Welcome to the Los Angeles Area EFA Chapter page. EFA-LA is open to all EFA members in the Los Angeles area. If you fall a little outside the area—from the desert to the sea—consider yourself welcome too.

We will continue to have virtual meetings until it is safe to have functions in person.

NEXT MEETING: Our next meeting will take place on Wednesday, May 12 from 2:00-3:30 pm. Our guest speaker will be EFA member Kellie Hultgren from Minnesota. Kellie’s presentation, “Avoid the Knowledge Gap in Your Editing” will include a Q&A session. The presentation will identify invisible gaps such as when you are reading a passage and sense something is off. Kellie will explore the roles of instinct (when to trust your instinct and when not to trust it) and intuition in editing. She will cover common knowledge gaps and how to avoid them, bridge them, and fill them. We will also learn techniques for recognizing gaps before they become a problem. Also discussed will be situations where hunches can lead you astray. A handout will be provided.

SAVE THE DATE: The next chapter meeting will take place on Wednesday, August 18. Details to follow.

OTHER NEWS:

The 26th annual  Los Angeles Times Festival of Books will take place April 17-23 and will be virtual.

Go to http://latimes.com/festivalofbooks to find further information about the event and author panels. There is something for everyone’s interests.

Don’t forget to RSVP for the virtual panels you want to attend. You will be sent the Zoom information.

Besides celebrity authors like Don Lemon from CNN and Jesse Tyler Ferguson talking about his cookbook, there will be more than 100 writers appear at the book festival. Deesha Philyaw will discuss her short stories in “Secret Lives of Church Ladies”; Deesha was a finalist for a  Times Book Prize and won the PEN/Faulkner Award. Poetry like Victoria Chang’s “Orbit” will be featured. A young adult book, “Punching the Air,” written by one of Central Park Five Yusef Salaam with Ibi Zoboi will also be in a panel.

A Zoom networking meeting for members who live in the San Gabriel Valley/Inland Empire and the surrounding areas took  place on March 29 with chapter co-coordinator Maria Alonzo sponsoring the meeting. Although the turnout was low (many had looming deadlines), discussion ensued regarding getting to know local members, what the EFA offers, volunteer opportunities in the community, the details of conducting an interview for a profile, and tips for self-promotion.

The summer networking meeting (social) will take place (hopefully in person) for the Westside/metro LA members on Tuesday, June 22 (with co-coordinator Linda Ruggeri). The San Fernando Valley/Antelope Valley/Santa Clarita/Ventura County networking social will take place in the fall with co-coordinator Janet Long. More details to follow.

This smaller group setting will allow us to get to know one another better and to talk about our challenges and accomplishments in our businesses. Regular chapter meetings will still occur.

Visit our LinkedIn page to find out about chapter updates, spark discussion, make requests, or throw ideas against the wall.