Literary Salon: David Downie in Conversation with Laurie McAndish King đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: David Downie, Author of A Passion for Paris: Romanticism and Romance in the City of Light and the upcoming A Taste of Paris—The History of the Parisian Love Affair With Food

Monday, October 2nd, 2017 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera|| 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera ||
www.bookpassage.com

Once again we have a very special treat in store for you. David Downie, author of A Passion for Paris: Romanticism and Romance in the City of Light and his new book, A Taste of Paris—The History of the Parisian Love Affair With Food, joins us again—all the way from Paris—this time in Conversation with Laurie McAndish King, author of Lost Kidnapped and Eaten Alive and Your Crocodile Has Arrived. Whether or not you are mad about Paris and travel and food, we are certain that this is going to be a delightful and informative evening for all concerned, and we hope you will spread the word. We also invite you to bring a guest. Just let us know who’s coming.

“A Taste of Paris took me on the walk I have always dreamed of: a joyous romp through time with culinary historian and literary gastronome David Downie. The streets and tables of Paris will never be the same and I could not be more grateful.”
—Alice Waters

“A veritable encyclopedia of everything you ever wanted to know about the Parisians and their victuals. This literary tour de force turns received wisdom on its head, sprinkling the serious subject of what, when, where and how the French have eaten throughout history with many a great moment of humor and irreverence. I loved it!”
—Harriet Welty Rochefort, author of Joie de Vivre

David Downie is a native San Franciscan who moved to Paris in the mid-1980s and now divides his time between (more…)

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Left Coast Writers® Live: David Hathwell 🗓

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Melinda Adams AKA LilyCat

On Sunday, September 17th from 12-2pm, join Left Coast Writers® Live on FCCFREE RADIO’s popular show, Lilycat on Stuff. Lilycat’s guest on Sunday will be David Hathwell. 

David Hathwell’s debut collection, Muses, is from David Robert Books. His poems have appeared in more than a dozen literary magazines, national and international. A former English teacher, he has degrees in English from Stanford University and Columbia University, as well as an advanced degree in music theory from Queens College of CUNY. He is now a piano student at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music and a bass in the Lesbian/Gay Chorus of San Francisco. (“My musical training, as much as any other influence, has shaped the character of my poetry.”) He lives in San Francisco with Stephen Goldston, his partner of forty-one years and husband of eight.

David Hathwell just release a new book, Between Dog and Wolf. The French “entre chien et loup” describes those moments at twilight when the eye, no longer to be trusted, can’t distinguish between a dog and a wolf. The poems in David Hathwell’s new collection take place on the threshold—unsettling, often perilous—between light and darkness: between the familiar and the unknown, the expected and the unforeseen, safety and danger.

“Sharp and unsettling, the poems offer a sense of something just not right. An important book for times like these.”
—Erica Dawson
 
“An absolute delight to read. Commanding a beautiful lyricism, Hathwell ask us to consider the world in ways we likely haven’t before. Do yourself a favor and buy this book.”
—Rob Griffith

(more…)

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Book Party: David Hathwell, Author of Between Dog and Wolf đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS FERRY PLAZA BOOK PARTY: Between Dog and Wolf by David Hathwell

David Hathwell

Monday, September 11th, 2017 || 6pm Book Passage || San Francisco 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco ||www.bookpassage.com

Please join us for this celebratory reading of David Hathwell’s new book, Between Dog and Wolf. The French phrase “entre chien et loup” describes those moments at twilight when the eye, no longer to be trusted, can’t distinguish between a dog and a wolf. The poems in David Hathwell’s new collection take place on the threshold—unsettling, often perilous—between light and darkness: between the familiar and the unknown, the expected and the unforeseen, safety and danger.

“Sharp and unsettling, the poems offer a sense of something just not right. An important book for times like these.”
—Erica Dawson
 
“An absolute delight to read. Commanding a beautiful lyricism, Hathwell ask us to consider the world in ways we likely haven’t before. Do yourself a favor and buy this book.”
—Rob Griffith

(more…)

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Book Launch: Venetian Blood by Christine Volker đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Venetian Blood: Murder in a Sensuous City by Christine Volker

Christine Volker

Saturday, September 9th, 2017 || 7pm Book Passage-Corte Madera|| 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Venice, mystery, seduction—we invite you to an intriguing evening with novelist Christine Volker.

Struggling to forget a crumbling marriage, forty-year-old Anna Lucia Lottol comes to Venice to visit an old friend―but instead of finding solace, she is dragged into the police station and accused of murdering a money-laundering count with whom she had a brief affair. A US Treasury officer with brains and athleticism, Anna fights to clear her name in a seductive city full of watery illusions. As she works to pry information from a cast of recalcitrant characters sometimes denying what she sees and hears, she succeeds in unleashing a powerful foe bent on destroying her. Will she save herself and vanquish her enemies, including her darkest fears?

A mysterious tapestry of murder, betrayal, and family, Venetian Blood is a story of one woman’s brave quest for the truth ―before it’s too late. (more…)

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Literary Salon: The Writing Road-Writers and Editors Discuss Travel and Travel Writing đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: The Writing Road-Writers and Editors Discuss Travel and Travel Writing

Sunday, September 3rd, 2017 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera|| 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera ||
www.bookpassage.com

Join us for the LCW September Salon on Sunday, September 3rd at 7pm,at Book Passage in Corte Madera, rather than Monday, the 4th (Labor Day). As we gear up for the fall season, a great time to hit the road, the focus will be travel and travel writing. We’ll have a panel of expert writers and editors on hand to talk about journeys and the many ways to document them.
It’ll be more of a Labor Day Weekend Celebratory Gathering, so wine will be served, and we are opening the salon up to our members’ and speakers’ guests. Just let us know who you are inviting, so that we can add them to the guest list.

Travel Panel: 

Susan Alcorn

Susan Alcorn, travel writer and long-distance trekker, has walked more than 3,000 miles in Spain, France, Portugal, and Switzerland, on Camino de Santiago pilgrimage routes. From her first walk across Spain, came her book,Camino Chronicle: Walking to Santiago, which was named finalist for the prestigious 2007 Ben Franklin award for Best Travel Essay. Susan Alcorn has climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro; journeyed to Torres del Paine, Chile, to hike its famous circuit route (from which came Patagonia Chronicle); and completed the Pacific Crest Trail.  Although she is not averse to traveling by car, boat, train, plane, bus, and rail, she believes that on foot is often the best way to get acquainted intimately with the people, culture, and land through which she travels. Her upcoming book, Caminos Norte and Primitivo: Paths and Interludes, will be released this fall. 

(more…)

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Library Reading: Wandering in Andalusia: The Soul of Southern Spain đź—“

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Saturday, August 5th, 2017 || 11am
Novato Public Library || Novato
1720 Novato Blvd, Novato CA 94947

In many ways, Andalusia, situated as it is, at the southern boundary of the Iberian Peninsula, is a crossroads, a caravansary where settlers from northern Europe, Africa, the Mediterranean and the Middle East have left their mark. Our writers went from Córdoba to Málaga, from Granada and its Alhambra to Cadíz to bring back stories of cities, rivers, coasts, plains, food, spirit and passion. All embarked upon new roads of discovery, and all were well rewarded in their investigations. These, after all, are the landscapes that inspired Cervantes, Lorca, Machado, Navarro, Unamuno, Hemingway, Conrad and Menocal.

In the words of poet and rock idol, Jim Morrison, “Andalusia with fields ripe with grain, I want to see you again and again.”

“Wandering in Andalusia’s enchanting collection of travel tales illuminates the region’s history, traditions, and myriad attractions. It’s the perfect companion for your next visit to Spain.”
— Christi Phillips, Author of The Rosetti Letter and The Devlin Diary

“To change ourselves, we must give ourselves away. The glass we hold cannot be filled until it is first emptied. In Andalusia, we yield ourselves to an irresistible and cumulative beauty, just as we do in love. And the life we then can lead, with reborn and unbound hopes, follows a trajectory of dedication and understanding.
— Steven Nightingale, Author of Granada: A Pomegranate in the Hand of God and The Hot Climate of Promises and Grace (more…)

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Left Coast Writers® Live: Maxine Rose Schur 🗓

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Melinda Adams AKA LilyCat

On Sunday, August 13th from 12-2pm, join Left Coast Writers® Live on FCCFREE RADIO’s popular show, Lilycat on Stuff. Lilycat’s guest on Sunday will be Maxine Rose Schur. 

Maxine Rose Schur is a children’s book author and travel journalist. Her essays have appeared in numerous publications including The Los Angeles Times, Christian Science Monitor, San Francisco Chronicle, Insight Guides, Salon.com, Jetsetter, Escape and  travel essay anthologies by Traveler’s Tales and Random House. She has twice won the Lowell Thomas Award given by the Society of American Travel Writers.

Places in Time recounts the author’s 18-month journey around the world including places never before seen by a traveler. With little money but boundless enthusiasm, her goal was to travel not just to understand a place, but its people. Whether camping in the center of Paris, dangling off a Panamanian tramp steamer or hitchhiking across Australia, Maxine Rose Schur’s stories tell of exuberant youthful adventures and heartwarming encounters informed by the life knowledge gained with the accumulation of years.
(more…)

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Book Launch: Your Crocodile Has Arrived by Laurie McAndish King đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Your Crocodile Has Arrived: More true stories from a curious traveler by Laurie McAndish King

Laurie McAndish King

Saturday, August 19th, 2017 || 7pm Book Passage-Corte Madera|| 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

This should be a fascinating evening!

Whether your taste runs to crocodiles or chocolate, ancient relics or flying saucers, you’re sure to find entertainment and illumination in Your Crocodile Has Arrived: More true stories from a curious traveler, a collection of 21 true stories from an award-winning author. Join in as she makes a pilgrimage to see a 2,500-year-old tooth, receives a full-body chocolate massage, checks out 20-foot-long earthworms, participates in a shamanic ayahuasca ritual, and learns the secrets of alien spaceship propulsion from an Ivy-League astrophysicist.

Laurie McAndish King’s award-winning essays and photography have (more…)

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Book Party: Living Love, the Yoga of Yama & Niyama by Megan Nolan đź—“

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LEFT COAST WRITERS FERRY PLAZA BOOK PARTY: Living Love, the Yoga of Yama & Niyama: Timeless Teachings for Transformation and Awakening by Megan Nolan

Megan Nolan

Monday, August 14th, 2017 || 6pm Book Passage || San Francisco 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco ||www.bookpassage.com

Living Love explores the ancient teachings of yoga that assist with living in the world and facing life’s difficulties. This book leads you through processes that can help you shift negative beliefs and thought patterns, transform your relationship with yourself and others and ultimately your life. A unique blend of the ancient teachings of yoga, the Yama and Niyama of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, and modern psychology. It offers teachings for happiness, compassion, self-love, and self-realization.

It gives simple practices that can resolve, solve, clarify, heal, purify, fend off confusion, dispel error and light your way into developing a deeper connection with your true divine nature. Living Love is a practical guide to living a deep and fulfilling life that will move you towards awakening to the deepest love within you.

(more…)

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Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference 2017

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Book Passage Travel Writers and Photographers Conference
August 10-13, 2017
Corte Madera, CA

Register Here

The Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference has an extraordinary reputation among publishers, editors, and writers. Alumni have published books, articles, and photos—many as the direct result of lessons learned and contacts made at the conference. There is no finer travel conference anywhere in the world.

The Conference offers an array of workshops, panels, and evening activities. There are many hours of informal interaction between faculty and students during lunch and in discussions that often last late into the evening.

The collegiate atmosphere of this four-day conference attracts participants and faculty from all over the country, many for repeat visits. Opportunities abound for faculty and participants to talk, laugh, and exchange ideas in classes, workshops, panels, and informal lunches.

For a full overview of the Book Passage Travel Writers & Photographers Conference, check out Conference Days!

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