LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK PARTY:  Christi Phillips, Author of The Devlin Diary

Christi Phillips

Monday, August 9, 2010 || 6pm
Book Passage || Ferry Plaza
San Francisco || www.bookpassage.com

Join us for a little wine and a magical evening with popular Bay Area author Christi Phillips. Christi’s latest book, The Devlin Diary, now out in paperback, is a dazzling novel of intrigue, passion, and royal secrets that shifts tantalizingly between Restoration-era London and present-day Cambridge. A suspenseful and richly satisfying tale brimming with sharply observed historical detail, The Devlin Diary brings past and present to vivid life. With wit and grace, Christi Phillips holds readers spellbound

LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON:  Michael Krasny, Author of Off Mike: A Memoir of Talk Radio and Literary Life and Spiritual Envy: An Agnostic’s Quest

Michael Krasny

Monday, August 2, 2010 || 7pm
Book Passage || Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Drive, Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Everyone knows Michael Krasny, the award-winning host of NPR/KQED’s Forum with Michael Krasny, a news and public affairs program covering politics, culture, the arts, health, business and technology since 1993 and veteran interviewer for NPR’s nationally broadcast City Arts and Lectures series. He’s also an English professor at San Francisco State University, and a widely published scholar, critic and fiction writer. We are so pleased to have him as a Left Coast Writers Literary Salon Presenter in August.

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Connie A. Walker, Author of The Spire of Skylet and David R. Christensen, Author of The Mystery of the Ugly Bottle

Bring the kiddies. Please join us for a delightful night of wine and juice and great readers as Left Coast Writer’s Simplie Indie publisher, Bill Walker, takes the stage with two of his authors.

by Terry Sue Harms

Now that my novel, Pearls My Mother Wore, is on the market, I’m satisfied that self-publishing was the right path for me to take. Four years ago, though, when I started writing the book, I felt certain that I’d go the traditional route. 

LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON:  Ransom Stephens, Author of The God Patent

Ransom Stephens

Monday, July 5, 2010 || 7pm
Book Passage || Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Drive, Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH:  Welcome ASP: James J. Patterson, Author of Bermuda Shorts and Joanna Biggar, Author of That Paris Year

James J. Patterson

Joanna Biggar

Monday, July 12, 2010 || 6pm
Book Passage || Ferry Plaza
San Francisco || www.bookpassage.com

Join us for an evening that will take you from the good old USA to Paris, France, as ASP writer and publisher, James J. Patterson, and noted writer and teacher, Joanna Biggar, team up for an evening of all-American chatter and fine French bonhomie. North Beach dive? French cafe? Try the wine and fancy cheese, and you tell us.

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH:  Judith Horstman, Author of The Scientific American Brave New Brain

Judith Horstman

Monday, June 14, 2010 || 6pm
Book Passage || Ferry Plaza
San Francisco || www.bookpassage.com

Microchips in your brain. Thought-controlled technology. Cures for Alzheimer’s, depression, and mental retardation.  Treatments to erase memories, pills to make you smarter, and bionic spare parts to restore lost neural functions.

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Rebecca Foust, Author of All That Gorgeous, Pitiless Song and Kirsten Jones Neff, Author of When the House is Quiet

Rebecca Foust

Kirsten Neff

Saturday, June 12, 2010 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Please join us at a book party for two of our favorite poets: Rebecca Foust and Kirsten Jones Neff. You’ll be treated to beautiful poetry, the sparkling ambiance of our favorite Bay Area bookstore, a celebratory champagne toast for the authors, cookies, and excellent company.

LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON:  Penny Warner, Author of How to Host a Killer Party

Monday, June 7, 2010 || 7pm
Book Passage || Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Drive, Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

We have a “killer evening” in store for everyone at the next Left Coast Writers Literary Salon!

Mixing fun and fundraising for charities seemed like the perfect job for Presley Parker when she’s suddenly downsized from her position teaching abnormal psychological at the university. Pres is psyched about her first big gig—hosting a “surprise” wedding for the San Francisco Mayor at notorious Alcatraz prison.

© 2010 Greg Jones

I’m headed to Tres Bocas on the Rio Sarmiento in Argentina’s Parana River Delta. It’s a voyage of discovery. I don’t pretend to understand this country or its people but perhaps I can aim a penlight, which is all I happen to have at the moment, in order to shed a thin shaft of illumination on their wonderful flaws and terrible virtues.

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Maria Finn, Author of A Little Piece of Earth, How to Grow Your Own Food in Small Spaces

Maria Finn

Monday, May 17, 2010 || 6pm
Book Passage || Ferry Plaza
San Francisco || www.bookpassage.com

A Little Piece of Earth is all about starting small, with more than fifty self-contained, doable projects. Whether you have a yard, a terrace, a rooftop, or just a windowsill, there are plenty of ideas and inspirations to choose from. Harvest your own precious vanilla pods from a pot indoors. Grow savory shiitakes on a small log in your kitchen. Build a miniature vineyard trellis on your deck or build a raised bed on your patio. Recipes for using your homegrown bounty are sprinkled throughout. Charming illustrations guide you through step-by-step, and there’s a complete resources section. This is about making dirt work for you, taking some control over your food supply, and, most important, enriching your life with the quiet, simple pleasures of produce raised organically with your own hands.

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Jessica Shepherd, Author of A Love Alchemist’s Notebook

Jessica Shepherd

Saturday, May 8, 2010 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Would you like to know the secrets to attracting your soul mate and feeling profound love every day? With this hip and fun guide, you’ll learn to use the rules of attraction, magic, astrology, and your intuition to attract the partner of your dreams and experience true, soulful love.

Monday, May 3, 2010 || 7pm ||

Tim Cahill, Author of Hold the Enlightenment and Lost in my own Backyard: a Walk in Yellowstone National Park

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

We have a real treat in store for you at our May 3rd Left Coast Writers Literary Salon. Travel writer Tim Cahill is in town and will be speaking that night. Tim, who has authored many, many books including Jaguars Ripped My Flesh, A Wolverine Is Eating My Leg, Pass The Butterworms, Pecked To Death By Ducks, Hold The Enlightenment, and Lost in my own Backyard: a Walk in Yellowstone National Park, was a founding editor of Outside magazine and has been known to make readers laugh and cry in the space of a few minutes. He is also an expert on what makes a story work and the creator of Tim’s choo-choo, which is a dynamite way to quickly put an article together.

Jeff Kingman

We want to congratulate Left Coast Writer Jeff Kingman. His short story, “Marriage,” will be published in the Skuylkill Valley Journal on May 2 (in print and online at http://www.svjlit.com) and his novel, Moto Girl, reached the semifinalist level in the 2009 Dana Awards.

POINT & SHOOT YOUR WAY TO PERFECT PHOTOS

with MARSHA BLACK,  Author of The Accidental Photographer

(1 workshop) (2 weeks)

Don’t know how you got that fantastic shot that everyone it raving about? Learn simple, easy-to-remember techniques so that you can use your camera more effec­tively. Topics include how to: define your subject to tell your story; manage the available light so that it is perfect in the final photograph; use the three basic photographic composition techniques – color, pattern, and action. Bring camera; there will be an easy photo assignment. Fee includes a copy of The Accidental Photographer.

NEW HOST FOR LEFT COAST WRITERS FERRY PLAZA EVENTS

Many of you know Elaine Miller Bond, author illustrator of Affimals: Affirmations + Animals. Left Coast Writers is pleased to announce that Elaine will be hosting the Left Coast Writers Ferry Plaza Book Party and Reading series at Book Passage in San Francisco beginning in April. Many thanks to Colette Obrien, our terrific prior emcee. We hope she’ll return to host future events from time to time.

Elaine will be emceeing the April Book Party featuring poet Dave Seter, author of Night Duty.

Mary Lou Peters Schram

For the self-published writers: We just want to share Mary Lou Schram’s encouraging review of Pursuing Happiness from the Writers Digest Self-Published Book Awards:   In part:

“I was immediately impressed with the conciseness, fluency, energy, and intelligence of the prose.  Great dialogue too, dialogue that has the ring of ‘real’ speech.  Focused on characters the reader can really care about, this novel does what all the best novels do: it meshes comedy and pathos, like life.  The ending is about as good as an ending can get.  Simply a wonderful novel – sensitive, intelligent, funny, sad and true.”

As the writers head off to Charleston, for another literary adventure with the Southern Sampler Artists Colony, novelist and travel writer Linda Watanabe McFerrin reflects on Southern vistas.

Southern Exposure: On the Palmetto Trail

©2010 by Linda Watanabe McFerrin

The size of the snake had grown, in the telling, from the length and breadth of my friend Martha’s arm, to the far more dramatic dimensions of her muscular cousin, Dickie’s. I was at a gathering of the Dabbs clan at one of the old family properties by the Crossroads just east of Black River Swamp in the county of Sumter, South Carolina. Martha and I had been hiking along on the High Hills of Santee Passage of the Palmetto Trail when the large green-brown serpent slithered across our paths and disappeared into the waters of Old Levi Mill Lake. Martha was disturbed; I was ecstatic. I let out a gleeful shriek.

The South is intriguing territory. Home of the blues, gumbos, gators, haunts, hollers, swamps and all their quirky inhabitants, it’s also been the stomping grounds of some of my favorite writers—William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Harper Lee, Erskine Caldwell, Alice Walker, even Edgar Allen Poe—sensual, steamy and sometimes scary as hell.

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Dave Seter, author of Night Duty

Monday, April 12, 2010 || 6pm
Book Passage || Ferry Plaza
San Francisco || www.bookpassage.com

National Poetry Month gives us an opportunity to celebrate another new poet!

Monday, April 5, 2010 || 7pm ||

Neeli Cherkovski, Author of From the Canyon Outward

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

©2010 by Cheryl McLaughlin

Moguls skier Alex Bilodeau won the first Gold medal for Canada at the Vancouver Olympic Games and credited his older brother who has cerebral palsy.

At the last Olympics, American skater Evan Lysacek had a disastrous short program performance that took him out of any contention for a medal. This time he won the Gold medal beating reigning Olympic Champion, Yevgeny Pleshenko.

19-year old figure skater Kim Yu-Na from South Korea carried the hopes of a nation and the heavy expectations of gold as she took the ice and turned in two of the most spectacular performances in the history of Olympic Women’s Figure Skating.

So, what does this have to do with writing?

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Jacqueline Luckett, author of Searching for Tina Turner

Saturday, March 13, 2010 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

As a teenager, Jacqueline enjoyed telling stories to her younger cousins. To this day, they describe her as a master storyteller. So, it wasn’t a surprise to her family when she began writing a novel. She kept diaries, wrote poetry and had stories published in a local newspaper. But Jacqueline put writing aside while attending college. After graduating from California State University, Hayward in sociology, she worked in sales for a major corporation. She married, raised a family and in 1999 took a creative writing class on a dare, from herself, and happily found her love of writing re-ignited.

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: André Le Gallo, author of The Caliphate

André Le Gallo

Monday, March 8, 2009 || 6pm
Book Passage || Ferry Plaza
San Francisco || www.bookpassage.com

“A tale of intrigue too frightening to believe—and too believable to ignore. But you better believe it, because Le Gallo is the real thing.” —Porter Goss, former Director of the CIA

Monday, March 1, 2010 || 7pm ||

Ying Chang Compestine, Author of A Banquet for Hungry Ghosts

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

Ying Chang Compestine

According to Chinese tradition, those who die hungry or unjustly come back to haunt the living. Some are appeased with food. But not all ghosts are successfully mollified. In this chilling collection of stories, Ying takes readers on a journey through time and across different parts of China. From the building of the Great Wall in 200 BCE to the modern day of iPods, hungry ghosts continue to torment those who wronged them.

Nancy Bruning of Nancercize

Join the conversation on blogtalk radio Thursday, January 28th at 9a.m. PST with Nancy Bruning, creator of Nancercize, and author and LCW founder, Linda Watanabe McFerrin. They’ll be talking about Great Getaways.

Monday, February 8,  2010 || 5:30pm ||

Left Coast Writers at the Ferry Plaza

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

Colette Obrien hosts: Sexy Stories & Poems

Editors Linda Watanabe McFerrin and Laurie McAndish King introduce the Hot Flashes Sexy Little Stories & Poems writers in this literary love fest in honor of Valentine’s Day and Amour!

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Paul McHugh, author of Deadlines

Saturday, February 13, 2009 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

It’s a party!! Join us for major festivities as veteran journalist Paul McHugh celebrates the publication of his new novel, DEADLINES (Lost Coast Press), a tale of murder, conspiracy, and the media. McHugh, a Northern California writer, has worked in journalism for 30 years, eight as a freelancer and 22 at the San Francisco Chronicle where he was an outdoor features writer and editor, focused on sport, environment and state resource issues. Over his career, he wrote for all sections of the paper, including Metro, where he conducted several major investigative series. Adventure has been a way of life for McHugh. He ran his first marathon in 2003, at the age of 53; he celebrated his 50^th birthday by kayaking down 270 miles of the Grand Canyon; he was on the first U.S. Kayak Surfing Team when it won a world championship in Ireland in 1988; he arrived in California after wandering across the U.S. on a motorcycle in the summer of 1973. McHugh undertook many outdoor adventures for the Chronicle. The most striking was a 40-day, 400-mile sea kayak voyage from the Oregon Border to San Francisco Bay, resulting in the popular North Coast Series. Over the course of that  voyage, McHugh filed 36 print and online stories, four podcasts and five videos. This epic series can be found posted at: www.sfgate.com/northcoast/

Monday, February 1, 2010 || 7pm ||

Alan Rinzler, Consulting Editor

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

Alan Rinzler

Alan Rinzler began as a book editor in 1962 at Simon and Schuster and has since worked as Senior Editor at the Macmillan Company, Senior Editor at Holt, Director of Trade Book Publishing at Bantam Books, Associate Publisher and Vice President of Rolling Stone Magazine, and President of the Rolling Stone Book Division Straight Arrow Books. He was also West Coast Editor for the Grove Press, Editor of the Berkeley Monthly, and for the past 17 years has been Senior Editor and then Executive Editor of Jossey-Bass, an imprint of John Wiley & Sons.

Alan has edited and published such authors as Toni Morrison, Hunter S. Thompson, Tom Robbins, Claude Brown, Oscar Acosta, Shirley MacLaine, Robert Ludlum, Irv Yalom, Jerzy Kosinski, Andy Warhol, Bob Dylan, Clive Cussler, and others.

Whitefish Review

Left Coast Writer® Ethel Mays has a poem in Whitefish Review, the twice yearly non-profit literary journal “created to publish the distinctive literature, art, and photography of mountain culture.” 2009 has been a good and busy year for Ethel, witnessing the publication of a short story and several poems in ten journals, reviews, and anthologies, and over 40 featured and open readings in fourteen cities in seven California counties.

If you’d like to read an online version of the poem, you can do so on the Whitefish Review site.

Left Coast Writer® Jeff Kingman is a finalist for Cutthroat Magazine’s 2009 Rick DeMarinis Short Story Award.  First prize in each genre is $1250 and publication in Cutthroat. Second prize in each genre is $250 and publication in Cutthroat. All finalists are acknowledged in CUTTHROAT and considered for publication.  Winners are announced in Poets and Writers, Winning Writers and the AWP Chronicle.

©2010 by Patricia Bracewell

On a sunny July day in Fecamp, Normandy, I stood in front of the stony corpse of an 11th century ducal palace, studying the ruin before me with the eyes of an Independent Scholar. That’s an impressive way of saying that I was a history student without the benefit of credentials, university affiliation, or professors.

Susan West

On the day after the night before, we are sharing, as promised, Susan West’s 10 Tips for Launching (most anything). It was an outstanding evening with a large turnout for the first salon of the year and a great many newcomers. It was a special treat to see noted photographer Bob Holmes in the audience and to have a chance to give Stan Goldberg a big hand for his recent award (see the prior post). We’d also like to thank those—like Jasmine Darznik, whose book “The Good Daughter” comes out later this year and Rebecca Evans, who’ll be reading at Book Passage at the Ferry Plaza on Monday, January 11th—who were visiting from their new east coast residences. Finally we want t congratulate the many, many members

Stan Goldberg

In 2009 The London Book Festival gave awards for outstanding books in 20 different categories. From the 20 categories a Grand Prize winner was chosen. It was Stan Goldberg’s Lessons for the Living: Stories of Forgiveness, Gratitude,and Courage at the End of Life. The

Make a New Year’s Resolution to write for Roadwork in 2010. Left Coast Writers on-line column is published bi-monthly, and editor Pat Bracewell is looking for 1000-word essays about writing, travel and any combination thereof from LCW members. Contact Pat at Roadwork@LeftCoastWriters.com.

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Marsha Black, author of The Accidental Photographer for the Camera Bag

Saturday, January 9, 2009 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Marsha Black has always had a textbook in one hand and a camera in the other. She has been photographing the world around her since childhood.  Decades later, when her niece asked her what she would do if she didn’t have her camera, her answer was simple:  She would never be without it.

Says Marsha, “I think just about anyone who takes a camera on a trip wants to travel with it unencumbered and come home with good photos that can be shared with friends and family. My book, The Accidental Photographer for the Camera Bag, illustrates how to use the camera effortlessly and take good pictures that reflect the passion for travel. The book is aimed at the casual photographer and the techniques described are basic and can be mastered with little practice and used with any camera.”

Colette Obrien

Monday, January 11, 2010 || 5:30pm ||

Left Coast Writers at the Ferry Plaza

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

Colette Obrien hosts: NEVER AGAIN!

Join us at Book Passage in the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco when some of our favorite writers make their resolutions! We definitely think there are some things that do not need to be repeated. Come to listen in and find out just what they are.

Monday, January 4, 2010 || 7pm ||

Susan West, Founding Editor in Chief of Afar and Editorial Consultant

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

Failure to launch? It’ll never happen with Guest Presenter Susan West.

Susan West is a long-time editorial consultant for magazines and websites. Most recently she was the founding Editor in Chief of Afar, a new magazine whose mission is to inspire and  guide those who travel the world seeking to connect with its people, experience their culture, and understand  their perspectives. Afar, which launched in August 2009, was named one of the 15 best launches of the year by “Mr. Magazine,” Samir Husni. Susan was also Executive  Editor of  Smithsonian and a

Nancy Bruning of Nancercize

Join the conversation on blogtalk radio Thursday, December 17th at 9a.m. PST with Nancy Bruning, creator of Nancercize, and author and LCW founder, Linda Watanabe McFerrin. They’ll be talking about family travel … pain or paradise?

A series of workshops set in the South …

April 13-19, 2010

Writing and Photography Workshop with Linda Watanabe McFerrin and featured local photographers …

Charleston and the South Carolina Low Country beckons! Join the organizers of the Southern Sampler Artists Colony on a journey into a place like no other—a place brushed with spirit, dipped in belonging, and brought to life in Gospel, Jazz, Blues, soul food, cooling ocean breezes, wraparound porches, and warm welcomes that begin with y’all. Relax! Let your heart open, soul sing, and spirit soar.

Byron says ...

We had a full house Monday when Byron Belitsos explored the dance of publisher and author at the Literary Salon in a talk that addressed literary matches: Made in heaven? . . . Or hell?

Belitsos, founder of Origin Press, publisher of books on practical spirituality, entertained the group with wild tales about the authors who populate his dreams and nightmares. In addition to an interesting look at some of his list, past and present, he shared his evaluation of what makes a book succeed commercially. Here’s Byron’s test. It’s easy and enlightening. You might want to note that while it applies primarily to non-fiction, fiction writers might want to consider his points as well. We’re sharing it with his compliments.

Roger Housden

Such a simple idea – have an evening of spoken word, poetry and readings in the Bay Area, and send the money raised to those in need. A village in India can then have clean water for the first time and prevent three or four children a month dying from water borne diseases. There are thousands of villages throughout India without clean running water.

All it takes to change that is $8,000 -10,000 per village. That sum pays for a well with simple hand pump, a rainwater collection tank, and eco-sanitation toilets. The groundwork is done by a UK charity, Wherever The Need, which also has non-profit status in the US.

Poetry for Water with Anne Lamott, Roger Housden, Nina Wise

POETRY PUBLICATION WORKSHOP with C.B. Follett, Susan Terris, and Rebecca Foust

Rebecca Foust

Saturday, November 7, 2009 || 10am – 1pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Learn what to do to get your poetry published in literary journals and other publications. Two experienced poet/editors and one relative newcomer to the poetry scene will address questions related to WHEN, WHERE, HOW, and WHAT to submit, with focus on how to get your work out in the world without stress, fear of rejection, or waste of valuable writing time. When is your work ready to submit? Where should you send it? What is the most efficient way to get the work out? What goes into a submission? Sample cover letters, lists of how-to’s, and website resources will be provided, and an inventory of resource books and sample literary journals will be available for review.

Linda Watanabe McFerrin

This time last week I was still in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where I was a workshop leader and panelist at the 31^st Nimrod Literary Awards Conference for Readers and Writers 2009 at the University of Tulsa. Other Faculty included Peter S. Beagle (a past LCW Presenter), Marvin Bell, Robert Olen Butler, Marie Howe, W. Scott Olsen, James Ragan, and Nimrod International Journal Editor in Chief, Francine Ringold. The judges for the 2009 Katherine Anne Porter Prize for Fiction and the Pablo Neruda Prize for Poetry were novelist Robert Olen Butler and poet Marie Howe. The winners were Alicia Case (fiction) and Mike Nelson (poetry).

The theme of this year’s Awards Celebration was “Words at Play,” a topic that award winning poet and Iowa’s first Poet Laureate, Marvin Bell, tackled creatively. Here’s an excerpt:

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Wendy Nelson Tokunaga, author of Love in Translation

Saturday, December 12, 2009 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

IT’S NOVEL OR NEVER ,,,,

Tim Urlaub

The folks at National Novel Writing Month have devised a plan so simple that even a knucklehead like me has trouble messing it up.  My mistake:  not taking advantage of the opportunity to stretch out.  Me thinks I doth text too much.  Hence, the bad facial hair to conceal my identity until I get it write.

Monday, December 7, 2009 || 7pm ||

Phil Cousineau, Author of The Meaning of Tea: A Tea Inspired Journey

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

A Health-filled Holiday and The Meaning of Tea

“When we drink tea with others we shorten the distance between people.”

—Feng Ming-Chung, a Bao Zhong tea grower, in The Meaning of Tea.

Join writer, filmmaker, photographer, teacher and editor Phil Cousineau for an exploration of the history, health benefits, rituals, spirituality and simple pure enjoyment of tea. The Meaning of Tea: A Tea Inspired Journey offers wisdom ideally suited for modern citizens facing the stress of economic uncertainty. San Francisco tea experts James Norwood Pratt and Imperial Tea Court Teamaster Roy Fong are featured in the book. Culled from more than 50 conversations with tea pickers and plantation owners, street sellers, traders, teapot makers and eloquent tea scholars spanning eight countries—from India to Ireland and Taiwan to Tea, South Dakota—readers learn about how tea has brought peace, calm, health, friendship and often wisdom into their lives. The Meaning of Tea (Talking Leave Press, 2009)

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Mary Lou Peters Schram, author of Pursuing Happiness … One More Time

Saturday, November 14, 2009 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

LOOKING FOR LOVE AND HAPPINESS

Four women, a dead husband, a not-so-great boyfriend, a little extra weight and lots of money—is this a recipe for joy or disaster?

If a good book and a glass of wine is your idea of happiness, please grab a friend and join us for a delightful evening with local author Mary Lou Peters Schram.

“Although the pursuit of happiness is one of our inalienable rights, nowhere is it guaranteed that we shall catch it.  Mary Lou Peters Schram’s witty new novel chronicles the lives of four women, all residents of Shady Acres, an adult community in California’s wine country, as each pursues her own particular vision of happiness.

Colette Obrien Hosts

Monday, November 9, 2009 || 5:30pm ||

Left Coast Writers at the Ferry Plaza

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

Join us at Book Passage in the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco when some of our favorite writers get up on the soapbox!

Monday, November 2, 2009 || 7pm ||

Byron Belitsos, Publisher, Origin Press, talks about the complex dance of author and publisher

Book Passage – Corte Madera

51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

Byron Belitsos

Marin-based small press publisher Byron Belitsos of Origin Press will share stories and wisdom drawn from his experiences of the publishing business over the last 15 years—with special focus on his perceptions of the many authors with whom he has worked. Belitsos has edited and published books on health, consciousness, spirituality, and politics, including Faith and the Placebo Effect by Lolette Kuby, Mind Science by Charles Tart, The Unfolding Self by Ralph Metzner, and Waking Up in Time by Peter Russell. He has also played the roles both of coauthor and publisher for several

For an evening of readings, laughter, wine and more wine, why don’t you come to Writers with Drinks after Litquake’s Off the Richter Scale reading on Saturday? OTRS ends at 6pm and we begin at 7:30! Come early for a good table. A line-up of awesome presenters. Check it out.

The long-running spoken word series Writers With Drinks has finally gone too far—in every possible direction!

Saturday, October 10, 2009, 7:30 to 9:30 PM, doors open at 6:30 PM

• Linda Watanabe McFerrin
• Anthony Swofford
• Roz Savage
• Irina Slutsky
• Doug Dorst
• Joe Loya

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Stan Goldberg, author of  Lessons for the Living, an evening of laughter, tears, music and wine

Stan Goldberg

Saturday, October 10, 2009 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Call in ...

FCCFREERADIO 107.3 FM SAN FRANCISCO’S ALTERNATIVE RADIO

Lilycat on Stuff

Sunday, October 4, 2009

12-2pm

Host Melinda Adams chats with Linda Watanabe McFerrin on things dark and delectable, including Linda’s upcoming reading at Writers with Drinks on Saturday, October 10th.

West Marin Review, a literary and art journal sponsored by the Tomales Bay Library Association and Point Reyes Books, is now accepting submissions of literary works and visual art for the 2010 volume. Submissions should be of previously unpublished work. Members of the Review’s steering committee and review boards may not submit works. Submissions for Volume 3 must be postmarked no later than October 7, 2009.

Submission Guidelines

LCW member and how-to writer Elisa Southard loves to stir up new perspectives and take the guesswork of out risky endeavors.  In October, Elisa’s article, Make Road Kill out of Three Myths for Beginning Riders, will be published in HelmetHairMagazine.com, the online quarterly magazine serving the female motorcycle fan.

The author of the Amazon best seller, Break Through the Noise, 9 Tools to Propel Your Marketing Message,  Elisa cruised into the California DMV with her Motorcycle Safety Foundation certification just this summer, and now cruises on a Honda Rebel 250. Elisa is also working on her second book, Bring Your Inner Newbie Out for professional women launching into a new sport or pursuit.

Linda Watanabe McFerrin

What is it about mountains—super-high mountains—that is so attractive? Is it the challenge they represent? The excitement they provoke? The wonder they inspire? Even if it weren’t the highest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro, rising 19,304 feet above the Great Rift Valley in northern Tanzania, would be awe striking. I remember seeing it from a distance on a long-ago trip to Africa when I was writing a story on the Lunatic Express for the San Francsico Examiner/Chronicle travel section. I was reading Ernest Hemingway’s classic The Snows of Kilimanjaro at the time. I’m crazy about mountains, but I never dreamed of climbing Kilimanjaro, so I was delighted to hear about the 2009 publication of Michel Moushabeck and partner Hiltrud Schulz’s book, Kilimanjaro: A Photographic Journey to the Roof of Africa (Interlink Publishing Group, Inc., 2009). If, like me, you are mesmerized by this particular mountain and have no immediate plans to scale it, you should get the book. Moushabeck’s pleasant, diaristic narrative and Schultz’s well-edited images make you feel as if you are along for the climb.

Instructor Lowry McFerrin

Self-Publishing in the 21st Century

Saturday – October 10, 2009, 10 am – 4 pm

You’ve plotted, planned, revised, agonized over, edited and re-written three books just to finish one. Still, you can’t find an agent or publisher to carry your project forward. But you don’t want to self-publish, because a “real” writer… a SERIOUS writer… wouldn’t dream of resorting to that. Well, not necessarily. Did you know that many notable writers self-published:

• Edgar Rice Burroughs: Tarzan
• Benjamin Franklin: Poor Richard’s Almanack
• Beatrix Potter: The Tale of Peter Rabbit

Sheldon Siegel

Literary luminaries will join members of Homeward Bound’s creative writing groups to present a special fundraising event from 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 4, at The Next Key Center.

“How I Became a Writer … An Afternoon of Inspiration” will feature readings and commentary by a stellar lineup of Marin’s published talent along with residents of Homeward Bound programs who participate in focused writing groups that work on journaling, poetry, and more.

The speakers include Sheldon Siegel, writer of bestselling thrillers.

Do What You Love and Make a Living

Learn how at the Simplie Indie writer’s workshop this weekend on September 19, 2009. Four panelists will cover the information essential to achieving your writing goals in a new, fast paced, internet based environment.

Bill Walker on new publishing

Jennifer Bourn on personal branding

Jerry Kennedy on sales

Stephanie Chandler on tricks of the trade.

Panelists include Social Networking Strategist Peter Lang.

Register Today: simplieindie.com/writer-event.html

When: September 19, 2009, 8 am to 5 pm—includes rolls and coffee and catered lunch. Where: The Clubhouse at Woodcreek Golf Club, 5880 Woodcreek Oaks Blvd, Roseville, CA Questions? Contact Roxanne Dodge at 916.531.3470 or roxanne.dodge@SimplieIndie.com

All attendees receive a goodie bag containing books, CDs, and coupons worth hundreds of dollars.

The deadline for this year’s Solas Awards for Best Travel Story of the Year is just a few days away. To enter this year’s competition, go to BestTravelWriting.com and follow the instructions.

As of today, competition is light in the following categories:

* Animal Encounter

* Cruise Story

* Doing Good or the Kindness of Strangers

* Elder Travel

* Love Story

* Men’s Travel

* Travel and Healing

* Travel and Shopping

* Travel and Sports

* Young TravelerTr

Colette Obrien

Don’t miss tonight’s event at Book Passage in the San Francisco Ferry Plaza as Left Coast Writers Paul McHugh, Maria Finn, Diana Kelly, Marylou Schram and Linda Watanabe McFerrin read tales of “Trauma and Drama” at 5:30 pm.  Colette Obrien hosts. Join some of the readers after the event for a toast and literary chat.

Ayelet Waldman’s presentation Tuesday eve was terrific. She read from the new bestselling book and talked about FAILURE. And guess what … it was enlightening and uplifting. I love a woman unafraid. Great night at the ol’ Left Coast Writers Literary Salon! For a dose of more drama and … trauma, join the group at Book Passage in the Ferry Plaza in San Francisco as writers, Griffin Dix, Maria Finn, Diana Kelly, Marylou Schram and Paul Mchugh share tales of wonder and woe.

It has actually taken weeks to come down to earth after the Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference this year. I don’t know how it happens … maybe it’s Book Passage—that magical, marvelous combination of publications and personalities; maybe it’s Donald George and the way he’s able to frame an event so that it seems to kind of lift off and fly. Whatever the reason, the conference carries everyone away. I have a very tough time actually landing after being part of it all.

Monday, October 5, 2009 || 7pm ||

Mary Roach, Author of Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

Mary Roach

Mary Roach is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Spook:  Science Tackles the Afterlife, and Bonk:  The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex.   Stiff has been translated into 17 languages, and Spook was a New York Times Notable Book of 2005.  Bonk was chosen as a 2008 best book by the San Francisco Chronicle, the St. Louis-Post Dispatch, and the Boston Globe.  Mary has written for Outside, National Geographic, Wired, New Scientist, The New York Times Magazine, and NPR’s “All Things Considered,” among many others.  She is a contributing editor at the science magazine Discover, a frequent contributor to the New York Times Book Review, and a winner of the American Engineering Societies’ Engineering Journalism Award, in a category for which, let’s be honest, she was the sole entrant.   More info at www.maryroach.net

The Dallas Morning News, one of America’s premier daily newspapers with an outstanding Sunday Travel section, published Dick Jordan’s story “Glacial pace: Go with the floe and see what southeast Alaska has to offer” on August 16, 2009.

The story (not yet available on the newspaper’s Web site) and three of Dick’s photos took up an entire page of the paper’s Travel section.

This is Dick’s second story on glacier touring in Southeast Alaska.  His first story on this part of America appeared on Mother’s Day in the San Francisco Chronicle.

Linda Watanabe McFerrin

If you didn’t make it to the Ferry Plaza on Monday, you really missed out. Four excellent writers shared stories of Wipe Outs. One of them was Paul McHugh, who used to be the Outdoor Editor for our local S.F. paper. Now he’s freelancing and he has a book coming out early next year. Since he’s one of us, we’ll be planning a launch event, you can be sure. Also reading was Joanna Biggar, who used to write for the Washington Post and who’s taught workshops with me in Greece, Ireland and Italy. We’ll be taking a group to Costa Rica in January. Still a little room; you’ll have to let me know if you’re interested. The brilliant, very talented Natalie Galli read as well. You can read her work in Italy, A Love Story and many of the Tavelers’ Tales Best Women’s Travel collections. Elisa Sawyer was also back with a performance piece.

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Bill Keener, author of  Gold Leaf on Granite and Kathryn Ridall, author of The Way of Stones

Saturday, August 8, 2009 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com
Celebrating the new work of two poets …

William Keener

William Keener has been writing and publishing poetry for the past ten years.  He is also an environmental lawyer, and the former director of the Marine Mammal Center in the Marin Headlands.  His first chapbook, titled Three Crows Yelling, was co-authored with Marin County poets Bill Noble and Michael Day in 2000.  Tonight we celebrate the launch of his first solo collection of poetry Gold Leaf on Granite, which recently won the annual Anabiosis Press contest.

Tuesday, September 8, 2009 || 7pm ||

Ayelet Waldman, Author of Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Clamities and Occasional Moments of Grace, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

Ayelet Waldman

Ayelet Waldman is the author of The New York Times bestseller Bad Mother: A Chronicle of Maternal Crimes, Minor Calamities and Occasional Moments of Grace, Love and Other Impossible Pursuits, Daughter’s Keeper and the Mommy-Track Mysteries. Her personal essays have been published in a wide variety of newspapers and magazine, including The New York Times, the Guardian, the San Francisco Chronicle, Elle Magazine, Vogue, Allure, Cookie, Child, Parenting, Real Simple, Health and Salon.com. Her radio commentaries have appeared on “All Things Considered” and “The California Report.” Ayelet’s missives also appear on Facebook and Twitter. Her books are published throughout the world, in countries as disparate as England and Thailand, the Netherlands and China, Russia and Israel.

Monday, August 3, 2009 || 7pm ||

Scott Rosenberg, author of DREAMING IN CODE and SAY EVERYTHING: How Blogging Began, What It’s Becoming, and Why It Matters

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

Blogs are everywhere. They have exposed truths and spread rumors. Made and lost fortunes. Brought couples together and torn them apart. Toppled cabinet members and sparked grassroots movements. Immediate, intimate, and influential, they have put the power of personal publishing into everyone’s hands. Regularly dismissed as trivial and ephemeral, they have proved that they are here to stay.

Dick Jordan has become a an active member of the Bay Area Travel Writers, a not-for-profit, professional association of writers and photographers with outstanding achievements in travel journalism. These professionals share their unique stories in newspapers, magazines, books, Internet publications, and travel industry publications.

In June he joined Left Coast Writers, a prestigious group of well-known as well as new writers of all genres, fiction, non-fiction, poetry, sci-fi, and travel, which holds its monthly “salon” meetings at one of America’s premier independent book stores, Book Passage, in Corte Madera.

©2009 by Chana Wilson

The tiny Calistoga airport sits at one end of the Napa Valley town of Calistoga, a tourist resort known for its hot springs.  Along the town’s one main street are the spas boasting various treatments: mud baths, hot whirlpools, massage.  My mother and I have come here for my 30th birthday, but not to seek the waters. 

Monday, July 6, 2009 || 7pm ||

Andy Ross, Agent at Andy Ross Literary Agency

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

Andy Ross

Andy Ross has worked in the book business for 36 years, all of his working life. He was owner and general manager of Cody’s Books in Berkeley, California from 1977-2006. Cody’s has been recognized as one of America’s great independent book stores.

During this period, Andy was the primary trade book buyer. This experience has given him a unique understanding of the retail book market, of publishing trends and, most importantly and uniquely, the hand selling of books to book buyers.

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Rebecca Foust, Mom’s Canoe

Saturday, June 13, 2009 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Left Coast Writer Rebecca Foust will read from her new book, Mom’s Canoe, at Book Passage on Saturday, June 13, at 7:00 pm, with champagne and Ruli’s cookies to follow during the book signing.  Mom’s Canoe, winner of the 2008 Rpbbert Phillips Chapbook Prize, collects poetry about the author’s childhood in western Pennsylvania, an area devestated by the decline of the coal mining and railroading industries of the last century. Foust’s first book, Dark Card, sold out of its first print run and was reviewed in more than 20 journals including American Book Review, Hudson Review and Rattle; the reviews are posted at www.rebeccafoust.com .

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Patricia Ljutic. Laura Shumaker and other Contributors to A Cup of Comfort® for Parents of Children with Special Needs.

Patricia Ljutic

Saturday, July 11, 2009 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Patricia Ljutic is joined by four other Bay Area writers: Jennifer Gunter, Jolie Kanat, Harriet Heydemann Cellini and Laura Shumaker, who will read from A Cup of Comfort® for Parents of Children with Special Needs ($9.95). The anthology contains fifty stories by parents who have struggled with a child’s diagnosis only to embrace and celebrate the differences that make their children that much more special—and even more loved. Edited by Colleen Sell this unique story collection offers inspiration for parents of children with cerebral palsy, Down Syndrome, seizure disorder and autism.

A Cup of Comfort for Parents of Children with Special Needs

Monday, June 1, 2009 || 7pm ||
Christi Phillips, Author of The Devlin Diary and The Rossetti Letter

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

The Devlin Diary

Christi Phillips will discuss the research and creation of her popular novels. She is the author of The Rossetti Letter, which has been translated into six foreign languages. Her research combines a few of her favorite things: old books, libraries, and travel. When she’s not rummaging around in an archive or exploring the historic heart of a European city, she lives with her husband in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she is at work on her next novel, set in France.

© 2009 by Joanna Biggar

January 21, 2009…For forty years I have been going to the National Mall to celebrate, to witness and to participate in history. I’ve been there to see marathons and hootenannies, Grandmothers for Peace, Students for the Earth, reunions of the Peace Corps, and a Million Men’s March.

In the early days, the days of Lyndon Johnson in the late ‘60’s, the country was torn asunder by what was perceived as an unjust war. Led by youth – and I was then young – thousands came to march against the relentless killing in Southeast Asia in a fruitless and seemingly endless war. Among those who were dying were thousands of my own generation, drafted, disillusioned, and angry.

Monday, April 6, 2009 || 7pm ||
April Eberhardt, Agent at Reece Halsey North

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

April Eberhardt

April Eberhardt joined Reece Halsey North as a Literary Agent in 2008 after five years of editorial work with Zoetrope: All-Story, a literary magazine, and another agency. Her specialty is adult literary fiction, particularly ironic family dramas and realistic midlife tales, often with a twist, preferably involving strong female characters. She is attracted to collections of interlinked stories with a common character or theme. An original voice and smart, speedy delivery are critical, as is a subtle sense of the absurd. She enjoys working with new authors to edit and streamline their manuscripts before submitting them to publishers. April does consider selected non-fiction works. She does not represent mysteries or murders, thrillers, historical fiction or fantasy, nor does she represent children’s titles.

The Best Women's Travel Writing

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2009 (Travelers’ Tales)

Saturday, March 14 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Here’s the exciting line-up for The Best Women’s Travel Writing 2009 party on Saturday evening: Laurie McAndish King—tracking lions on foot in Botswana, Natalie Galli—enjoying the delicious spectacle of Easter in Sicily, Ginny Horton—finding her inner Coco at the Paris Ritz, Marybeth Bond—learning more than Spanish in Mexico, Nicole Zimmerman—adventuring to the extreme in New Zealand, Kathryn Kefauver—guarded by monks in Laos, Pamela Alma Bass—developing perspective on “Angels” in Mexico. Publisher Larry Habegger will be on hand to answer questions about the anthology and upcoming Travelers’ Tales titles.

Monday, March 2, 2009 || 7pm ||
David Poindexter, MacAdam/Cage, Founder and Publisher

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

Join us in an evening with David Poindexter, MacAdam/Cage founder and publisher.

After twenty years in the commercial printing industry, David Poindexter, inspired by his lifelong love of reading, decided to start an independent trade publishing house. In 1998, he founded MacAdam/Cage in order to bring new voices to the literary marketplace.

© 2009 by Patricia Woeber

Alpes-Maritimes, France

The Cote d’Azur brings to mind luxurious hotels and the cachet of the Mediterranean coast stretching from Cannes to Menton, yet this strip of land is connected to another world. To the north, a mountainous backcountry offers a diversity of cultures and outdoor activities.

Both elegant coast and wild backcountry are part of the Alpes-Maritimes departement, which is tucked along the Italian border in southeastern France. This area of Provence possesses the seaside, the mountains (as high as Mt. Gelas at 10,300 feet) with an alpine landscape of fir forests, and the high rocky land of the Mercantour National Park. So why not enjoy it all? Stay in deluxe hotels, discover ancient hillside villages, puzzle over ancient pictographs, and hike in nature so dramatic it will knock your socks off.

©2009 by Toni Piccinini

Is there a better launching off point for positive change than New Year’s Day? Nope, not much beats January 1st as the beginning of the new you. A whole new year awaits for the writer in you to make your mark.  Fresh and unspoiled by editor rejections and by your own sketchy writing habits, that fat January is all about possibilities.  All the excess of the holiday season, the “might as well wait ‘till the first of the year” procrastination, and the sludgy sloth are but a faint memory after midnight December 31st.  You have improvement plans for this New Year.  This year you will finish that novel, this year you will send out that stack of short stories languishing in the drawer; hell, this year you’re going to quit smoking, lose weight, get fit, and find your soul mate.

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Roccie Hill, Author of Three Minutes on Love.

Roccie Hill

Saturday, January 10 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Roccie Hill talks about Three Minutes on Love. Rosie leaves her desert town to chase her dreams in 1960s S.F. She has a chance encounter with an illegal immigrant who publishes a music magazine. He gives Rosie her first job, photographing a legendary blues guitarist, catapulting Rosie into a hot career on the scene.

ABOUT ROCCIE HILL:

Monday, January 12, 2009 || 5:30pm ||
Reading: From the Surreal to the Fantastic

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza
Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

On the second Monday of every month Left Coast Writers read from their favorite work. Colette Obrien hosts.

This month: From the Surreal to the Fantastic

Readers so far: Ethel Mays

Please contact us (leftcoastwriters@aol.com) to sign up to read.

Monday, January 5, 2009 || 7pm ||
Camille Cusumano, Author of Tango, an Argentine Love Story

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

Please join us in a scintillating start for the New Year at the first Left Coast Writers Literary Salon of 2009! Camille Cusumano will light up the evening with a talk about her love of literature and her passion for tango. Camille has even promised a short tango demonstration. You may bring guests to this event. After all, they say it takes two …

Monday, February 9, 2009 || 5:30pm ||
Reading: Battle of the Sexes

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza
Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

On the second Monday of every month Left Coast Writers read from their favorite work. Colette Obrien hosts.

This month: Battle of the Sexes

Readers so far:

Please contact us (leftcoastwriters@aol.com) to sign up to read.

Monday, March 9, 2009 || 5:30pm ||
Reading: Poetic License

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza
Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

On the second Monday of every month Left Coast Writers read from their favorite work. Colette Obrien hosts.

This month: Poetic License

Readers so far: Rebecca Foust, Elaine Bond

Please contact us (leftcoastwriters@aol.com) to sign up to read.

Monday, April 13, 2009 || 5:30pm ||
Reading: Intoxicating Ideas

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza
Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

On the second Monday of every month Left Coast Writers read from their favorite work. Colette Obrien hosts.

This month: Intoxicating Ideas

Readers so far:

Please contact us (leftcoastwriters@aol.com) to sign up to read.

Monday, May 11, 2009 || 5:30pm ||
Reading: On Scent and Sensation

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza
Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

On the second Monday of every month Left Coast Writers read from their favorite work. Colette Obrien hosts.

This month: On Scent and Sensation

Readers so far:

Please contact us (leftcoastwriters@aol.com) to sign up to read.

Monday, June 8, 2009 || 5:30pm ||
Reading: Colorful Stories

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza
Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

On the second Monday of every month Left Coast Writers read from their favorite work. Colette Obrien hosts.

This month: Colorful Stories

Readers so far:

Please contact us (leftcoastwriters@aol.com) to sign up to read.

Monday, July 13, 2009 || 5:30pm ||
Reading: The Great Outdoors

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza
Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

On the second Monday of every month Left Coast Writers read from their favorite work. Colette Obrien hosts.

This month: The Great Outdoors

Readers so far: Bill Keener, Susan Alcorn

Please contact us (leftcoastwriters@aol.com) to sign up to read.

Monday, August 10, 2009 || 5:30pm ||
Reading: Wipe Outs

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza
Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

On the second Monday of every month Left Coast Writers read from their favorite work. Colette Obrien hosts.

This month: Wipe Outs

Special Guests:

Paul McHugh

Monday, September 14, 2009 || 5:30pm ||
Reading: Trauma & Drama

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza
Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

On the second Monday of every month Left Coast Writers read from their favorite work. Colette Obrien hosts.

This month: Trauma & Drama

Readers so far: Griffin Dix, Jane Straus

Please contact us (leftcoastwriters@aol.com) to sign up to read.

Monday, October 12, 2009 || 5:30pm ||
Reading: Grizzly Tales

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza
Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

On the second Monday of every month Left Coast Writers read from their favorite work. Colette Obrien hosts.

This month: Grizzly Tales (and other spooky Halloween reminders)

Readers so far:

Please contact us (leftcoastwriters@aol.com) to sign up to read.

Monday, November 9, 2009 || 5:30pm ||
Reading: On the Soapbox

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza
Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

On the second Monday of every month Left Coast Writers read from their favorite work. Colette Obrien hosts.

This month: On the Soapbox

Readers so far:

Please contact us (leftcoastwriters@aol.com) to sign up to read.

Monday, December 14, 2009 || 5:30pm ||
Reading: Home Sweet Home

Book Passage – Ferry Plaza
Ferry Plaza, San Francisco

On the second Monday of every month Left Coast Writers read from their favorite work. Colette Obrien hosts.

This month: Home Sweet Home

Readers so far:

Please contact us (leftcoastwriters@aol.com) to sign up to read.

Laurie McQueen presents An Erotic Alphabet on 2/7/09

Laurie McQueen will present An Erotic Alphabet ($9.95) at Book Passage on February 7 at 7 p.m.. This book of rhymes celebrates eroticism in all its forms, from silly to sensual, playful to to x-rated. Laurie reveals the surprising joy she discovered by liberating her “dirty mind” and embracing sexuality … and invites you to join her in the gentle sport of rhyming. This book will be printed in a very limited quantity; please pre-order for Valentine’s Day.

Monday, February 2, 2009 || 7pm ||
Niloufar Talebi, award winning editor and translator of Belonging New Poetry By Iranians Around the World.

Book Passage – Corte Madera
51 Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera

In this time of great international misunderstanding, many things are “lost in translation.” Join us for an exciting and truly enlightening evening that will add a little clarity and introduce new voices with important things to share.