Petaluma Profile: Marlene Cullen a writer’s best friend

Petaluma’s No. 1 bestselling book for the week of June 10, “The Write Spot: Memories,” is a collection Marlene Cullen assembled from fathers and their adult children. Many of the contributors are part of the Jumpstart and Writers Forum writing workshops she facilitates at the Petaluma Copperfield’s.

“I began writing when I was four,” Marlene says, “won contests as a child and went to Lowell, a very competitive high school in San Francisco. My ‘met on a blind date’ husband Jim and I moved to Sonoma County when the children were little and fell in love with a small plot of land on a former chicken ranch and the ‘needs work,’ 1898 farm house that came with it.”

Cullen explains that her success working with people can be directly traced to a book her sister gave her entitled, “The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding.”

“I wanted to be a good parent, but I didn’t know how,” she says. “That little blue book changed my life. I started going to the Petaluma La Leche League meetings. The mothers’ self-help group gathered together at people’s homes, where the local leader shared breastfeeding information, while the women talked about their lives.”

With twelve kids, the local leader of that group was a full-time mom, Cullen explains.

“But she also nurtured the other mothers - including me,” she allows. “I became an accredited La Leche League leader myself and benefited greatly from their leadership programs. The LLL’s active listening course helped me to decide on going to college full time and study Communications. My first day at SRJC coincided with my 50th birthday.”

Cullen’s popular writers group grew out of friendly get-togethers in her parlor.

“Since we met at my house, I was designated the leader,” she says. “Called Jump Start, the sessions became more and more crowded, so we moved to the Petaluma Senior Center. The ‘need to be 55 or older’ requirement became a problem, so the Community Center was our next address. Susan Bono was active with her Writers Sampler sessions and I began Writers Forum in 2000. Then Vicki DeArmon invited us to meet in the Petaluma Copperfield’s, and we’ve been there ever since.”

Cullen provides writing prompts for the Jump Start meetings (and the over 400 prompts online at Thewritespot.us).

“The prompts are open-ended to encourage both memoir and fiction,” she tells us. “Participants write for 15 to 20 minutes, and comments follow after reading the piece aloud. I insist that the feedback remains positive - focused on the writing - so the writer feels it is a safe place to write and read. There is a very positive energy in the group which is magical.”

Cullen, who admits her greatest passion is to encourage people to write, says she eventually realized she wanted to give writers the opportunity to be published. Last year, she began producing a series of “Write Spot” book, four so far.

“My heart fills with joy that the Write Spot books have been produced, and I am totally pleased with the results,” she says. “I serve as editor, and the contributions are by invitation. My only condition is that the writer must be willing to make revisions until we are both satisfied the work is done.”