Speaker Series-- Geri Spieler -- “What Reporters Do That Novelists Need to Know”

Saratoga Senior Center – 19655 Allendale Ave, Saratoga 95070
Member $10, Nonmember $15 (coffee and snacks provided)

The South Bay Writers club, in partnership with SASCC, welcomes Geri Spieler as our October speaker.

For our October meeting, we will welcome Geri Spieler, a journalist, novelist, and long-time California Writers Club member. During her presentation, Geri will share her expertise on how to do effective research, which is a surprisingly important skill for fiction writers.

Geri’s writing background is both eclectic and extensive. During her time as a journalist and investigative reporter, she wrote for the San Francisco Chronicle, the Los Angeles Times, Huffington Post, Westways, and Forbes. Her experience as a journalist was crucial in helping her write and publish the book Housewife Assassin – The Woman Who Tried to Kill President Ford. This book’s unique perspective comes from Geri’s 30-year correspondence with Sarah Jane Moore, the woman who attempted to assassinate President Gerald Ford in 1975. Their correspondence began when Sarah Jane Moore read an article that Geri had written, and based on the quality of that article, reached out with a request for them to meet in person at the prison where she was incarcerated. Geri combined these personal experiences with years of independent research to deliver an intimate psychological portrait of a suburban housewife, turned double agent, during the political and cultural turbulence of the 1960s and 70s.

In addition to being a journalist and a novelist, Geri worked as the Research Director at Gartner Group, advising major corporations and publishing over 150 research notes on emerging technology. She has taught Internet research skills to many different types of organizations, and has spoken nationally and internationally in Asia, Europe, and Latin America.

Geri is an active member in a number of organizations that help writers. She has a long history with the California Writers Club, where she is currently president of the SF Peninsula branch. She is also a member of the Society of Professional Journalists, the Authors Guild, the Women’s National Book Association, the Internet Society, and the Book Critics Circle.

You will not want to miss Geri Spieler’s enlightening presentation on “What Reporters Do That Novelists Need to Know: Bringing Journalistic Rigor to Fictional Storytelling.”

We will also feature our traditional Halloween Costume Contest.
In honor of California Writers Week (December 15-21), consider dressing as a California author (or character?)!