Ina The Memoir Coach
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Workshops and Appearances

Workshops and Appearances

California Creative Writers Conference program March 3-12, 2023

Join Ina at the California Creative Writers Conference

The California Creative Writing Conference, March 3-12, is the perfect venue for you to learn from more than 40 literary agents, best-selling authors, editors, publishers, industry experts, Hollywood veterans, educators, and publishing professionals. Throughout this important experience, they will share their expertise in the craft and business of writing to help take your writing to the next level and guide your career on the path to success.

Creating Memorable Characters to Develop Your Plot

Saturday, Mar 4, 12:30 - 1:30 p.m. PT, Virtual  Panel
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What makes a memorable character? Their backstory? Motivation? A certain quirk? A look? Join award winning authors and editors Laurel Anne Hill, Ina S. Hillebrandt and Dianne Pearce in a webinar and get the skinny on key points to make your characters grab readers, and live on in readers' minds and hearts.

On Sunday March 5, 2023  Virtual, “Beyond the First Draft” panel at 11:15AM.
Techniques for Editing Your Own Work and When to Hire a Pro

Like a legal client who tries to represent themselves, a writer who solely relies on their ability as an editor is probably headed for literary disaster. Beyond friends and first readers, there is a real need to have a professional editor review every manuscript, and bring it up to literary standards. This panel of editors will give you tips of how to best edit your work, and what to avoid, then explain how to prepare the MS for a professional and how to find an affordable one.
PANELISTS: Deanna Brady. Dianne Pearce, Helga Schier. Ina Hillebrandt, Jennifer S. Wilkov

MODERATOR: Debra Eckerling

Check the full program times and events -- both virtual and in-person, below.


PROGRAM
SIGN UP
SPEAKERS/FACULTY

Such an honor to participate in the DPA pre-Emmys event with our Pawpress author Chester L. Richards

A sampling of the awesome folks we met at the book signing and swag bag gift of  Chester's book, From The Potato to Star Trek and Beyond: Memoirs of a Rocket Scientist.
Wonderful meeting and talking with the talented, lively, wise and witty Emmy Nominees before the Big Night!
Thank you Nathalie Du Bois and DPA Group. What a luxurious and entertaining event at @LuxeHotel!
And thanks also to Desiree Duffee of Books That Make You.  A wonderful experience!
#dpasuites #awardsseason #awardsshow #nominees #presenters #moviestars #giftbags #swags #entertainmentmarketing #BCE #BooksThatMakeYou #ChristopherMcDonald #Hacks #AlexBorstein #TheMavelousMrsMaisel #GiancarloExposito #BetterCallSaul #TotalDivas #MarkWilliams #Ozark
Read More About What Happened

Join Chester and Ina at The BookFest® Fall Adventure

Chock Full of Renowned Speakers and Panels on Everything Bookish
Livestreams Saturday Oct. 22 and Sunday Oct. 23

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Pawpress Author Chester L. Richards appearing with Ina Hillebrandt at The BookFest® Oct. 22
Join Chester and Ina Sat. Oct. 22, 4:30pm PT 

The Adventure of a Lifetime Chat with Chester L. Richards
What happens when your life takes you from an encounter with the The Great Potato to becoming an aerospace engineer? What happens when you go from co-writing an episode of the original Star Trek to whitewater rafting?
Memoirist Chester L. Richards discusses his many adventures with Ina the Memoir Coach and President of Pawpress, Ina Hillebrandt.
And be sure to mark your calendars for both Saturday and Sunday!

Join in the quest for new stories at your soon-to-be favorite book festival. Black Chateau Enterprises and Books That Make You bring you The BookFest.
With events showcasing prominent authors, literary luminaries, journalists, speakers, thought leaders, and publishing professionals, you don’t want to miss a thing!
#ChesterLRichards #TheBookFest #FromThePotatoToStarTrek #StarTrek #BlackChateau #
Beatrice Adenodi #ClimateChange #ThoughtLeaders #ProminentAuthors #BookGiveaways

Check out the Exciting Events!
Join Chester and Ina!

Interested in the effects of #BookBanning?

Tune in today -- or if you miss it, hear the half hour show via streaming. Interview with Rose Colombo on the widespread fallout of 2,000 books banned on her Book Club show. Noon PT today Sept. 21. UPDATE: a spirited discussion between the two of us, who are diametrically opposed in some ways, and yet share some important basic values.
Colombo Chronicles intervivews Ina Hillebrandt on First Amendment and Book Banning, and on memoirs and writng tips
Streaming Now!

Tune in Wednesday, July 27 at 1:00 pm PT to Hear
Frankie Boyer interview with Ina Hillebrandt

Frankie Boyer show featuring Ina Hillebrandt on lightening up at work
Frankie asks Ina about issues she tackles for the business world, and in memoir writing. Focus in both is on the importance of lightening up — the basis of her work in The UnWorkshops™—  to defuse problems occurring because of the myriad challenges facing both employers and employees today. And to help strengthen bonds among employees of different backgrounds, maximize customer relationships and employee retention. And how the work enriches attendees  personal as well as professional lives.
In the memoir writing work she loves, the focus is on the healing power of writing as well as lightening up, to both feel better, and write more creatively.

Streaming now!

Join Ina and a Sterling Panel of Experts to Discuss Indie Publishing and Small Presses: What Writers Need to Know

Ina Hillebrandt to Moderate IWOSC Panel on Indie and Small Presses
This summer’s IWOSC panel is a get-together with some of LA and SoCal’s most dynamic, diverse, and distinctive indie presses. Some of the topics we’ll be handling (along with moderated questions from our attendees) will include:
What are small presses and trade publishers looking for in their authors? What is the best way to approach them?
  • Can writers hope for a strategic partnership between author and publisher?  Or is it just query-and-wait?
  • Can a writer make real money apart from the Big Five? 
  • Book review:  can small presses get the attention of Hollywood or New York critics?
  • Are self-published authors welcome at these houses?  55-plus writers? 
  • How large a platform does a writer need?
More info on our outstanding panel, and to reserve your spot:
Info and Signup
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CLICK THE LOGO FOR LAT DETAILS!

Join Us at the 2022
Los Angeles Times Festival of Books!

Yay! The most exciting book event ever is back! Plan your day by going on the site to see all the great speakers, books and foooood!
This is an all day party, both Saturday and Sunday. Come visit Chet and Ina, the other authors and great folks at Black Chateau Booth #959.

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Meet Chester L. Richards

Author of From The Potato to Star Trek and Beyond: Memoirs of a Rocket Scientist

Our newest Pawpress author,  Chester L. Richards, is an Aerospace Engineer (Ret.), Inventor, Adventurer, Author, Storyteller, and Romantic.  After escaping serious injury from The Great Potato, one of his early "adventures" was co-writing, on a lark, a spec script with friend Judy Burns.  Thus was born Star Trek classic, "The Tholian Web."
Don't miss it!
The official release is June 21, but Chester will be
signing LAT Special Edition books
Sat. Apr. 23:  3-5 pm PT.  Black Chateau Booth #959
Do come! Chet would love to hear your stories!


How To Write Your Memoirs, the classic memoir-how-to by Ina
Ina will be with Chester Saturday, and signing two of her books
Sunday 1-3 pm PT.

How To Write Your Memoirs...Fun Prompts to Make Writing...and Reading... our Life Stories A Pleasure!

Fun-to-use questions, visuals and tips that jog your memory, and help you organize those scraps of paper stuffed in shoe boxes all these years. Create a treasure your family, and even folks who don’t know you, will savor.

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You Are Who You Eat, The Revolutionary New Cannibal Diet

Have you been trying to lose weight? Forever? Have we got a plan for you! You Are Who You Eat has weight loss tips that apply to all of us, cannibal and civilian alike. Sprinkled liberally with cannibal jokes, and highly seasoned with cartoons by world renowned Playboy, Esquire, and The New Yorker artist Dedini.
Sunday 1-3 pm PT.  BLACK CHATEAU BOOTH #959

Catch Ina and a Most Inspiring Panel at The BookFest®
Spring 2022! Now Streaming!

Yes, men write memoirs! These stories detail breath-taking moments. The authors overcame challenges to their very lives. Tune in to see how, and why a woman’s on the panel!
Streaming Now

Decoding His Story — Men Who Write Memoirs 

Let’s take a journey behind the curtains and find out what drives men to write their memoirs. This panel will deliver insights about how men get the courage to become vulnerable and expose their souls in front of the readers, how they chose the aspects of their lives they put into their books, and introduce you to male memoir authors you don’t want to miss.

OUR PANELISTS
Decoding His Story --- Men Who Write Memoirs

Paulino Chol, Author of Leading the Lost Boys: The Untold Story, the true story of leading 700 boy prisoners in South Sudan to freedom. 
JD Mass, Author of the memoir Race for What? A White Man’s Journey & Guide to Healing Racism from Within and anti-racism activist. 
Chester L. Richards, Author of the From the Potato to Star Trek Scientist: Memoirs of a Rocket Scientist, retired space engineer, adventurer, romantic, and inventor.  And our newest Pawpress author!

Morrie Sherry for Author Henry M. Silvert, author of the memoir, An Indelible Event and Detour through a Global Childhood
Moderator: Ina Hillebrandt, President of Pawpress, nationally known speaker, author and writing coach specializing in memoirs and fiction.
Do join us at The BookFest
®
!
See THEIR STORIES, and other great speakers AT TheBookFest.com!

Romance and Women’s Literature Writing
Tips for Writing for the Biggest Markets in Fiction Today

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Top Writers Discuss Keys on How You can Break into - and stay - in these leading fields of Romance and Women's Literature!

Monday, February 28, 2022
7:00 – 9:00 p.m. Pacific  on IWOSC Zoom Panel
More info and registration  at IWOSC. org here

Hooking Readers: The Power Of The First Line

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jOIN INA ON ZOOM FOR AN INTERACTIVE SEMINAR
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iscover the secrets of how you can hook readers, wooing them to go beyond the first line, and in fact turn the page, and then the next page, and on and on until they  get to The End.
Saturday, September 25, 2021 
1:00 – 3:00 p.m. Pacific Time
More Info and Registration: Grab you seat by noon the day before. 

Ina Speaks about Memoir Structure for GLAWS
The Greater Los Angeles Writers Society

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Tools to Write a Compelling Memoir People Want to Read
Speaker: Ina Hillebrandt, The Memoir Coach
Date: Sept. 1 – Time: 1-1:30.  (Extended to 3:00 on request at  GLAWS Zoom Meeting)
Some of the topics Ms. Hillebrandt will be touching upon:
  • Themes and Structure: considering a variety of ways to hook together your stories and characters, to draw readers in, and keep them turning the page
  • Dialog: adding life and spice to your writing
  • Character: ways to give dimension to the people portrayed
  • Writing Style Tips
Q&A following remarks by Ms. Hillebrandt.
NOTE:  Ina is humbled and pleased to have received this note from the leader of this GLAWS group, Philly Murtha, following the session.

Ina,
You have a gift...
As a writing coach and a patient teacher and guide, you  managed to give each of us assurance and understanding related to our own personal writing projects. You also gave us a number of approaches and processes that will help guide is forward...Writing is the essence of life for me and listening to you and gleaning insight on memoir is so useful.
Warm wishes,
Philly
Philly Murtha

Tune in to Hear Ina on Nationally Syndicated Frankie Boyer Biz Talk Radio

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#TheUnWorkshops   #Pawprints 
#LightenUp
      #YouAreWhoYouEat
Success in Work and Writing Through Humor? Yes!
Stories and Tips from Ina's books and UnWorkshops to increase creativity, enrich your life and your bottom --- line.
MONDAY, AUG. 16, 2021

2:00 PM  EDT
Now streaming. Ina's Segment begins at 20:28
www.spreaker.com/user/10863617/fb-081821

Join Ina on the Radio, with Popular Host James Lowe, a.k.a. Jiggy Jaguar

Keeping sane writing your memoirs, Jiggy Jaguar Interviews Ina Hillebrandt on 'Back to Normal'
TOPIC:  Memoir Writing Tips
Date:  Tuesday, September 30, 2021

Streaming at:

https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=898071694462657
#CovidSane  #MemoirWriting  #MemoirTips

Join Ina  on Zoom for a lively conversation on  writing  successfully for children in today's complex time

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Online Panel: Writing Successfully For Children In Today’s Complex Time

Wednesday, March 31, 2021 
6:00 – 8:00 p.m. Pacific Time


Register now
Registration closes at noon, the day before this meeting.
Via Zoom


Are you working on a children’s book, play, TV or film project? Have you got questions about age appropriateness, for writing your story and developing characters? For marketing? About the form young people are choosing to read books, and is that different in this time of quarantine? Our expert panelists will talk about these questions, and more.

About our Distinguished Speakers


Elizabeth Martin, co-writer of Disney's live action Mulan; Marilyn Scott-Waters, illustrator, author and creator of a number of children's books and paper toys, and the award winning TheToymaker.com;  Laura Taylor Namey, bestselling author of Reese’s Book Club pick, A Cuban Girl’s Guide to Tea and Tomorrow;  Los Angeles Public Library Children's Librarians Mara Alpert and Jennifer Murphy; and Gary Young, Kennedy Award playwright and author of acclaimed books and plays for young people and adults, and president of both IWOSC and PALA. Young also serves on the board of  Los Angeles Alliance of Playwrights.

See more about our speakers and topics we'll cover,  https://iwosc.org/writing-successfully-for-children-in-todays-complex-time/
Did you miss the event? It's been recorded, downloadable at 
https://iwosc.org/writing-successfully-for-children-in-todays-complex-time/

Ina's Footprints Memoir Writing Workshop Series

They're baaaacccccck!
Ina Hillebrandt Memoir Writing Workshop Series Spring 2019
Starting May 21, 8 weekly meetings designed to help you write the Story of Your Life, and have the time of your life!
Been wanting to write your life stories but feeling stuck? Please join us! You'll get:
  • Tips to get organized, and stick with it,
  • Special techniques to help you with recall, get through blocks, and enrich your writing.
  • Ideas and opportunities for publishing.
Info and Sign up. Do check this out now if you'd like to attend. Space is limited. Sign up by April 30 to reserve your seat now. And get an early bird discount!

 Ina Appears In Studio with DASH Radio's Houndsquad to talk about Pawprints

Reviews, excerpts, or buy the book on Amazon.
"Wise, warm, witty whimsy no animal lover would wish to miss."
Gerald Fried, award winning film/TV, opera composer, and writer

Read about the squirrel picnic on Ina's lap, and more....
Tune in to hear Ina being interviewed about the upcoming new edition of her Amazon best seller Pawprints, enchanting vignettes about close encounters between people and the furry and feathered -- cats, dogs, penguins, frogs, nose fur, for ex. -- and the occasional inanimate object. She'll also be talking about Pawprints Literacy Plus™, developed for the Jane Goodall Institute originally. The program has kids saying, "I think I'll stop kicking the cat." And grown ups saying, "The stories are soothing, uplifting," "A bulwark against specie-ism."
Houndsquad airs Mondays at 1:00 pm Pacific Time. Check out host Lucky Luciano's informative and lively dog, cat and other pet topics in previous shows at https://soundcloud.com/houndsquad. We'll be posting as soon as we have the air date for Ina's segment, and 24/7  streaming link!  Read press release


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Website, stories, videos, photos, audios and tools © 2010 Ina Hillebrandt ꟾ Updated regularly
Revised 2021. Updated March 2022
.
Some stories copyright by individual authors. Please do not share any material as is, or altered, re-packaged in any way. Short excerpts for review purposes only permitted. For other reprint information, please contact us.
  • Home
  • Services
    • Memoir and Fiction Writers' Services
    • Performance
    • Workshops and Appearances >
      • Footprints Memoir Workshop
    • Speaker Services
    • Educators' Services
    • Virtual and Other Options to Work With Coach Ina
    • Ask the Coach!
    • NEW! Momoirs
  • Books and Tools
    • You Are Who You Eat
    • How to Write Your Memoirs
    • Books by Our Authors
    • Ina's Weird Prompts
    • How to Get Reviews
    • Stories by our Authors
    • More Tools 'n Gifts to aMUSE the Writer in You
  • Testimonials
  • About Coach Ina
  • Press Room
  • Contact Us
    • Submit a Story
  • Blog