Left Coast Writers Book Launch: The Rites of Passage by Jonathan Taylor 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Jonathan Taylor, Author of The Rites of Passage

Jonathan TaylorSaturday, October 13th, 2018 || 7pm Book Passage-Corte Madera|| 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

This month we invite you to a launch event for Jonathan Taylor’s debut novel, The Rites of Passage.

Jamie Goldberg suspects his homosexuality at an early age and manages to hide it from his homophobic ’70s Detroit Community; his Jewish political activist parents; and even from himself until his rape, at the hands of a male prostitute, at the age of 15. Profoundly ashamed, he hides in two worlds one is a beautiful cocoon spun from music, art, theater and literature, another is shadowed with his sado-masochistic desire to obliterate his sexuality. His elaborate fantasies are no match for real life or his true affections, which blossom in spite of his constant attempts to thwart them. When his carefully constructed imaginary world begins to crumble, Jamie must face his demons, both real and invented, finding in the end that personal discovery comes at a very high price. Jamie learns too that even the most challenged, when they dare to cast away labels, deserve a moment or two of grace.

Six-time Emmy award-winning writer Patrick Mulcahey said: “The Rites of Passage … is like encountering a gay Portnoy’s Complaint, in its distinctive blend of Jewishness, sex, moral panic and maternal (more…)

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Ferry Plaza Book Party: God Sex and Psychosis by Todd Crawshaw and other Dark Tales 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK EVENT: God Sex and Psychosis by Todd Crawshaw and other Dark Tales

Todd Crawshaw

Monday, October 8th, 2018 || 6pm Book Passage || San Francisco 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco ||www.bookpassage.com

You won’t want to miss this: another entertaining and provocative work by author and artist Todd Crawshaw and other authors of dark tales.

About God, Sex & Psychosis:  When criminal psychologist Mira Skyles is assigned by a court order to evaluate Egon Norwood, a person of interest in a serial murder investigation, she recognizes both a man with a dissociative identity disorder and the boy who once saved her life, with whom she shares a secret history.

God, Sex & Psychosis is divided into three sections. Part One is the thematic overture. It highlights the formative years of Egon and his twin sister, Faye, both traumatized by an abusive father. Part Two illustrates the fragmented points of view of both siblings, now adults, being analyzed by Mira, a court-appointed psychotherapist struggling with her own inner demons. The suspected serial killer assigned to her is mysterious and charming. Against her better judgment, she finds herself falling in love. Part Three is Mira’s story, told as a confessional: how she was gang-raped at age twelve and scarred by her attackers; how her rage manifested into a quest for revenge, which caused two deaths at the college she had attended; and how these incidents are connected to murders taking place in San Francisco.  (more…)

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Literary Salon: Mary Jo McConahay, Author of The Tango War in conversation with Andy Ross 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: Mary Jo McConahay, Author of The Tango War in Conversation with Agent Andy Ross

Mary Jo McConahay Left Coast WritersMonday, October 1, 2018 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
www.bookpassage.com

Journalism and journalists continue to be blasted by our current national administration and have never been more important. The same thing goes for professional women in general.
In this context, we feel especially honored to be able to celebrate the work of award-winning journalist Mary Jo McConahay and delighted to share an evening with her.
An LCW member for years, Mary Jo will discuss her work with her agent, Andy Ross, and tell us about her latest book, The Tango War and answer questions about this recent publication and her profession. Hers is the kind of reportage we need. Come and help us make this a truly welcoming and highly informative evening.

The Tango War by Mary Jo McConahay fills an important gap in WWII history. Beginning in the thirties, both sides were well aware of the need to control not just the hearts and minds but also the resources of Latin America. The fight was often dirty: residents were captured to exchange for U.S. prisoners of war and rival spy networks shadowed each other across the continent. At all times it was a Tango War, in which each side closely shadowed the other’s steps.

Though the Allies triumphed, at the war’s inception it looked like the Axis would win. A flow of raw materials in the Southern Hemisphere, at a high cost in lives, was key to ensuring Allied victory, as were military bases supporting the North African campaign, the Battle of the Atlantic and the invasion of Sicily, and fending off attacks on the Panama Canal. Allies secured loyalty through espionage and diplomacy—including help from (more…)

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Book Launch: Montana Rhapsody by Susanna Solomon 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Susanna Solomon, Author of Montana Rhapsody

Susanna Solomon

Saturday, September 8th, 2018 || 7pm Book Passage-Corte Madera|| 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Susanna Solomon is back … with another tale about the kind of wacky, warm characters who populate her work and their odd goings on!

Laura Fisher, pole dancer extraordinaire, has just moved to Great Falls, Montana to start over. When she takes to the stage for the very first time, she has no idea that her evening will end with her fighting off three men intent on taking her virtue, taking a leap out of a second story window, and a wild ride in a convertible to the small town of Fort Benton. The next day, with the thugs still chasing her, Laura embarks on a three-day canoe camping trip with E.B., a man she’s just met—despite the fact that she doesn’t even know how to swim.

Out on the river, Laura encounters swarms of mosquitoes, a broken and leaking canoe, hail the size of golf balls, and an evil man named Tucker Claymore. Meanwhile, E.B. ,a broken-hearted farmer, becomes sick and is chased by a granny with a gun, among other misadventures. Along the way, Laura and E.B. meet a number of characters, including Campbell Carr, a businessman from New York who is on the river to mend fences with his fourteen-year-old daughter, Francine—a girl who knows better than to believe anything Dad says—and Daisy, Campbell’s mistress, whom he has also invited and plans to introduce to his daughter.  (more…)

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Ferry Plaza Book Party: Body of Knowledge by A. M. Matthews 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS FERRY PLAZA BOOK PARTY:  A. M. Matthews, Author of Body of Knowledge

A. M. Matthews
A. M. Matthews

Monday, September 10th, 2018 || 6pm Book Passage || San Francisco 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco ||www.bookpassage.com

Biotech and breakthroughs fuel A. M. Matthews new mystery novel that seems a lot more like science than science fiction.

After years of working for other biotechnology companies, Susan Glasser has achieved her dream and opened her own research laboratory in the San Francisco Bay Area. Following numerous unsuccessful trials, she has finally gotten a positive result from a new biologic she is testing. But before she can assess her discovery, this socially awkward research scientist finds her life upended by a series of unrelated events. Forced to confront and deal with problems well outside her areas of expertise and training, Susan must figure out what is happening and find a way to reclaim her life.

A. M. Matthews lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and the family dog. Born and raised in Miami Beach, she comes from a family of writers. After raising her children and a career in management, (more…)

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Literary Salon: Your Path to Publishing 🗓 🗺

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LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: Your Path to Publishing with Laurie McAndish King, Jim Shubin and Linda Watanabe McFerrin

 

Tuesday, September 4th, 2018 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
www.bookpassage.com

Writers, published and otherwise, the mysteries of successful publishing will be revealed on this September night at our next Left Coast Writers Literary Salon. Please note that we will be meeting TUESDAY, September 4th! Mark your calendars and settle in to find out how to avoid becoming one of self-publishing’s epic fails.

We will cover the following:

 

  1. Understanding the process: Which indie publishing model is the best fit for me and my book? What costs are involved? Do I need an editor? Do I also need a proofreader? How does print-on-demand work? How many books will I sell, and how long  does it take?
  2. Planning and getting organized: Understanding how long each step takes (editing, design, production, marketing). Building your list, planning ahead for marketing (short vs long lead time activities), using an ARC, submitting your manuscript for reviews/awards, pricing your book properly.
  3. Marketing: Defining your goals, developing a marketing plan, building your platform, understanding your audience, developing a relationship with your readers, setting up your online presence, optimizing your website, mastering social media.

(more…)

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Left Coast Writers® Live: Susanna Solomon 🗓

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Melinda Adams AKA LilyCat

On Sunday, August 26th from 12-2pm, join Left Coast Writers® Live on FCCFREE RADIO’s popular show, Lilycat on Stuff. Lilycat’s guest on Sunday will be Susanna Solomon. 

Susanna Solomon, a writer and electrical engineer, lives in Marin County, where she has run her own engineering consulting firm for more than twenty years. Her books include two short story collections, Point Reyes Sheriff’s Calls and More Point Reyes Sheriff’s Calls, and her stories have appeared in Foliate Oak Magazine, Meat for Tea – The Valley Review, and online in the Mill Valley Literary Review and Harlot’s Sauce Radio. An avid outdoor enthusiast, Susanna has backpacked in Yosemite, Glacier National Park, Point Reyes, the Bernese Oberland, and the Gasternal in Switzerland. She’s walked across England on the Coast to Coast Trail, and has canoed extensively on the Missouri River in Montana, the Jacks Fork and Eleven Point Rivers in Missouri, and the Russian and Eel Rivers in California. She now spends her free time studying Tai Chi and Tai Chi sword and swimming in Tomales Bay, which is ten minutes from her home.

In Susanna’s new book, Montana Rhapsody, Laura Fisher, pole dancer extraordinaire, has just moved to Great Falls, Montana to start over. When she takes to the stage for the very first time, she has no idea that her evening will end with her fighting off three men intent on taking her virtue, taking a leap out of a second story window, and a wild ride in a convertible to the small town of Fort Benton. The next day, with the thugs still chasing her, Laura embarks on a three-day canoe camping trip with E.B., a man she’s just met—despite the fact that she doesn’t even know how to swim. (more…)

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Book Launch: Tuning In by Richard Roberts 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS BOOK LAUNCH: Tuning In by Richard Roberts

Richard Roberts

Saturday, August 18th, 2018 || 7pm Book Passage-Corte Madera|| 51 Tamal Vista Dr. Corte Madera || www.bookpassage.com

Jon Gunnarson never meant to transform humanity. He just wanted a normal life. A life where he doesn’t absorb other people’s emotions, lose himself and have to live like a hermit.

So he jumps at the chance to help develop a scam telepathy app because it will get him to Bhutan, where he hopes an old friend will teach him how to disconnect. (more…)

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Book Party: Psychosocial Care of Cancer Survivors by Cheryl Krauter-Leonard 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS FERRY PLAZA BOOK PARTY: Psychosocial Care of Cancer Survivors: A Clinician’s Guide and Workbook for Providing Wholehearted Care by Cheryl Krauter-Leonard

Cheryl Krauter

Monday, August 13th, 2018 || 6pm Book Passage || San Francisco 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco ||www.bookpassage.com

One of our favorite psychotherapists is speaking at the Ferry Plaza in August and sharing her new book.

Psychosocial Care of Cancer Survivors: A Clinician’s Guide and Workbook for Providing Wholehearted Care is a clinical resource for healthcare practitioners that presents person-centered care as an antidote to the distress both patients and clinicians face in cancer survivorship. It addresses questions of how to bring a humanistic approach and quality attention to the growing needs of patients in the post-treatment phase of a cancer diagnosis. As a workbook, it’s both a guide and an applicable resource for daily clinical practice. It provides a needed structure for clinicians to help them reconnect with the meaningful aspects of their work.

Written from the perspective of a clinician-survivor, Psychosocial Care of Cancer Survivors is about the healing power of relationship for both patient and practitioner as they negotiate the complex world of cancer survivorship. (more…)

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Literary Salon: Larry Habegger 🗓

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LEFT COAST WRITERS LITERARY SALON: Larry Habegger, Executive Editor and Publisher, Travelers’ Tales

Larry Habegger

Monday, August 6th, 2018 || 7pm
Book Passage-Corte Madera || 51 Tamal Vista Dr.
www.bookpassage.com

Our Salon Speaker for Monday, August 6th is Larry Habegger, Executive Editor and Publisher, Travelers’ Tales. Larry will be talking about his experience as a writer, editor and publisher and giving advice to folks in the travel and fiction categories. What some might not know is that Larry, along with James O’Reilly, wrote a serialized novel for the San Francisco Examiner some years back and that it’s going to be making a comeback in book form.

Larry is a writer and editor who has been covering the world since his international travels began in the 1970s. As a freelance writer for more than three decades, his work has appeared in many major newspapers and magazines, including the Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Travel & Leisure, and Outside. (more…)

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