Jill Hedgecock

Fiction Writer

You are here: Home / Events

Events

January 25th So You Want to Write a Book Panelist

What’s happening at Orinda Books?

So You Want to Write a Book…
Four local writers, all members of the California Writers Club, Mt. Diablo Branch, will discuss their writing and publishing journeys and offer tips for aspiring writers. A Q&A session will follow.
Saturday, January 25, 2:00 to 3:30

Joining us will be:

David George has published his debut novel, Granddad’s Garden – Stories of the Natural World.  Granddad’s Garden explores the relationship shared by a granddad and his grandson while discovering nature’s laws together. David is President of the California Writers Club, Mt. Diablo Branch, and writes a monthly column on gardening for a local newspaper.

Jill Hedgecock writes monthly book reviews and dog rescue columns for The Diablo Gazette. Her short stories, personal essays and nonfiction pieces have appeared in multiple anthologies, newspapers, and magazines. Her debut novel, Rhino in the Room, won a New Apple Literary Award in 2019.

Dorothy Edwards recently published her first children’s story, Langston’s Moon, a picture book about a young boy who sees the full moon for the first time and believes it is a giant sugar cookie. When the moon dwindles to a tiny sliver, he fears a sky monster has eaten it and the moon will disappear forever.

Andrew Benzie has published a series of books on die-cast collectables which are available on Amazon. A Bay Area native, with over 30 years of experience in the design industry, Andrew established Andrew Benzie Books in 2010 to help authors design, publish, and market their books.

If you have any interest in writing and/or being published,
this is “must-attend” event.

Orinda Books, 276 Village Square, Orinda, CA (925) 254-7606

December 12, 2019 Mount Diablo Audubon – Gorillas, Rhinos and More

Mount Diablo Audubon Meeting in Walnut Creek

I am the “Birding Information” pre-speaker talking about Mount Gorillas and

The main program speaker: Birds and Wildlife of Kenya

I’ll be selling signed copies of Rhino in the Room afterward.

The meeting is free to the public.

Camellia Room at The Gardens at Heather Farm, 1540 Marchbanks Drive, Walnut Creek.

6:30 pm Doors open
7:00 pm Birding Info
7:25 pm News
7:40 pm Snacks & Raffle
8:00 pm Main Program

10/11 & 10/12 Concord Oktoberfest – Diablo Gazette Booth

Meet Instagram-Sensation Ruby, the Doberman on the cover of my new novel, Between Shadow’s Eyes at the Concord Oktoberfest at Todos Santos Park. A stamp of Ruby’s paw is available to for her to sign books as well. Award-winning Rhino in the Room books will also be available.

Book Signing:
Friday from 6-8 PM, Saturday after 4PM-6PM.
Todos Santos Park, Downtown Concord, CA.

You will also receive a free dog bone soap with any book purchase while supplies last.

10/16 Napa BookMine Book Reading

Wednesday, October 16th, 2019 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm
Napa Bookmine, 964 Pearl Street Napa, California

Come join me and Dietrich Kalteis for an evening of crime and mystery.

For more information:
https://napavalleyregister.com/calendar/an-evening-of-crime-mystery-with-dietrich-kalteis-jill-hedgecock/event_fa3f153e-dcdc-11e9-b068-d337e80957ca.html?fbclid=IwAR2LeOuTjxRPqKlm1MDRlEO_t1k7apDFimytg0NCo1BU4fGALvGuJ8S11PM

November 13 Napa CWC Program on Muse Boards

November 13
7:00 – 9:00 PM
Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists Church Sanctuary,
1625 Salvador Avenue, Napa

My talk will cover differing formats (physical versus digital), what content can be used in creating a board, the advantages and a few pitfalls to be aware of while creating this tool, and how the muse board can help strengthen writing weaknesses and inform plot.

I will talk about how I discovered ways to capture emotion through the use of images, prevent time-wasting by documenting important details through visuals, and deepen the exploration of characters personality. Muse boards can even be used to develop less important characters to make them feel less like a device and more like real people.

Here is a link to a blog post on muse boards for more information:
https://www.thecreativepenn.com/2019/10/02/writing-tips-using-visual-inspiration-for-your-stories/?fbclid=IwAR1oYF8Bz6qIlEMCspJdLS8gLr94nnZg1Tmw5fZqkggZG3jVsCPg43jt0WQ

June BookEnds Review and Dog Rescue Column

Check out page 9 for a Review of A Song For Lost Angels by Kevin-Fisher Paulson – a perfect Father’s Day gift and page 23 for information about a sweet chi-mix in need of a home and foxtail hazards in my Ruby-dooby_do column. There’s also information about ARF’s Bark in the Park baseball event and more doggie news.

http://www.diablogazette.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/JUN19Diablo-Gazette-Digital.pdf

4/11/19 Marin Audubon Society Rhino Presentation and Book Signing

April 11, 2019 – 7:30 pm
Meeting Location:

Richardson Bay Audubon Center and Sanctuary in Tiburon. The address is 376 Greenwood Beach Road, Tiburon.

South Africa and Botswana are home to 829 and 550 bird species, respectively. Jill will share some of the amazing birds she viewed while on safari in 2015, including shimmering blue starlings, multi-colored lilac rollers, and vibrant bee-eaters. It was on this trip when Jill learned that three rhinos are killed each day fueled by the demand for their horns in Asian black markets as ingredient for traditional medicine. If the current rate of poaching is not curtailed, wild rhinoceros could become extinct within the next few decades. But recent promising developments offer hope for the species. She will also talk about interesting conservation projects that she became involved in as a result of the publication of her coming-of-age suspense novel, Rhino in the Room, (signed copies available for purchase at the meeting).

3/5/19 Ohlone Audubon – Birds and Rhino Poaching:  The Best and Worst of South Africa and Botswana

March 5, 2019 – 7:00 pm
Meeting Location:
Robert Livermore Community Center,
4444 East Avenue, Livermore CA 94550
Some of the best bird and animal sightings from my 2015  trip to South Africa and Botswana will be shared.  As amazing as Africa’s living zoo is, there is also a dark side to this country.  In 2015, a new record was set for largest number of rhinos poached. This travesty is being fueled by demand for the keratinous material in the horn in the Asian market, based on the misguided belief that the horn has curative powers for everything from hangovers to impotency to cancer.  Driven largely by China and Vietnam, the heaviest consumers, an ounce of rhino horn (essentially the same material as our fingernails) is considered more valuable than gold.  A single rhino horn can go for a half-million dollars. There are now only two northern white rhinos left on the planet and just 5,000 of black rhino are left in the world today.  I will present the myriad of solutions that are being considered to address the problem.  If the current rate of poaching is not curtailed, wild rhinos could become extinct within the next few decades.