Adventures in Historical Fiction

Tim's talk, Adventures in Historical Fiction, combines his account of traveling (sometimes stumbling) through Western Europe and Turkey in pursuit of historical accuracy with tips on research for novelists. What he discovered in his travels created the realistic underpinnings for his first novel, The Wool Translator. His talk will offer pointers on research useful to all authors.

Takeaways will include:

•        How travel helps create verisimilitude in setting.

•        How to get free access to expensive or difficult-to-find books or materials for research.

•        Hierarchies of research authority.

•        How to properly use Wikipedia.

•        Using the Internet Archive, WorldCat, and other online resources for research.

Saturday, June 13, 2026
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM 

Where 

Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists
1625 Salvador Ave., Napa 

Open to the Public 

NVW Members: $10
Guests: $15
Students: Free with ID 

Tim Schooley’s first job out of high school was as a circus clown with Ringling Bros., Barnum & Bailey Circus. When he began to question the strength of his funny bone, he went to college at UC Santa Barbara and then law school at UC Berkeley. He spent 35 years as an appellate lawyer, taught appellate law at UC Davis Law School for 10 years, and worked first as a “writ attorney” and then as the managing attorney of the California Court of Appeal, Third Appellate District, in Sacramento. 

All along, Tim wrote fiction, but waited until his retirement to publish his debut novel, The Wool Translator, released in July 2022. The Wool Translator won the University of Pacific Creative Writing Conference’s Jameson Award and was shortlisted for the 2021 Chaucer Book award.

Tim’s forthcoming novel, The Circus of the Vanishing Elephant, is based loosely on his employment many years ago as a circus clown. The novel will be published by HTP (History Through Fiction) Publishing on September 15, 2026. 

Tim lives with his wife in Northern California. His website: www.timschooley.com 

What gives words their shape? And how does poetry transform thoughts into something that can move, inspire, and connect communities? Drawing on her experiences as Fairfield's Poet Laureate, Suzanne Bruce will explore the power of poetry to bring people together through both the literary and visual arts. Through stories from the events she coordinated during her tenure, she will share examples of diverse poetic styles and discuss how words, sound, rhythm, and form work together to create meaning. Suzanne invites us to consider poetry from a different perspective. Just as individual letters have shape, words take on form, and poems become structures filled with meaning and emotion. Whether you write poetry or prose, this presentation will offer a fresh appreciation for the artistry and impact of the written word.

Saturday, July 11, 2026
10:00 AM – 12:00 PM 

Where 

Napa Valley Unitarian Universalists
1625 Salvador Ave., Napa 

Open to the Public 

NVW Members: $10
Guests: $15
Students: Free with ID 

Suzanne Bruce holds a B.S. in Education from the University of Tulsa and did graduate work in Behavior Disorders at Wichita State University. After having taught school for over 17 years, she began writing poetry. She has been enthusiastically active with a creative writing group in St. Helena for over 20 years. She is also a member of Benicia First Tuesday poets, the Ina Coolbrith Circle, the Benicia Literary Arts and the Solano County Library Foundation. Suzanne’s poetry is influenced by her years of teaching as well as her experiences as a military wife. Her poems have

won several prizes, and she has been published in numerous journals, including International Literary Quarterly, Copperfield Review, Suisun Valley Review, and second place in 2025 California Quarterly and editor’s prize for the Armed Services Arts Partnership. Her books, Voices Beyond the Canvas and Her Visions Her Voices, are ekphrastic duets with artist Janet Manalo. Married to her high school sweetheart, Suzanne and her husband, Ed, live in Fairfield and carry on their 47-year tradition of Friday night pizza and champagne! She served as the Fairfield Poet Laureate from July 1, 2022- December 31, 2024. To learn more, visit suzannebrucepoet.com.