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2011-01-09T08:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sdnews.com\/big-sister-of-san-diegos-writing-community-motivates-others-to-tell-their-stories\/"},"modified":"2011-01-09T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2011-01-09T08:00:00","slug":"big-sister-of-san-diegos-writing-community-motivates-others-to-tell-their-stories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/big-sister-of-san-diegos-writing-community-motivates-others-to-tell-their-stories\/","title":{"rendered":"Big Sister of San Diego’s writing community motivates others to tell their stories"},"content":{"rendered":"

Por Cynthia Robertson | Reportero SDUN
\n<\/strong><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Big<\/a><\/dt>\n
Judy Reeves with Steve Montgomery, her co-leader of the Thursday Writer’s group. (Cynthia Robertson\/SDUN)<\/dd>\n<\/dl>\n

Inside the newly expanded Lestat\u2019s on Adams Avenue, Judy Reeves, who is a co-leader of Thursday Writers, sat down in a red plush chair by the front window. She greeted the other writers who began arriving with pen and paper or laptops. Reeves considers all of them like family, even the two new people who were dropping in for the first time.<\/p>\n

Both aspiring and accomplished writers look up to Reeves like a big sister. In many ways, she is the leader of the city\u2019s writing community.<\/p>\n

From 1993 to 1998, Reeves headed up the Writing Center in Hillcrest. It was a place where people could find their \u201cwriting selves,\u201d so to speak, with Reeves leading the first drop-in Brown Bag groups. The Brown Bag was a lunchtime writing practice that Reeves initiated with a writing prompt, after which people would write for 40 minutes without putting down their pen.<\/p>\n

Then in 1999, Reeves wrote \u201cA Writer\u2019s Book of Days,\u201d which has just been re-released, with fresh, new writing prompts and essays about writers and the writing life.<\/p>\n

Reeves then co-founded San Diego Writers Ink in 2004. The organization offers classes, readings, and Brown Bag groups for writers.<\/p>\n

To several important literary figures within San Diego\u2019s writing community, Reeves has been a mentor. Yet she looks to others as her inspiration.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome who were my students I now consider my teachers,\u201d Reeves said during a recent interview.<\/p>\n

Amy Wallen, who wrote with her in Brown Bag Writers, was also in her Read and Critique group for about a year. With Reeves, Wallen joined a group of students under Janet Fitch, a Los Angeles-based writer who is most well-known for her novel \u201cWhite Oleander.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we were basically students together,\u201d Reeves said of herself and Wallen.<\/p>\n

Reeves was helpful during the writing process of her novel \u201cMoon Pies and Movie Stars.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI regularly attended Reeves\u2019 Brown Bag writing practice groups where many scenes in my novel were inspired by her writing prompts,\u201d Wallen said.<\/p>\n

One of the most important scenes in Wallen\u2019s book occurs when a little girl is tied to a front porch, which came from Reeves\u2019 prompt, \u2018Write about a front porch.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThat scene drove the underlying theme of the story of child abandonment,\u201d Wallen said.<\/p>\n

Another locally well-known author, Debra Ginsberg, was a participant in one of Reeves\u2019 Read and Critique groups.<\/p>\n

Scott Barbour was also in her Read and Critique group as well as Thursday Writers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m having a couple of pieces published in the San Diego Writers Ink\u2019s anthology this year,\u201d Barbour said. \u201cI never thought it would happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet another writer touched by San Diego Writers Ink is Nicole Vollrath, who had met Reeves originally through Thursday Writers. Having earned an MFA in Creative Writing at Emerson College, Vollrath blossomed under Reeves\u2019 encouragement, eventually serving as President of San Diego’s Writers Ink.<\/p>\n

\u201c[Reeves] believes every person has a story to tell and the world is a better place when they are shared,\u201d Vollrath said.<\/p>\n

But despite Reeves\u2019 ability to inspire and encourage other writers, she said the favor has not gone unreturned.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tell you, I feel like the writers I work with regularly at the Brown Bags and Thursday Writers groups and my regular Wednesday Night Read and Critique group, these writers are my teachers and mentors, too,” Reeves said.<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Cynthia Robertson | SDUN Reporter Judy Reeves with Steve Montgomery, her co-leader of the Thursday Writer’s group. (Cynthia Robertson\/SDUN) Inside the newly expanded Lestat\u2019s on Adams Avenue, Judy Reeves, who is a co-leader of Thursday Writers, sat down in a red plush chair by the front window. She greeted the other writers who began […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":749,"featured_media":244118,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"11555","_seopress_titles_title":"Big Sister of San Diego's writing community motivates others to tell their stories","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[11549,11551,11555],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-244117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-entertainment","category-news","category-uptown-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244117","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/749"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=244117"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/244117\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/244118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=244117"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=244117"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/test.sdnews.com\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=244117"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}