I’m fascinated by authors. I love books and becoming immersed in a great read and have always felt that writers had magic. Good writers have the ability to open a doorway that leads to an alternate reality. A reality that is so immersive, you could stay there for hours. We are sitting still in our world, but adventuring with our mind when we are having a good read. I love the whole process and admire writers who possess the talent of creating such a beautiful form of entertainment and avenue for learning. I always wanted to be a writer and actually had been writing since a very young age. I decided five years ago to take it more seriously, hone my craft and see if I could get some perspective and feedback from objective readers.

I started a search for writers group and found a group called Coffee House Writers Group on Meetup.com. This is where I met the brainchild and creator of Coffee House Writers Group, Christine Marie Bryant. The group’s core philosophies embrace respect, passion and positivity. All are welcome, all have a turn to read their work to the group and all receive productive and constructive critique. The group structure and guidelines for presenting current works in progress, were initially created by Ms. Bryant. Over the years, the group member’s feedback helped shaped those guidelines into the current platform used to support the critiquing process. Christine, a force of nature, has made it her life’s mission to bring writers together to work on their craft, help them get published, create community and find their tribe. And she does this all for love. The love of writing and creating a safe place for artists to express themselves and receive encouragement.

A writer herself, Christine had a challenging childhood. She found writing as a way to provide solice and escape from the struggles of being the third eldest (eldest daughter) in a family of six siblings. What started as a confessional, became a talent. Christine realized this when she started submitting her writing in school competitions and winning prizes and scholarships for her excellent writing. She took these awards and headed off to college, but found herself soon a single mom and unable to continue pursuing her dream to complete her degree. She then worked in the hospitality industry and home improvement industry, where she excelled in both. She loved the work, the camaradarie and the daily challenges. Then suddenly her trajectory in the corporate world was arrested by politics and unfair work practices. The future was unknown and Christine decided to take a leap of faith. She was out with friends and saw an advertisement for massage therapy school. She made the call and this evolved into her current profession as a Certified Massage Therapist. Initially, she worked at a day spa and a chiropractic office, then eventually decided to establish her own independent practice. Her clientele grew and she established a thriving practice. She became skilled in holistic practices that brought healing and peace to her clients. She helped her clients navigate to a better life without pain and greatly reduced their suffering.

While her career morphed and went through stages, Christine, continued to write and then decided to work on possibly publishing some of her writing. She wanted to make sure it was readable and made sense, so she searched for writers groups where she could find helpful critiques and obtain insight into her process.  Unfortunately, none of the groups she visited were her cup of tea. There was always something that just wasn’t positive enough or really did not delivere on the promise of creating great writers.  She then decided to take matters into her own hands and created her own writers group on Meetup.com. On New Years Eve 2009, she created the meetup site for CHWG and scheduled her first meeting in January 2010. She was pleasantly surprised that people actually showed up. This was the humble start of a format for supporting writers that made sense. It worked so well, that writers took to the process with excitement and energy. The word quickly spread about Christine’s group. The group began to grow and find success. Then five months later, in May 2010, Christine was diagnosed with a meningioma brain tumor. Her treatment plan included a surgery to remove the tumor and her future was unknown. She handed over the reigns of CHWG to her most trusted members of the group. She successfully completed surgery December 13, 2011 and returned in February of 2012, a few months after surgery. This was a time of unpredictability and her future was unknown. Through all this, she held on to her dream. When she returned, the group had survived due the kindness and dedication of fellow members. In 2012 she became president of the group.

I finally made it to a Coffee House Writers Group meeting in Glendora at IHOP. When I found the meeting room at the back of the restaurant, a bunch of studious looking types were sitting around a table. Everyone took turns to read and then had a turn to critique. I loved it, but was somewhat terrified at the same time, because I had never read my work to strangers before. As the meeting went on, I became more comfortable. I noticed the critiques were delivered pleasantly in a helpful manner. After I read my piece, I jotted down notes of the suggestions that the fellow writers in the meeting had given me. I planned to take it all home and integrate what I learned at the workshop.  The meeting was comprised of all sorts of people; that included professors, professional writers and many others with interesting backgrounds. It was awesome to be immersed in a group of people that loved language and books as much I did.

I was surprised when I first met Christine Marie Bryant, the founder of Coffee House Writers Group. She was young, beautiful, vibrant, not bookish at all and very down to earth.  She sat at the table and let us know the guidelines and she encouraged kind and fair discourse with each other. She contributed to the critiques as well and jumped in to help bring understanding to a concept if the reader wasn’t getting it. I found out later, that Christine travelled all over Southern California to the various chapters.  She attended each group to make sure the core philosophy was practiced and that budding writers were blooming utilizing this process.

Fast forward to today and now there are groups established in La Verne, Fullerton, Long Beach and a Skype group. The group  has  a board and 501(c)(3) non-profit status. Coffee House Writers Group  has an extensive website comprised of bios of all the board members, a page to promote and sell the works published by Coffee House Writers Group and links to their podcast hosted by J Bryan Jones.

The group thrives because it celebrates the arts, promotes human individuality and encourages people to keep doing what they love no matter what. There is a critique of writing, but never of the individual themselves. Each writer is respected and valued. Their potential as a writer is acknowledged. Christine’s core philosophy holds that everyone is on the same plateau and she works very hard to make this a reality. She refuses to be put on a pedestal and she always keep the writers at the forefront. Her goal is to give the writers exposure and opportunities to develop their craft by creating supportive community. She sees the group as a beautiful garden that she’s nurturing along with others that share her vision.

It’s all very altruistic and somewhat hard to believe, especially with current times where self promotion is the speak of the day.  But it’s true, Christine is really doing this for her love of literature, writing and people.  She has drive that it is only satiated by witnessing the development of the writers that have joined in and created this very real and successful group.

For this column people of the IE,  I search for people in the Inland Empire who work directly with the public on a grass roots level. They possess an unusual and significant influence in their communities due to their devotion and love for what they do. They are making impact gracefully, but persistently, and it all comes from a passion that burns from within and cannot be extinguished. Christine exemplifies these qualities, but is extremely humble and likes to keep it real. Real support and camaradarie resulting in pure authorship and celebrations of the craft.

I asked Christine what her dreams were for her future.  Her eyes light up as she begins to discuss her non-profit, the challenges she has surpassed establishing a stand alone and legal entity and building a board for the group that is comprised of many individuals as alturistic as Christine herself and devoted to the craft of writing.  She hopes one day to have a stand alone space that is owned by the group and will go on for future generations. A space where writers can be found working away and collaborating on projects in an open and inviting workspace. She has already been scouting locations and the vision is slowly becoming more real day by day.

Christine is a testament to human resilience, the good that people are capable of and how goodness leads to greatness.  I have also felt that joining Coffee House Writers Group, is one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Not just because I found a great place to learn to write, but I met Christine, who’s passion for helping people realize their dreams, has had no bounds.

Get to the know the world of Coffee House Writers Group at: http://chwritersgroup.org

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STEVIE TAKEN- PASSION AND OPPORTUNITY MAKING RIVERSIDE THEATRE RELEVANT

Stevie Taken is probably one of the most unique, energetic and talented people I’ve ever met. I met her at a community event at a local museum in downtown Riverside. She was involved in a conversation about theatre and I joined in because it’s one of my favorite subjects. I immediately realized that her depth of involvement in Riverside’s theatrical world was significant and she was one of the key players. She spoke with passion and authority about different productions that were happening about town. I was struck by her friendliness and her ability to collaborate and draw people to her projects. More importantly, it was evident that she wasn’t out for fame, but for the love of the process and collaboration. She was involved in several projects that required many key players, crossing economic and cultural barriers that usually prevent communities from accessing the world of Art and Theatre.

Currently, Stevie is the artistic director of The Homespun Players in Riverside, California.   With the support of Patrick Brien, executive director of the Riverside Arts Council,  they obtained non-profit status and physical sponsorship from the City of Riverside.   For those who are not familiar with Riverside, it’s a fairly large Inland Empire city. The home of University of California Riverside. Despite it’s accolades for superior educational opportunities, Riverside maintains it’s small town artistic feel. It’s ranked by Forbes as the eighth coolest city in the United States. This has a lot to do with the bevy of creative communities that can be found in Riverside. The original citrus town humbly sits on the banks of the dried up Santa Ana River and the people of Riverside love theatre and almost anything to do with the Arts.  It’s somewhat of an oxymoron; a city that forged it’s success with farming; morphing into a cultural hub and being a major force in Southern California’s art scene. This is where Stevie comes in.

What makes Stevie so special? It all started when Stevie was  a child growing up in  Riverside. She was one of five siblings raised by parents who loved the arts. Parents who encouraged their children to study dance, acting and the stage. Going as far to build a stage in their garage with lighting and a disco ball for dramatic effects.  Stevie and her two younger siblings were all high energy and spent their days in a whirlwind of planning shows and performing them for anyone who was interested in their performances.

As Stevie grew, she continued to follow her love of performing and was involved in productions throughout her high school studies. She began her college education at Riverside Community College where she overcame intense struggles with math (A very common problem for artsy right brained people) to earn entrance into Cal State Long Beach’s baccalaureate program for Performance and Directing. At Cal State Long Beach. She studied under professional working actors and directors who had graduated from prestigious performance schools such as Juilliard and Yale. The students produced and directed weekly showcases to develop and refine their directing chops. In 2007-08, while at Cal State she was among a peer group of 16 who established the Alive Theatre Group and after graduating produced and directed local theatre. Her first show being iShow. The show’s theme was based on our culture’s fear of and obsession with technology.  Then during 2008, the United States economy collapsed.  Stevie decided to head back to Riverside, bringing her talent with her. This led to more traveling to work in the tourist industry in Alaska and Hawaii, utilizing her skill to engage people and sell them entertainment opportunities such as whale watching excursions. She loved this work, but Alaska turned out to be life changer. Due to the unusual cycles of day and night and the pathological effect on the human sleep cycle, Stevie health suffered. She decided to head back to a healthier environment in Southern California. 

Stevie found herself, once again in Riverside and pursuing her dream of a life in the theatre. She ended up at the Mission Inn, where she became a waitress and tour guide. She loved the work and the flux of interesting people from around the world that flowed through the doors of the art-filled Mission Inn.  There was a never-ending stream of visitors from the world of arts, theatre and history. While working, Stevie continued to pursue the arts and took Los Angeles based acting classes.  She  took classes with Hugh O’Gorman, who was nominated for a Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble and owner of a successful actor’s studio which bases it’s theory on the works of Chekhov and Stanislavsky.

In 2013, while working and taking Los Angeles based theatre classes, she formed a local group with fellow thespian, Erin Maxwell-Maroufhkani. Initially, they performed in backyards as The Backyard Players. The first show was performed in the backyard of renowned local celebrity and artist, Tiffany Brooks.  Tiffany Brooks’ gorgeous paintings embellish the interiors of the Mission Inn and The Biltmore Hotel in Los Angeles. It was an economical way to establish the acting company and develop a grassroots following.  It was a humble start and the group was dedicated. Their first show was Metamorphoses by Tony award winning, Mary Zimmerman. A complex piece, utilizing Greek Mythology to embody several plays within a play. Following Metamorphoses was Shakespeare’s A Midnight Summer’s Dream.  With each performance, their popularity grew and their name was changed to The Homespun Players inspired by a line of one of the character’s in the play. “What hempen homespuns have we swaggering here?”

The next three years were years filled with success. In 2015, Stevie and her colleagues shared their success with the city and produced a children’s show based on Grimm’s Fairy Tales. The show played at the Riverside Art’s Museum and raised over $750 to fund art scholarships for children.  Following this project, in 2016, Taken and colleagues produced Riverside’s Shakespeare In The Park, which had a successful run for two years. Due to construction restrictions and funding hurdles, Taken’s group was forced to discontinue the project and they moved on to new venues. Their most recent productions were Medea in October 2018, performed at The Box and Performance Anxiety, performed at the Menagerie. Performance Anxiety is  slated for it’s next performance at  Back To The Grind on March 23, 2019.

When interviewing Stevie, it was a lot to take in. There are so many key players and it’s obvious the success of Stevie’s group is due to collaboration and community.  Stevie exudes an aura of gratitude for what she and her cohorts have accomplished. She is constantly bringing forth names of people and organizations that have contributed to the success of her productions.  She remains humble,  matter of fact and realistic about producing successful theatre.  It’s a huge undertaking and she does it solely for the love of the theatrical arts and bringing excellent theatre to the communities that make up Riverside.  I asked Stevie what her goals were for the coming next few  years. It turns out, her next goal is huge and a step away from the world of theatre. For the past two years she had been drawn into the political spectacle that is currently has the United States under it’s sway.  The Women’s March and surge of women representatives in Washington D.C. have  inspired her to make a spontaneous and organic decision to run for the office of Ward III City Council Person of Riverside.

Stevie has realized that she has a  desire to give back in a new and different way.  She believes that there are huge groups from various segments of the Riverside population that are not represented. She wants to include those people in building a future for their community together. Her perspective of the the current political climate in the United States, is a large factor in her bid for City Council Member.  She wants to be a part of the political landscape that is working diligently to fight current negative trends that reflect hate and resistance to positive and progressive change. In conjunction with her foray into the world of politics she is working on producing “12 Angry Men performed by 12 Impassioned Women”. This piece is usually  read by an all women cast and conveys the power one person can have when they speak out in the judicial system. The event will be held on Saturday, April 6th @ 2pm at Poly High School’s Littleworth Theater, tickets are $6 and are available at Eventbrite, or at the door. This production is a collaboration with Theatre Spree and The Homespun Players, they are inviting all of the women running for City Council throughout Riverside to participate. 

Towards the end of our meeting, I wanted to find out what made Stevie who she was and fueled her desires and ambitions.  I wanted to know those key attributes that made her so successful and so loved.  She told me that she’s never been one who thinks very far into the future. Her goal is not to do theatre just to do theatre, but to do what she feels most passionate about in the present moment. Stevie has a philosophy about theatre people. That is, theatre people are among some of the best people on the planet. They love to help others, they love having fun and making other’s laugh and feel good. And best of all, they are everywhere you go, so no matter where in the world you find people, you will find theatre people. Her main goal was to create access to the world of theatre for everyone.

To find out more about the upcoming performances of the Homespun Players, go to: www.homespunplayers.com

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Tony Gonzalez is an amazing and kind friend who agreed to initiate the series PEOPLE OF THE IE-and here it is: To kick off this new page PEOPLE OF THE IE, I decided to start with someone who’s led a life of adventure, loves people and helped many.  

Tony Gonzalez, known in Norco as Cowboy is a top real estate producer and also teaches courses at two of the largest Real Estate competitors in the Inland Empire.  

Besides these awesome credentials, what is unique about Tony?  I have to go back to the beginning when I first met him.  

I had reached a point in life where I was looking for new opportunities and pursuing change. I’m a huge believer that change is necessary to thrive.  It’s the human condition to long for stability, find that safe place and then relax.   But, I haven’t met a person yet, that reached that goal. Life will also give you a nudge, sometimes a kick to get you going. So, I prefer to be proactive.  This belief spurred me take a real estate course.   I went to a well-known national chain with several local offices and my instructor ended up being Tony.   

The class was in the evening, after work and we had a small group of hopeful individuals wanting to better their lives by selling Real Estate.  I anticipated a very business like, maybe boring person, to lead us through the course. We sat around the table chatting until a  guy, dressed  like he was going to the rodeo entered the room.   He was loud and commanded our attention at once. He was articulate with a slight accent and happened to be trilingual.    He proceeded to start talking about  music, guns, cars and then real estate.  He was funny, hilarious, talented and knew his stuff. Several of the students and myself attempted to challenge him, but he knew the subject backwards and forwards. And he was humble about it. He kindly put us in our places  with encouragement to keep challenging him and learn.   He was nice to everyone and genuine.   His friendliness wasn’t a facade. He remembered our personal details and our personal motivations for being in his class.   

I found him to be fascinating and it really piqued my curiosity how he became this successful, yet kind and giving person.  He was willing to lead students through difficult and sometimes boring tomes of information.  It was obvious that he didn’t see barriers or stereotypes. Everyone was fair game.   It was all about teaching Real Estate and making it real for all of us. Giving us a vision of success.

So this post is about how he became the person he is today and the good work he is doing for the community and business world out here in the Inland Empire.

It all started in Los Angeles.  Tony was the youngest of four children and only son of Juan Palomo, famous mariachi and Mexican national treasure. Juan Palomo was from the famed Guanajuato, Mexico.  Guanajuato is best known in Riverside as the home of the Reyes family who commissioned the Reyes Retablo housed in the Saint Francis Chapel of The Mission Inn.  Countless celebrities and people of fame have been married in front of this priceless piece of art that is over 300 years old.   Tony’s ancestry also traces back to Sweden. His maternal great grandfather, Stephen Green,  immigrated from Sweden to Mexico, landed in Baja and decided to establish is legacy there.

Juan Palomo eventually moved to Los Angeles to purse the American dream. He worked there for several years and then for health reasons decided to buy a farm and move back to Mexico, closer to family.  He bought a 250 acre farm in Mexico and began his  recovery.  The farm was successful. His crops were alfalfa, wheat, and there were some dairy cows.  There was also a drilling business. This is where Tony’s  love of ranching began and would eventually morph into a dream to travel the world, visit ranches and write about them. He dreamed of ranches in Australia, Alaska and Argentina.  He found he carried the musical gene as well and learned to master the guitar, piano and harmonica.  When he told his father he wanted to continue his schooling,  become a writer and travel around the world, his father would tease him and tell him to climb to the top of the drill rig where he could see the world.

His next move was to the 12,284 acre Avenales Ranch on the California Central Coast. At that time, the Avenales Ranch was owned by Jim Stinton. Jim Stinton held a degree from UC Berkeley in agricultural economics. He was deeply involved in agricultural research and executed many projects and experiments that advanced the science of ranching. Jim Stinton was a friendly and kind man and well-loved in his community. He shared information with the ranch hands and rode side by side with them over the range; teaching and working the range. At the Avenales Ranch, Tony worked the land and became an expert on wildlife and game, while working under the tutelage of John Arnold, the ranch manager and his Uncle Humberto Castro from the neighboring ranch, Las Piletas.   There was a broad range of wildlife that included bears, mountain lions, elk and several species of snakes. The impact of Jim Stinton’s, as well as John Arnold and Humberto Castro’s teaching, stayed with Tony and inspired him to become a teacher and mentor later, when he became successful in Real Estate.

While working on the Central Coast, life happened and Tony met his beautiful wife and started a family.  Along with that came the demand to settle down and provide a good life for his wife and three sons. First, they moved off the remote 12,000 acre ranch to a town nearby. Here, Tony took on additional work at a veterinary clinic. He settled here until an opportunity to start a tech business in Mexico arose. He moved back to Mexico briefly, learned the business from the ground up and then Y2K hit, which led to his return to the United States and the Inland Empire. In the Inland Empire, he was introduced to selling Real Estate by a friend. He took to selling land, like a fish to water, and soon became an award winning  top producer in the Inland Empire, selling millions of dollars of Real Estate.

Fast forward today and Tony’s role as a teacher and mentor to Real Estate students. Not only is the work philanthropic in nature; but it provides networking, access to new trends in the industry and consulting opportunities. This as a whole benefits the industry.

I asked Tony why he teaches. He responded he really enjoys it. He loves meeting people and finds the teaching process fun. He loves helping people succeed and see them improve their lives. He keeps inspired by following motivational speakers on Ted Talks and is a big fan of self improvement. He loves to pass this on in his classes. 

My last and favorite question for Tony was, what is the meaning of life to you? He quickly responded that he believed everyone was here for two reasons. He liked to think those reasons were to learn and grow and to make the world a better place for future generations.  He believes that life is always changing and had not really ever considered retiring, but restructuring his life.  This would be a balance of dividing his time between selling Real Estate, teaching, traveling and spending time on a small rural property that is not a working ranch.

Meanwhile, you can reach Tony at: www.norcolife.com 

Photography for PEOPLE OF THE IE provided by CCB PHOTOS. Please see their bio below:

Hey guys! My name is Christian Byers and I’m a photographer. I ‘ve been pursuing photography as a hobbyist  since I was a kid, and am now excited to work with people like you! So, go ahead and drop me a line and let’s see what we can create together!
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