BOOK LAUNCH:  Shadow on the Crown, by Patricia Bracewell

Patricia Bracewell

Thursday, February 7th, 2012 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera|| 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera ||
www.bookpassage.com

We hope all of you will come out for this very special event. Our beloved Roadwork editor, Patricia Bracewell, will be celebrating the launch of her much praised and eagerly awaited novel, Shadow on the Crown (Viking, 2012). Come hear about Emma, the fifteen-year-old newly crowned Queen of England.  She came from Normandy and  met her husband-to-be, the much older King Athelred, just minutes before their wedding.  But this clever 11th century girl takes it in stride and braves her challenging new role amongst rivals, enemies and the all-too-present threat of a Viking invasion. Come take this adventure with us and hear about the history-inspired tale of Emma of Normandy.We will be serving mead, of course, and other wonderful period treats. Keep reading …

Sharing the Creative Journey …

SSAC is proud to offer a Writing and Creative Retreat with award-winning author Linda Watanabe McFerrin

Sample the language of the South, weave collective stories to be embellished in time, discover the layers, textures and hues of historical Charleston, wander in enchanting gardens, swing low to a sweet jazz beat, picnic under a canopy of live oaks, break bread with local writers, artists and musicians.

One-on-one direction on your literary and creative projects: renew your spirit—stir the creative juices — walk the beaches — daily prompts designed to foster life-enhancing experiences.

How It All Started . . . Keep reading …

POTENTIAL WANDERLANDERS …

PARIS ALERT!!!!!

Chers Amis,

The rumor is true … this year’s writing adventure will be our own “September Song” in Paris.

Please join us for the week of September 9-15 in one of three spacious apartments in a charming Left Bank neighborhood.

Join us for walks among the falling leaves along the Seine, for soulful sits in famous literary cafés, for sumptuous dining, for exploring Paris’s varied and magical arrondissements by Métro, bus and on foot.

Come with us for literature, both to create it through our own writing, honed during five workshops and individual one-on-one sessions, and through connecting with great writers who have lived and worked there before us and some who live and play there today. Keep reading …

LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH:  Robbi Sommers Bryant, Author of The Beautiful Evil

Robbi Sommers Bryant

Saturday, November 12, 2011 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Do you believe in fairy tales? Well, the little devils wreak havoc in Robbi Sommers Bryant’s thriller, The Beautiful Evil

Constance Sartone Jaconson never recovered from the sudden death of her father when she was only five. Devastated by her husband’s death and the scandal that ensues, Constance’s mother, Madeline, does little to comfort her scared and lonely daughter. With nowhere to turn, Constance protects herself by closing by off her emotions. Through vivid dreams and daytime visions, Constance’s father calls to her from a horse-drawn stage coach. These visions help Constance cope with her humdrum life and failing marriage. But things are about to change.

On a business with her husband, she purchases an antique Greek vase. Upon opening it, a stream of purple light hisses from the vase, and a tribe of wasp-like creatures pour out. One of the creatures shape-shifts into a ravishing fairy and offers Constance a way out. Desperate to feel anything, Constance listens to the fairy’s advise. But as her confidence grows, she begins to make all the wrong decisions, catapulting her into a web of lies and deceit. As her life spins future and further out of control, Constance soon finds herself staring into the abyss, forced to make one final heart-wrenching decision.

A rollercoaster ride into the chaos of a personal hell, The Beautiful Evil, is a captivating, psychological thriller that will keep you questioning reality until the final ultimate act.

Sex. Crime. Deceit. Murder.

… And wine.  So do come, and bring your pals.

Eat, Play, Love: Cooking and Writing from the Heart in the Lowcountry with Linda Watanabe McFerrin and the Southern Sampler Artists Colony, April 17-24, 2012

The 2012 workshop will fill up quickly, so if you if you have any interest you should let the organizers know!

Welcome home!

The rocking chairs beckon. Can you smell the salt air? Stir, fry, mix, mold, blend, stew, bake, roast, whip, sprinkle, dip, fold—embrace old and new friends, celebrate community, and create shared stories to be embellished in time.

Event Highlights:

“Marsh-to-Plate”: Cast your net with Captain Anton. Oysters, clams, crabs, redfish and flounder anyone? Dinner will feature the catch of the day. Anton will help in the preparation, and read from the book he is writing.

The Dark and Light Side of Chocolate: Discover the magic of chocolate making with renown chocolatier, David Vagasky.

Certified Organic Produce, Fresh and Local: A personal tour of the Joseph Fields Farm, located on Johns Island, wouldn’t be complete without supper on the banks of the nearby Stono River. Alluette, owner of Alluette’s Café, will be in charge. And don’t forget live jazz and poetry under a starry sky.

Lawn Party: Brush up on your croquet game, concoct a Southern drink for the occasion, and devil some eggs. Charleston friends will join in the fun.

The Spice of Life: From delicate to tangy and sweet, Sea Island Savory Herbs, located on Johns Island, has it all. A private tour will feature innovative use of heirloom herbs in the art of cooking.

Stirring the Creative Juices with Cathleen O’Brien

• Create your very own Altered Book.
• Contribute to a Collective Workshop Cookbook
• Learn how to make fish prints with artist, Sue Wallace.

Writing Workshop with Linda Watanabe McFerrin

• Workshop 1: Starters
• Workshop 2: Word Salad
• Workshop 3: Comfort Food
• Workshop 4: Toasts, Boasts, and Roasts
• Workshop 5: Lovely Desserts

Cost of Colony Experience: Cost is $1,800 ($1,950 if paid after December 15, 2011) for a private room, and $1,600 ($1,750 if paid after December 15, 2011) for a shared room. The choice of private and separate rooms depends upon availability at time of registration.

In order to assure workshop placement please send a $500 check deposit (fully refundable before October 10th) made out to Southern Sampler Artists Colony with private or shared room preference to: Mary Brent Cantarutti, 233 Santa Margarita Drive, San Rafael, CA 94901.There will be ten workshop participants; placement will be finalized in order of receipt of deposits.

The company is everything! Charleston here we come!

Mary Brent & Martha

Reflections from a Book Passage Travel & Food Writing & Photography Conference Newbie

©2011 by Diane Susan Petty

I used to be wealthy and successful—number one in my industry.

Now I sit on a bench contemplating a “No Barking” sign, the “P” graffitied over with a “B”. I observe the cars are indeed parked in front and the dogs are quiet. I notice a sign saying an 18-pound male cat named PhiPhi has run away and wonder if it was because the other kitties were teasing him about his name.

I recently became an unemployed, broke mortgage banker. After announcing my desire to make a major life change and become an unemployed, broke travel writer, a mutual friend introduced me to travel writing guru, Don George.

Don’s advice? “Come to the Book Passage Travel & Food Writing & Photography Conference. Meet Spud. It’ll be life changing.”

Down to our last $1000, my husband suggested we might want to use that money for groceries; why not wait and go next year? Groceries be damned; I could drop a few pounds anyway. I’m going to the conference.

One minute I’m excited and hopeful for the future; the former confident me has returned. The next I’m petrified about attending, convinced I’m grasping at straws out of pure desperation. What do I know about travel writing? Keep reading …

WANDERLAND WRITERS WORKSHOP: Wandering and Writing in Bail with Linda Watanabe McFerrin and Joanna Biggar

September 26 – October 3, 2011

There is only one spot available.

Wanderland Writers Workshops generally sell out before they are even posted, but, due to a cancellation, there is a chance to participate in this one.

You can join Linda Watanabe McFerrin and Joanna Biggar for a week of writing and adventure in a tropical paradise — BALI!

Dates: September 26th – October 3, 2011

Place: Gorgeous island-style resort with airy villa accommodations, terraces, restaurant, pool, spa and more in the mountains above Ubud, Bali’s artistic capital. Accommodations: Shared rooms in private villas

Amenities:

• Swimming pool
• Spa
• Conference area
• Gardens
• Restaurant
• Wireless broadband
• Cable TV
• Outdoor exercise facility
• Maid service for laundry

Included in price:

• Transportation to and from airport
• Eight days/seven nights accommodations
• Seven breakfasts, afternoon tea daily, two lunches, four sumptuous dinners
• Five 2-hour workshops
• Private consultation with instructors
• Time and space to write
• Welcome dinner
• Temple visit
• Monkey forest visit
• Museum tour
• Balinese dance evening
• Banquet by a local chef
• Access to local attractions
• Plenty of time to explore on shared and personal adventures

Cost: $2,400

Optional Add-ons:

• Spa treatments
• Visits to craft studios and galleries in Ubud
• Balinese shadow puppet show
• Bird walks
• Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (October 5-9, 2011)
• Extra days at the resort, to be negotiated with owner

VERY limited space!!!! Reply to   jobiggar@gmail.com

Roger Housden

THE ART OF SOULFUL MEMOIR: WHERE YOUR OUTER LIFE MEETS YOUR INNER WORLD

A FOUR WEEK CLASS WITH ROGER HOUSDEN
Author of the Ten Poems Series and Saved By Beauty: Adventures of an American Romantic in Iran

Soulful memoir uses the raw material of your life to reveal the deeper intelligence of your life’s journey. In this class you will weave into words as truthfully as possible the ongoing thread of your lives. Please bring work you want to develop, and whether or not you have prior material, come ready to develop some during the class.

WHEN: FOUR TUESDAYS IN JULY: JULY 5, 12, 19, 26.
WHERE: 8. Eden Lane, Larkspur
COST: $180.00. $50 DEPOSIT to Roger Housden at address above.
FURTHER INFO: CALL ROGER ON 415 924 6061.

CLASS LIMITED TO EIGHT PARTICIPANTS

SOUTHERN SAMPLER ARTISTS COLONY PRESENTS:
A Writer’s Workshop
with Linda Watanabe McFerrin
April 5-12, 2011

ONE SPOT JUST OPENED UP!

Ready to wrap your tongue around the Gullah language and relish the dark, tangy sensations that feed the soul and lift the spirit? Want to discover a history like no other, a history bound in slavery, tempered in Lowcountry rice fields, and raised to glory in slow primal beats? Join us! Celebrate a side of Charleston that not all locals, much less tourists, know exists.

We’ll stay in a charming and rambling turn-of-the century home on Sullivan’s Island, only minutes from downtown Charleston and only a block away from one of South Carolina’s pristine white-sand beaches. Keep reading …

The Southern Sampler Artists Colony presents: SOUTHERN SHADOW: A Writer’s Workshop with author and instructor Linda Watanabe McFerrin

April 5 – 12, 2011
Charleston, South Carolina

Ready to wrap your tongue around the Gullah language and relish the dark, tangy sensations that feed the soul and lift the spirit? Want to discover a history like no other, a history bound in slavery, tempered in lowcountry rice fields, and raised to glory in slow primal beats? Join us!  Celebrate a side of Charleston that not many locals, much less tourists, know exists.

We’ll stay in a charming and rambling turn-of-the century home on Sullivan’s Island, only minutes from downtown Charleston and just a block away from one of South Carolina’s pristine white-sand beaches.

Linda Watanabe McFerrin, an award winning poet, travel writer, and novelist will lead workshop sessions especially designed for the Black history theme and lowcountry locale. The workshop also includes two thirty-minute, private literary consultations with Linda, one at the beginning and one at the end of the week.

Other highlights are:

• Dinner at “Home” with renowned chef, David Vagasky
• Special guest Alphonso Brown, author, musician, owner of Gullah Tours, and storyteller extraordinaire
• Cocktails and dinner with Nina Liu of Nina Liu & Friends Gallery
• Performance by The Mount Zion Spiritual Singers
• Conversations with Karen Chandler of the Charleston Jazz Initiative and local legendary jazz musicians
• Charleston nightlife
• Green project with the Charleston Parks Conservancy
• Celebrations and gatherings with Michael Haga, Associate Dean, School of the Arts, College of Charleston
• Lowcountry salt marsh exploration with Captain Anton, coastal geologist and gifted tour guide

Workshop, private consultations, accommodations, catered events, customized tours, honorariums, transportation to and from Charleston, S.C. airport (two scheduled pick up times for 4/5 and two scheduled departure times for 4/12), and most meals are included.

Cost is $1,800 ($1,950 if paid after December 15, 2010) for a private room, and $1,600 ($1,750 if paid after December 15, 2010) for a shared room. The choice of private and separate rooms depends upon availability at time of registration.

Please send check to Martha Greenway, 210 Serenity Circle, Mayesville, SC, 29104

For more information and to register, contact: Mary Brent Cantarutti, 415.269.1039 or Martha Greenway, 803.495.2186

VERY LIMITED SPACE

Detailed itinerary available upon request

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.

Instructor: Marsha Black … graduate, New York Institute of Photography; author of The Accidental Photographer; educator, traveler, photographer.

• Schedule #4504.901 June 19; Sat., 1:30 – 4:30 pm
• Schedule #4504.902: Aug. 14;  Sat., 1:30 – 4:30 pm
• Schedule #4504.903: July 14 – July 21; Wed., 6:30 – 8 pm

Fee: $60 / Dist. Res. $50

Community Ctr.: Upper Club Rm.

To register: use the internet, at www.pleasanthillrec.com or call 925-676-5200 or by fax 24 hours a day at 925-676-5630

PRE-REGISTRATION IS REQUIRED AT LEAST THREE DAYS PRIOR TO CLASS. PLEASE REGISTER EARLY; CLASSES WITH LOW ENROLLMENT ARE SUBJECT TO CANCELLATION.

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? Keep reading …

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.

Daily writing workshops created to enhance the Southern adventure will be led by award winning poet, travel writer, and novelist Linda Watanabe McFerrin. Linda teaches writing workshops all over the world, especially designed for the locale. There’ll also be plenty of lush photo opportunities all along the way and time for writing and quiet reflection.

How It All Started . . .

The Southern Sampler Artists Colony, founded in 2006 by two childhood friends—one who never left the South, and one who headed West but always knew her soul was Southern—is a haven for writers, dancers, artists, musicians and photographers who want to stir the creative pot, Southern style. Located at The Crossroads in South Carolina, a small community nestled in the Sand Hills and bordered by Black River Swamp, the colony offers workshop participants life enhancing opportunities to renew the creative spirit, explore fresh approaches to their work, and collaborate on individual and group projects.

Participants in the April 2010 Writers and Photographers Workshop will stay in a charming and rambling turn-of-the century home on Sullivan’s Island, only minutes from downtown Charleston and a short walk from one of South Carolina’s pristine white-sand beaches. Accommodations are dormitory style with expansive common areas, and a wraparound porch lined with Carolina rockers.

David Vagasky, a renowned chef who teaches at the Culinary Institute of Charleston, will prepare Low Country delicacies at “home” the evening of April 13th and April 19th. Breakfasts will be informal and most lunches catered and on the go. Dinners will feature acclaimed Charleston restaurants and our own home.

Workshop participants will be invited to contribute to the creation of a 2011 calendar featuring image and word written gathered during the 2010 Southern Sampler experince.

The colony (SSAC) has hosted three acclaimed workshops. The first two were at The Crossroads:  Writers: Sampling the Sensual South in April 2007, followed by Artists: Sampling Belonging, Southern Style, in April 2008. The third workshop, Writers: Sampling the Low Country, was in Charleston, April 2009.

Cost: $1,585.00 payable to Martha Greenway, 210 Serenity Circle, Mayesville, SC 29104 ($1,535.00 if paid before December 15, 2009)

For more information and to register, please contact Martha Greenway, mgreenway@ftc-i.net, 803 495-2186 or Mary Brent Cantarutti, mbrent@comcast.net, 415 269-1039.

If interested, apply early. Space is extremely limited.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you. I had such an enjoyable journey. I know my friends are going to tire of my constant chatting and raving of South Carolina—the people, the food, the art and most of all the soul. I sure do miss South Carolina. It is amazing how y’all got a bunch of foreigners yearning for your little piece of the world.

—Cathleen O’Brien, 2008 and 2009 Workshop Participant

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

Where: The Make Out Room, 3225 22nd. St. between Mission and Valencia, San Francisco

How much: $3 to $5 sliding scale, all proceeds benefit the CSC.

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

Lessons for the Living by Stan Goldberg is that rare self-help book that actually lives up to its title. Goldberg was living a high-stress academic life in the Bay Area when he was found to have prostate cancer. While not immediately life threatening, the cancer diagnosis and treatment threw him completely off his game physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. Following various failed attempts to regain his equilibrium, Goldberg found himself volunteering for hospice where by simply being present, listening, and doing whatever needed to be done, he helped others come to terms with the lives they would soon be leaving. In so doing, he also found himself coming back to life.

Engaging and enlightening, but never pedantic, Goldberg imparts basic life lessons on the importance of giving, communicating, loving, and forgiving. It took a lethal disease and time spent as a hospice volunteer caring for persons he came to know and love for Goldberg to learn these important truths. Unfortunately, many other persons do not learn them until the end of life approaches, if at all. Readers of Lessons for the Living are fortunate that Goldberg has learned and lived these lessons and can share them so ably.

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.

The Way of Stones

Kathryn Ridall came to poetry after a long career as a psychotherapist and unviversity instructor at John F. Kennedy University in Pleasant Hill. Her poetry has been published widely in journals such as Kalliope, The Texas Observer, The Chrisysalis Reader, and Pearl.  She is the editor of the forthcoming anthology When The Muse Calls: Poems For The Creative Life. This evening she will read from The Way Of Stones, a chapbook released this summer by Finishing Line Press. She also will be reading new, unpublished work.

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

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.

ABOUT THE BEST WOMEN’S TRAVEL WRITING 2009:

Reading the stories in these books is like getting to eavesdrop on other women’s conversations and stowing away on their adventures. From the rhapsodic to the humorous to the harrowing, these tales will take you on a wild and wonderful ride around the globe.

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:

Roccie Hill is an American writer living currently in California. Roccie studied Philosophy at UCLA, and Creative Writing at San Francisco State University, where her short stories appeared in the literary quarterly. She worked as a journalist and teacher of Creative Writing while living in Paris, France. She produced a variety of short films and celebrity/royal events during her years working in the UK and Paris. Roccie has one daughter, a pilot and Captain in the United States Air Force.

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, 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

Paul McHugh has been one of California’s leading outdoor writers for three decades. For 22 years, he was outdoor feature writer and editor at the San Francisco Chronicle. During that time, he covered the dramatic big-wave surf break called Maverick’s at Half Moon Bay in features, interviews and reports on the annual contest there. After taking a buy-out from the Chronicle in ’07, he continued providing Maverick’s stories and coverage to the New York Times. He has put all he knows about big-wave adventures in the piece he will read Monday night at the Ferry Building, a short piece of new journalism called, “Mav’s”.

McHugh is the author of a novel, “The Search for Goodbye-to-Rains,” editor and writer of a non-fiction book, “Wild Places,” and has a new novel coming out soon, a mystery based in San Francisco called, “Deadlines.”

Also:  Well known journalist and past contributor to the Washington Post, Joanna Biggar.

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

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.

LEFT COAST WRITERS® BOOK LAUNCH: Poet BECKY FOUST and “Dark CARD” (Texas A & M University Press Consortium, 2008), her award-winning chapbook.

Rebecca Foust, poet and author of award-winning chapbook,

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

“These poems will break and heal your heart, their rage, hope, insight and love carried by a poetic power as targeted as a bullet-train! ”
Barry Spacks, First Poet Laureate of Santa Barbara and
Commonwealth Club of California Poetry Medalist

Becky Foust has hit the ground running launching her new book of poetry, “Dark Card,” which is about raising a son with Asperger’s Syndrome, the mild form of autism featured in “Rain Man.” (It’s already sold 1000 copies since June!). “Dark Card” won the 2007 Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize, and its title poem was nominated for a 2008 Pushcart Prize.

And there’s more good news for Rebecca Foust. She just learned that her second chapbook, ‘Allegheny Mountain Bowl,” which just won the 2008 Robert Phillips Prize, will be released in 2009! Congratulations, Rebecca!

ABOUT REBECCA FOUST
Rebecca Foust was born and raised in Altoona, formerly one of the country’s great railroad towns, located in the Allegheny Mountains in western Pennsylvania. Her teen years were spent in nearby Hollidaysburg, a tiny town surrounded by farmlands and forests interrupted by the quarries and strip mining pits from an earlier time. Foust attended Smith College and Stanford Law School on scholarships and practiced law for ten years and now lives with her husband and three teenagers in Northern California.

Bob Tripp and his new novel, Last Clear Chance

Saturday, August 9, 2008 || 7pm
Book Passage – Corte Madera || Tamal Vista Dr., Corte Madera
www.bookpassage.com

Join aeronautical engineer, test pilot and author, Bob Tripp, for the launch of his suspenseful new novel, “Last Clear Chance” – a tale about airplane disaster and recovery.

Tripp is the perfect person to write this novel. He began flying at the age of 16, graduated with a degree in aeronautical engineering, spent 30 years as a pilot for Western Airlines and Delta, and has more than 25,000 hours flying and testing a wide range of aircrafts from experimental and home-built, to Lear Jets, Boeing 747′s and DC-10′s.

Tripp has been published in a variety of magazines including “Airways,” “Road and Track,” “Science Digest” and “American Heritage.” His short story is the lead for “Hawaii’s Best Spooky Stories,” and he’s written the cover articles for “Invention & Technology and “Flying.”

NEXT UP AT THE SECOND SATURDAY BOOK LAUNCH:

Becky Foust, and her award-winning chapbook, “Dark Card” (Texas Review Press, 2008). “Dark Card,” a book of poetry about raising a son with Aspberger’s Syndrome, won the 2007 Robert Phillips Poetry Chapbook Prize. www.rebeccafoust.com

Monday, July 9
5:30 -7:00pm with networking at a nearby restaurant/bar
Theme: Food Fixations

Book Passage – FERRY PLAZA
One Ferry Plaza #46
San Francisco, CA
For Info: Left Coast Writers or leftcoastwriters@aol.com

Monday, May 14 5:30 -7:00pm with networking at a nearby restaurant/bar
Theme: All About Me: Memoir

Book Passage – FERRY PLAZA
One Ferry Plaza #46
San Francisco, CA
For Info: Left Coast Writers or leftcoastwriters@aol.com