tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40263157528123601932024-03-13T13:00:51.952-07:00Avid Reader Tower BlogAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.comBlogger15125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-57213172854416247212014-01-24T17:01:00.000-08:002014-01-24T17:01:08.671-08:00Sue Pearson Answers Some Questions<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Sue Pearson is an award winning Journalist who has released a novel based on the Nancy Hart Militia, a group of women who took up arms to defend their home in the possibility of an attack by the Union during the Civil War. </div>
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She will be in the store tomorrow (1/ 25/ 2014) at 2pm. Her book, "The Nancies," sells for $10.00 and is currently being carried by the store. </div>
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<i>Q: Where did you first encounter the story of LaGrange?</i></div>
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<b>Sue: </b>My sister, Margie, who lived in Atlanta, went to LaGrange on business. She knew our father's family came from LaGrange and she stopped in at the Troup County Archives there to do some genealogy research. That's when County Historian Clark Johnson told her that some of our relatives were members of a unique all-female militia during the Civil War. She wasn't sure which relatives or what the significance of this group might be, but since I was the journalist in the family, she turned the documentation over to me to look more deeply into this story. On the airplane returning to California from a visit with Margie in Atlanta, I poured over the documents she had given me. Suddenly, the story was revealed: my two great aunts were officers in a home guard formed to defend the homes and families of LaGrange should there be an enemy invasion. There were 46 women in the Nancy Hart Militia and they did indeed face the enemy in the last days of the war. It wasn't until several years later while doing more research at the Troup County Archives that we found a militia roster with the name of my great grandmother. Addie Bull was just 14 years old when the war began but she signed up to be one of the militia women. </div>
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<i>Q: How long did you research this this topic before the novel spilled out?</i></div>
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<b>Sue:</b> I had known for many years that I wanted to try my hand at a novel. I just hadn't gotten the seed for a great story. But on that airplane somewhere between Atlanta and Sacramento I knew I had the greatest story of my many long years as a journalist. I couldn't wait to get online and begin the research. I spent a solid two years learning everything I could about the Nancies, as they called themselves. I traveled to LaGrange several times and met with historian Clark Johnson who was incredibly generous with his time. He unearthed every document in the precious archives that detailed the activities of the Nancies and revealed rich details about the women who formed this fighting unit. I studied the history of LaGrange, the Civil War and my own family history in Georgia. I traveled to Virginia to track an important battle many LaGrange men fought in during the Peninsula campaign including my great uncle. I studied Civil War battles in history books and in documents and displays at the Atlanta History Center. When I first started writing the novel my head was so filled with history it was hard not to put every detail I had learned into the story. So two years later with my first draft, I got some excellent but not easy to hear advice: less detailed history, more character, plot and story nuance. So I did a lot of wrenching editing. But then I fleshed out dramatic scenes and wove a thread of plot through them. In the end the novel is much more character driven. I wanted these women to come alive for the reader. They were incredibly brave but disappeared into their traditional roles as wives and mothers after the war ended. I thought it was time for them to come back and take a bow.</div>
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<i>Q: Did you change any of the little bits of the history for the requirements of story? Or were there any pieces of history that plot/character development required you to gloss over?</i></div>
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<b>Sue:</b> I stayed true to the factual details of the Civil War in describing real events and introducing real people. But when it served the story I placed some of my family members in situations that were purely of my imagination. For example, there was truly a warship Alabama and much controversy and intrigue about efforts to get the ship out of England and on its way to Confederate service in the war. My aunt Delia and her father were probably not involved in this international incident but it played well in the story to have them be part of the intrigue. In the beginning of my writing, the issue of slavery was like the elephant in the room. The Nancy Hart Militia had not formed to address the politics or the human rights issue of that time. They only wanted to save their homes and families if the fighting came close. I didn't know what to write about the slavery issue but I knew I couldn't ignore it. Those LaGrange relatives of mine owned slaves and ran plantations. I think I was able to portray the gritty realities of slavery, at the same time staying true to the real focus of this story which was the Nancy Hart Militia.</div>
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<i>Q: Was there anything you encountered in your exploration of the subject that you could not include but wished you had?</i></div>
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<b>Sue:</b> Oh, how I wished I could have jammed the book full of all that fascinating history I learned! But alas, it would have slowed the reader down and likely caused death by boredom. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-24784104185286458022014-01-11T18:13:00.001-08:002014-01-11T18:28:00.084-08:00Jeanine Stevens Q & A <br />
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Q: How did you come to convey your creative mind in poetry over other forms of expression?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jeanine</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">: Long interested in many art forms, I tried batik, painting, drawing and collage. These required specialized materials and equipment. I like the simple requirements of poetry: paper, pencil or pen. My grammar school in Indianapolis was named after the Indiana state poet so I had an early introduction to rhyme. I’ve also done various kinds of writing from diaries at an early age, to M.A. and ED.D theses. Also, I was responsible for numerous reports, evaluations, curriculum development, affirmative action directories (working at the California Post-Secondary Education Commission and teaching at American River College) which required many, many pages. I like the brevity of poetry and the idea that one can pack layers of meaning into a few lines. I had a fairly permissive childhood with many opportunities to explore the inner city as well as woodlands and nature areas. Good libraries were close by and my home had encyclopedias and news magazines. Also an avid movie goer, I had an active imagination. I tend to be a visual person and can still recall many dramatic scenes from Saturday matinees, some of which have ended up in my poems. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Why did I start to write poetry? I think the inclination was there all along, and about 20 years ago I was in a bookstore and Natalie Goldberg’s Writing Down the Bones, was on an end-cap. That was my jumpstart into poetry. Much of my inspiration for my work comes from travel, life events and reading other poets. I continue with collage, some of which has illustrated my poems and book covers.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Q: How does your degree in anthropology guide or influence your poetry?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jeanine: </span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">I’ve always been interested in other cultures and prehistory, so anthropology was a natural field of study for me. I was fortunate to have excellent professors in the Anthropology Department at California State University Sacramento, as well as those instructors in the English Department. At American River College I taught anthropology for many years: Cultural, Physical, and Prehistory, so anthropology has been a constant in my life. I think the influence on my poetry is immense. I’ve written poems about cave paintings in southern France (Combarelles Cave), Native Californian legends (Pogonip), Scottish mysticism (Bean Nighe), and archeological excavations (Sifting). I try to remember cultural relativity when I explore and write about situations different from my own. A recent trip to Turkey opened up more ideas for new work,“House of Candlelight,” based on a fresco found in a hidden cave in southern Turkey, and “A Dish of Figs in Thrace.” A chapbook, The Meaning of Monoliths, contains poems related to other cultures and their “monoliths.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Q: In what way did the Creative Writing Program at Davis help grow your craft?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jeanine:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> 1. A course on writing from photographs was instrumental in a number of poems</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">written over the past few years. All kinds of photos from National Geographic, newspapers,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Sierra Club Magazine, Archeology Magazine and others captured my imagination. Many of the</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">poems were written from photos of women from young Frida Kahlo to a girl escaping gunfire</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">in Liberia to others living on the streets.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">2. The course, “Poetry and Translation” gave me inspiration for my second collection, Loving</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Assemblage, which deals with French themes, French writers and artists. I used the model</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">of “variations” or “variations on a theme by” French authors I’ve long admired such as Paul</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Verlaine, Apollinaire, and Simone de Bouvier. We also analyzed poems in depth, line by line</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">which is useful for revision.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">3. In other courses I learned how to sequence a collection, create a broadside. Another challenged me to write in the style of Gertrude Stein.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Q: You celebrate art in your poetry, so I take it that the greats in all forms (literature to sculpture)</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">are muse for your poetry. Could you describe your process here? Is it a sudden jolt of inspiration</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">faced with great beauty? Or is a more obsessive niggling that make the art stick in your mind long after you’re in front of it?</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: italic; font-variant: normal; font-weight: bold; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">Jeanine:</span><span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;"> The process I use for ekphrastic poems will vary depending on the piece of artwork. One of my favorite paintings is Le Pie (The Magpie), by Monet. Reprinted, you see a lot of blue and white but when I saw this in person I was astounded by brighter shades of yellow and also how large the painting was, almost life size. I could have stepped right over the rickety farm fence. I may also focus on single item such as the top hat worn by a Native American in a sketch from the 1800’s. The poems I’ve written from Chagall’s work (so full of life and energy) have more to do with action and activity, such as “Blue Circus” and “Joseph’s Dream.” Or I may try to visualize what just happened prior to the scene, or what may happen after.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">In “Haida Moon Mask” I imagined what the intent of the wood carver might have been so</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">described the piece as a carving for his young son who was “startled by stars.”</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">My poem, “The Blue Nun” was written in response to a small wooden carving, also painted,</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">which I purchased at a roadside restaurant in Bakersfield. “Made in Russia” was stamped on the</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">bottom, so I imagined her apparel and her travels from there to here. “Sunday on the Banks of</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">the Marne” is from a black and white photo and the date, 1938, led me to construct a scenario</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">prior to World War 11. The time element was important here.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">On occasion, I will sit down and begin to write immediately after being inspired by a work</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">of art. Often though, it will be an image I keep in mind and keep coming back to. Recently I</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">wrote a poem called “Breast Reliefs.” I’ve had this photograph of broken pieces of sculpture</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">for some years. I researched the site where these artifacts were found (Lake Constance), and</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">also the surrounding environment at the time and was able to write the poem from the sculptor’s</span></div>
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline;">perspective.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-8590174866301326452014-01-07T10:15:00.005-08:002014-01-07T10:15:38.096-08:00Q & A with Owen Sullivan, Author of "Liquid Gold"<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
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Owen Sullivan is one of two authors who will be in for the Meet and Greet this Saturday, at 2pm. He is discussing and selling "Liquid Gold," the sequel to "The House's Money." He writes mysteries focused on real estate and finance and in "Liquid Gold." </div>
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Q: How was the sequel different to write--harder or easier? </div>
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<i>Owen</i>: The sequel was easier to write as I had a better understanding of how to write after writing the first novel and going through the editing and re-writing process. I had never written a novel before The House's Money, so everything was new and I didn't have an understanding of what it tales to write something that people might actually enjoy reading. After going through many re-writes I got a better handle on that.</div>
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Q: In what way has your work history inspired your writing?</div>
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<i>Owen:</i> My work history has been very instrumental in my writing. I am very comfortable talking about real estate and the inner workings of Wall Street and large deals. I tried not to get to into the weeds about high finance and real estate because I didn't want o bore the readers. But I also wanted the readers to come away with knowledge about the industry that they didn't have before they read my book.</div>
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Q: What is the most common question readers ask you?</div>
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<i>Owen</i>: The most common question I get asked is what inspired you to write The House's Money? My answer is Around 2008 when the real estate market was crashing I found myself trying to workout projects with banks and tried to do some short sales on a couple of my properties. I've been in this business fro 35 years and I couldn't believe how difficult it was to get anything done with banks or to even find someone who could answer a question. I figured if I'm having this much trouble and I'm in the business, what about the millions of people who aren't in the business and are struggling. There had to be a story there and I felt I could tell it. </div>
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Q: What is the question readers never ask, but you really badly want them to--and what is the answer to that question?</div>
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<i>Owen</i>: I want my readers to ask after they've read the books; are there really people out there in the real estate industry like your characters? Those are people you love to hate. The answer to that question is absolutely yes! My characters are fictional of course, but they are a compilation of people I've know and dealt with in the industry over my career. </div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-73667647535754781422013-10-07T15:43:00.001-07:002013-10-07T15:43:54.096-07:00A Q & A with Aaron Smith, Shanti Bloody Shanti author<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--k01TRtQHSo/UlM4Oy7yXEI/AAAAAAAAAGs/qvWQegbroow/s1600/shanti.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/--k01TRtQHSo/UlM4Oy7yXEI/AAAAAAAAAGs/qvWQegbroow/s1600/shanti.jpg" height="320" width="210" /></a></div>
This weekend, the Avid Reader at Tower will be hosting Aaron Smith, author of a travel memoir: Shanti Bloody Shanti<br />
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Aaron will be in 10/13/13 at 2pm to talk about his experiences and the book that evolved from them. <br />
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For a taste of his style and personality, I asked him a series of questions. <br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><b><i>What was the most important experience you had in India?</i></b></span><br /><div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">I
could wax lyrically about sunsets in Varanasi over the Ganges or
sunrises over the Himalayas, or swimming the azure waters of
the Andaman Islands, or riding rickshaws through the frenetic back
streets of Calcutta - but I won't. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">As
a 'travel writer', a moniker I use cautiously, I avoid prose
that sentimentalizes the travel experience. It not only nauseates me as a
reader, but it annoys me as a writer as its not what travelling is
really like, especially in India. That is what I call 'Travel Wank'. No
travel in India is often uncomfortably hot, cramped, often
dirty, dysentery is common, as is being ripped off. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">So
to answer the question the most important experience I had in India was
the sum total of all my experiences there and the way it permeated my
psyche. Unlike many other countries tourists visit (and I think we are
all tourists and not 'travelers', no matter how intrepid), India is
often the destination people visit who are 'seeking' something. I didn't
know what I was seeking other than an antidote to the malaise of
modernity, and what stayed with me was a permanent realignment of what I
thought was important in life - that is to live in the now.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">What was the most memorable conversation you had in India?</span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">The
most memorable conversation I had was actually on the plane flying from
Melbourne to Mumbai with an older Indian woman. I had babbled a typical
wishlist of what I wanted to do and hoped to achieve and she just
smiled knowingly. She wobbled her head and replied, "Mother India is
bottomless, you can go as deep as you like and there will always be
more." </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">Touche.</span></span></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">What informed your decision to travel to India initially?</span></i></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">Most
people go to India to 'find themselves', I however went to lose myself.
I needed to disappear off the grid. An affair with a cocaine
dealer's mistress resulted on a contract being placed on my head - so I
figured it was a good time to disappear in the sea of humanity that is
India.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><b><i>What would you say to a prospective traveler heading to India absolutely needs to do there?</i></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">Mother
India is a love/hate relationship. At first you will hate it - the
crowds, the sweltering heat, the touts, the Delhi Belly, the open
sewers, the endless delays. Then after a time you will love it, after it
has got under your skin and you find the rhythm and you have aligned
with the pulse of a place that transcends space, time and even logic. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">What
I would tell a prospective tourist heading to India is to try to forget
their agenda and not to be in a hurry, just let India happen to them
and give India time to happen. My plan has always been to have no plan,
and I stick to that plan religiously.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">The
reason I said earlier I believe we are all tourists and not travelers
is because unless you are an asylum seeker fleeing a war-torn country
with nothing but the clothes on your back, or merchant in a caravan
crossing maybe Central Asia or Africa, whose way of life relies on the
act of migration, you are most likely not a traveler. A backpack, travel
insurance, Thai fisherman pants, exotic beer T-shirts, trinkets and
rhetoric makes you (and me) nothing more than a tourist. Travel is a
luxury, a privilege for the comparatively wealthy (even if on a
shoestring) and travelling in no way makes you superior to anybody else -
food for thought before hitting the road. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><b><i>Could you describe the process of writing your book? </i></b></span><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><br />
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">A
lot of crazy things happened to me in India, and the subsequent four
years I spent on the road crossing Asia, Europe and Latin America.
Telling my stories in bars and cafes, I was told time and time again I
should write them down - so I did. At first on napkins, in notebooks and
in Internet cafes as emails to myself. Then when I settled in Rio de
Janeiro in Brazil I collated it all into a manuscript. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">The
first draft was awful, torpid, full of self-indulgence and way too
long. I sent it to some publishers, all of whom knocked it back. I then
sought out professional feedback, which tore it shreds - the best thing
that could ever happen to me. Re-write after re-write pared it down to a
much tighter narrative which culled about 50 per cent of the text. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 17px;">In
the three years it took to finally get published I continued to refine
my writing, freelancing for whoever would take my work - at first
writing gratis for travel blogs, then for paltry sums in some magazines.
As my writing improved, so did my commissions. I then did an MA in
Journalism and an internship with a prominent magazine. Today I am the
editor of a regional newspaper that has me posted in one of the wildest
and most remote places in the world - the Torres Strait, which is just
south of Papua New Guinea. My second book, <i style="font-weight: bold;">Chasing El Dorado. Into the wild and back, a South American adventure, </i>recounts
my three years living as an illegal immigrant in Brazil, studying the
myriad of Indigenous cultures and being feathered and tarred by every
brujo I could meet. It is due for release late 2014. </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-9077705666234705352013-10-03T10:44:00.003-07:002013-10-03T10:44:55.424-07:00Victoria Loustalot on "This is How You Say Goodbye"<br />
This weekend the Avid Reader at Tower will be hosting a locally-raised author, now living in New York City. She is kicking off her first book, a memoir recounting her growing up and the the loss of her father when she was a child.<br />
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Come join us at 3pm for food, drink, and to speak with this wonderfully talented author!<br />
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<h4>
<i><u><b>My Questions, Victoria's Answers </b></u></i></h4>
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<i>Andrea:</i> What was your process writing this book? The style right from the<br />
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start feels so natural and conversational. Did you have any diaries or<br />
journals to draw on?<br />
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<i>Victoria:</i> The emotional resonance of the book was extremely important to me, and<br />
I knew the only way to achieve that was to write my story the way I<br />
would tell it to a close friend. I made a point to avoid lofty<br />
language and did my best not to overwrite, because I find such writing<br />
keeps the reader at a distance. I didn't want there to be any distance<br />
between the reader and my story. There's enough distance in the world<br />
already. I wanted readers to be right there on the page in the moment<br />
with me every step of the way. The best memoirs are the ones that let<br />
you in.<br />
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<i>Andrea: </i>What originally gave you the idea to contrast these two periods of your life?<br />
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<i>Victoria:</i> I wanted to show the reader where I ended up. Who I grew up to be. If<br />
the book had only been about my childhood, half the story would have<br />
been missing. It would have been less honest. I needed to be as hard<br />
on myself (if not harder) as I was on everyone else in the book and<br />
that meant writing about myself as both an innocent child and a not so<br />
innocent adult.<br />
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I also wanted readers to understand my quest to find my dad, to<br />
understand the burden I carried into adult and the longing I felt to<br />
make sense of who this man had been as a whole human being, not just<br />
as a father, not just as a dying man.<br />
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<i>Andrea:</i>What question would you love readers to ask you and what would your<br />
response be?<br />
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Victoria: I'd love readers to ask why I wrote this book. And the answer is that<br />
I believe the only way to heal, the only way to foster acceptance and<br />
empathy and to eradicate shame is to share our stories. I want to live<br />
an honest and open life without secrets, because all secrets are<br />
poisonous. It breaks my heart how much my dad suffered because of<br />
secrets. I want that kind of suffering to stop with his generation. It<br />
won't happen to me. I won't let it happen to my future children.<br /><br />
<i>Andrea: </i>Have you been able to think of your next project yet, and if so,<br />
what will it be?<br />
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<i>Victoria: </i>I have given lots of thought to my next book, and I'm researching a<br />
few ideas right now, but one thing I've learned is that having a topic<br />
or even a theme is not a story. It's just an idea. It's in the<br />
researching of a topic that you find the narrative. I'm still in the<br />
research stage, looking for the story I want to tell next, and until I<br />
find it, I'd rather stay mum on the specifics. But wish me luck - I<br />
need it!<br />
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Wishing you the best of luck Victoria! May we see plenty more titles with your name on them in our store! <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-68437309320847540752013-08-16T15:10:00.002-07:002013-08-16T15:10:34.875-07:00Homework Assistance Volunteers Needed!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Eg7etaBP48U/Ug6f-_LIhZI/AAAAAAAAAFo/6M8zlE2g-cM/s1600/IMG_20130816_130644.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Eg7etaBP48U/Ug6f-_LIhZI/AAAAAAAAAFo/6M8zlE2g-cM/s1600/IMG_20130816_130644.jpg" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
West Sacramento Library is seeking Volunteers!<br />
<br />
Whether you or someone you know are seeking volunteer hours to polish a resume, class requirement, transfer to a university or admission to a graduate program--this is an excellent opportunity!<br />
<br />
Helping kids with homework is a rewarding experience, even if you are interested in helping for the sake of the difference you will make in their lives, and <b>you</b> will be making a difference in their lives. <br />
<br />
Or, perhaps you are a parent or grandparent of a little one who could benefit from some homework assistance. Whatever the case may be, Avid Reader at Tower is glad to let you know of he program offered at the West Sacramento Library. <br />
<br />
Tutoring will take place on Tuesdays and Thursdays at 3:00 pm to 6:00 pm for children in the 3rd through 8th grades. All assistance is free. <br />
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This service will be offered at the main branch location, the Arthur F. Turner Community Library in West Sacramento. For more information, call Librarian Ann Hamilton at 916-375-6469. To visit the library or find directions, they can be found online: <a href="http://www.yolocounty.org/index.aspx?page=259">here</a>. <br />
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And from everyone at the Avid Reader at Tower--May the school year start off splendidly for you and your whole family!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-61271163650601706102013-07-26T16:23:00.002-07:002013-07-26T16:23:30.538-07:00Back for Their Last Visit!These Three Authors Will be here both days, so come and stop on in!<br />
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<b>11am - 2 pm</b> Sat and Sunday 7/27 and 7/28<br />
<h2>
Steve Unger </h2>
<br />
<b>Dancing in the Streets--</b><br />
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Steve Unger mined his own journal for this book, and wound a murder mystery through the 60's memoir. He pulls from his own experiences being a white minority in an historically black college in Alabama and joining a commune in California, and watching it fail around him.<br />
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Being an avid traveler, he also included scenes from New Orleans, Paris, the Bay Area, and Salvador, Brazil.<br />
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Come on in and talk to him about his book, and his life!<br />
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<h2>
Sharon S. Darrow</h2>
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<b><i>...and the good lord remains anonymous</i></b><br />
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<br />
Back again with her memoir in case you missed her the first time,<br />
<br />Sharon will be selling, signing and discussing her memoir, which was mentioned in a post last week. Go read about it <a href="http://avidreadertower.blogspot.com/2013/07/sunday-july-21-children-young-adult.html">here: </a><br />
<br />
Or go visit her website <a href="http://www.sharonsdarrow.com/">http://www.sharonsdarrow.com/ </a><br />
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And come on in with your questions! <br />
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<h2>
June Gillam:</h2>
<h3>
<b><i>House of Cuts</i></b></h3>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U_mA5jQvhJM/UfMEISHmtrI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/n7eRoqoLryQ/s1600/house+of+cuts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-U_mA5jQvhJM/UfMEISHmtrI/AAAAAAAAAFQ/n7eRoqoLryQ/s1600/house+of+cuts.jpg" height="320" width="203" /></a></div>
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<br />
Last week, when June came in before, we discussed her collection of
poems. As promised, I would like to mention her thriller:<b><i> H</i><i>ouse of
Cuts. </i></b><br />
<br />
Hillary Broome has been looking for something
interesting to write about and further her career as a reporter. The
dismembered managers of the local superstore turn up and give her just
what she wanted, right?<br />
<br />
Her story gains national
attention and threatens to expose a secret that could destroy her
career. Meanwhile she catches the killer's notice and has to work with
detective Eddie Kiffin before she's the next victim.<br />
<br /> Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-79543101325026161062013-07-23T16:21:00.005-07:002013-07-23T16:21:59.447-07:00This Weekend: The Last Weekend for State Fair Authors' Meet & GreetAspiring writers here's a heads' up! The Publisher Terry Burke Maxwell of Earth Patch Press will be at our store this weekend with her two local authors: Ruben Llamas and Sharon S. Darrow. That means it's a rare opportunity to ask those questions of the process of publication you know you want answers to but haven't had the right person to ask. Terry can give insight and perspective from the view of editor, publisher, and writer. Her own writing has been technical and the focus of her publishing company is currently memoir. <br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-czkqrAE1YTY/Ue8Beo3WhBI/AAAAAAAAAEg/2oB-XCnOXnk/s1600/awardsApr2013photo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-czkqrAE1YTY/Ue8Beo3WhBI/AAAAAAAAAEg/2oB-XCnOXnk/s1600/awardsApr2013photo.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br />
Here's Terry and Ruben with Ruben's wife Anita at our store, when, a few months back Ruben came and presented "Eye from the Edge," his memoir of growing up in Oakland.<br />
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We will be very happy to have them all back and hope you will enjoy coming to meet them.<br />
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<br />
<br />
<br />
Both Terry Burke and Ruben Llamas will be here on Saturday with author Shelly Buck, currently published by Margaret Murray's company Write Words' Press. For more information check here: <a href="http://www.margaretcmurray.com/writewords-press/">http://www.margaretcmurray.com/writewords-press/</a>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-91312119544015344692013-07-20T08:00:00.000-07:002013-07-20T08:00:02.821-07:00Sunday July 21: Children/ Young Adult/ Inspirational Meet & Greet<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sharon S. Darrow</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Sharon will be at the Avid Reader, with her book, "...and the good lord remains anonymous." </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Her are some of her words regarding her book: </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><span><span> </span><i><span>"W</span>riting<span> </span>this<span> </span>book was an incredible experience that
helped me appreciate<span> </span>the<span> </span>people around me and the<span> </span>experiences I've<span> </span>lived.<span> </span>My hope as an
author is that each reader will gain<span> </span>a
little<span> </span>deeper understanding of there
own life while being entertained<span> </span>along
the<span> </span>wa<span>y</span>."</i></span></span> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Sharon started writing "...and the good lord remains anonymous," with the<span> </span>idea of<span>
</span>presenting<span> </span>stories<span> </span>about<span> </span>what<span> </span>can happen when you say yes to requests
that<span> </span>are out<span> </span>of<span> </span>your comfort<span> </span>zones.<span> </span>But her line of thinking led to reminiscing on her own life, wherein examination altered trajectory the story took, and landed it squarely in the realm of "inspirational," our Sunday theme. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span>She <span></span>found<span> </span>that<span> </span>
events<span> </span>and circumstances that<span> </span>had been the<span> </span>most<span> </span>painful<span> </span>experiences <span></span><span></span>brought<span></span> the<span>
</span>most<span> </span>valuable life<span> </span>lessons of<span> </span>all. Others she had repeated a number of times before the lesson got through. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span></span></span><br />
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<h4>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span>Sharon previously wrote: "Bottlekatz, A Complete Care Guide for
Orphan Kittens" in 2006, which has since become a training manual for
kitten/cat rescue groups all over the United States and the United
Kingdom. </span></div>
</span></span></h4>
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<span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">After
writing her second book Sharon was referred to the Northern California
Publishers and Authors group by my publisher, Terry Burke Maxwell, of
Earth Patch Press,and accepted an
invitation from one the group members to participate in the California
Authors booth at the State Fair. </span></span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Check out her website:<a href="http://www.sharonsdarrow.com/"> here </a></span></span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<h3>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><u><div class="MsoNormal">
<span>June Gillum:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span><span class="il">June</span> <span class="il">Gillam</span> </span><span>teaches
writing and literature at San Joaquin Delta College in Stockton. She
belongs to the Auburn-based Gold Country Writers and to Capitol Crimes,
the Sacramento chapter of Sisters in Crime. She can be reached via her
website: <a href="http://www.junegillam.com/" target="_blank">http://www.junegillam.com</a></span></span></span><br />
<span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span></span></span><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><i>So Sweet Against Your Teeth</i> by <span class="il">June</span> <span class="il">Gillam</span>
invites readers to bite into 15 poems, reflections from a childhood
spent in a World War II small-town Sacramento culture. Sugar-and-spice
along with not-so-nice puppy dog tales pull readers through some
Father-Knows-Best (not) days. </span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Her other published title includes House of Cuts, a thriller set in San Joaquin County (to be discussed more next week!)</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<h3>
<u><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Shirley Paranteau:</span></span></span></div>
</span></span></u></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Is a children's author with a series about bears. She will be discussing "Bears in Beds," a follow up to "Bears on Chairs."</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Bears on Chairs:</span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;"><span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Four small bears learn to
share their four small chairs with Big Brown Bear. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Bears in Beds: </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">When the four smallest bears are too frightened of a noise in the night
to sleep, Big Brown Bear comforts them by reading a story about a pesky
girl with golden hair. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Bears in the Bath will be her next installment, due out next year. Bears in the Bath will show four grimy
but stubborn little bears tempted into the tub when Big Brown Bear
shows that a bath can be fun. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<h3>
<u><b><span style="font-weight: normal;"><div class="MsoNormal">
Laurie Hoirup: </div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">Laurie's memoir is the inspirational tale of well... herself. In her poignant words:</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;">"<i>Having a significant disability since the age of two, I have been an
advocate for the rights of people with disabilities for most of my life,
including my employment and it was through the encouragement of my
family, friends and colleagues that I decided to use my story as a
resource for others, to be a role model in the face of adversity with a
positive attitude and a sense of humor.</i><div>
<i><br /></i></div>
<div>
<i>"While I was first trying to figure out how to get published, I
remembered the authors corner at the state fair and I went there and
talk to an author who directed me to the "Northern CA publishers and
authors." it was through them that I found a local independent
publisher. Five years later, I won first place for nonfiction at their
annual awards competition and I was invited to participate at the state
fair authors corner. I truly have come full circle</i>."</div>
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</div>
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--Laurie Hoirup </div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;">Learn more about her and her book at: </span><span style="color: #6600cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><a href="http://www.laurieslegacy.com/" target="_blank">www.LauriesLegacy.com</a></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #6600cc; font-family: Verdana; font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"> </span> </span></span></div>
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<span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"></span></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-48024028548415287472013-07-19T16:56:00.002-07:002013-07-19T17:04:06.804-07:00Saturday July 20th, Steven and Margaret Return!We were greatful to have Steven and Margaret last week, so if you missed<i> Sundagger </i>or<i> In the Footsteps of Dracula</i>, you can come on by and get them tomorrow!<br />
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<h3>
<u><b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Steven P. Unger </span></b></u></h3>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yt8WjPw3s8Y/UenT5xIYjqI/AAAAAAAAAEI/B_8OoSU1J2A/s1600/Paparazzi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Yt8WjPw3s8Y/UenT5xIYjqI/AAAAAAAAAEI/B_8OoSU1J2A/s1600/Paparazzi.jpg" /></a></div>
<h3>
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<br />
Steven is a fun guy to sit and chat with, so come on in and ask about <i>Before the Paparazzi</i>. <br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Dark Courier';"> <i>Before the Paparazzi<i><span style="font-family: 'Dark Courier';">: Fifty Years of Extraordinary
Photographs</span></i></i> includes over 250 pictures taken by Arty
Pomerantz, staff photographer and assignment editor for the <i>New York Post
</i>from the 1960s through the early 1990s. Almost all of the pictures in <i>Before
the Paparazzi </i>appeared in the <i><span style="font-family: 'Dark Courier';">Post</span></i>,
and a great many of them were on the newspaper's front page. <i>Before the Paparazzi</i> is published by
World Audience, Inc., </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Dark Courier';">Find it here: <a href="http://www.beforethepaparazzi.com/" target="_blank">www.beforethepaparazzi.com</a>.</span><br />
<br />
<h3>
<u><span style="font-family: 'Dark Courier';">Margaret Murray </span></u></h3>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fUj3gw0FVAo/UenTYuwS3CI/AAAAAAAAAEA/KmKQ6fDe-Ew/s1600/dreamerstn061.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fUj3gw0FVAo/UenTYuwS3CI/AAAAAAAAAEA/KmKQ6fDe-Ew/s1600/dreamerstn061.png" height="320" width="208" /></a></div>
<h3>
<br /></h3>
<br />
<span style="font-family: 'Dark Courier';">The writer and publisher and organizer of these Meet & Greets will be back this Saturday! Check out this great book and stop on in to meet her. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><u><a href="http://www.margaretcmurray.com/2011/10/dreamers-a-coming-of-age-love-story-of-the-60s/" target="_blank">Dreamers</a></u>, is a love story of the American1960s, set in the Civil Rights showdown. Street-savvy Thomas, desperate for
stardom, meets music student, Annie.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">To impress his struggling family,
Thomas drives a flashy borrowed car home to Pittsburgh from New York
City and is involved in a minor accident. A fender bender in
a snowstorm escalates into a confrontation with police and he becomes a
fugitive.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;">They’re both in the wrong place
at the wrong time, seeking to live up to their dreams.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Times,"Times New Roman",serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-50163890765171388862013-07-16T16:57:00.001-07:002013-07-16T16:57:11.181-07:00Saturday 16th Authors Post 1Yet again this weekend we will be having another Meet & Greet with California Authors. This Saturday the theme will be Fiction. So, fans of contemporary literature, come on out and meet these authors. Here's a little bit about our Saturday Authors and their books. <br />
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<div>
<h3>
Deborah Rae Cota </h3>
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qiXupdXOwnw/UeXdUnARlBI/AAAAAAAAADw/y_Hm8wOB-qI/s1600/dante-chronicles1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-qiXupdXOwnw/UeXdUnARlBI/AAAAAAAAADw/y_Hm8wOB-qI/s1600/dante-chronicles1.jpg" height="320" width="228" /></a>Deborah Rae Cota will be selling and discussing her series, The Dante Chronicles, about the ongoing magical battles of the Dante family and their son Eli </div>
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<div>
In Book I,
<b>The Kindred,</b> The Dante family is alerted to an evil plot in a
vision. The family forms a plan to end
it, but it forces them to make a vital, heart-breaking sacrifice
to survive. When the youngest Dante is appointed as
The Sentry to combat the evil plotters, The Kindred become aware of him. The Kindred are
unlikely heroes, each with their own special powers. Together they plan to foil
the evil plot, and reunite the family once and for all. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In Book II,<b> The Brotherhood,</b> the Dante's are haunted by the events of Book 1. They seek the answer to a crucial message as the new King of The Dominion is crowned, and the sequence of events they believed halted are
taking place, despite. While the Kindred must move
forward, they are forced to look back and battle
personal demons in order to respond to the
strange message. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
In Book III,<b> The Traveler,</b> the team is formed and
ready, and missions should go exactly as planned. Right? An old nemesis
has some new players he is toying with, and creates total chaos for The
Kindred. With the help of former members of The Brotherhood, the team
will learn a tough lesson that will ultimately strengthen them, but with
great costs. </div>
<div class="im">
<div>
</div>
<div>
<br />Deborah Rae Cota started writing when her
4th grade teacher encouraged her to enter a short story in a
school contest. Deborah won. </div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
Her teacher told her to write a little something every
day, and she's been writing ever since. Encouraged by her best
friend, she started putting more of my short stories together and created
The Dante Family. They are based upon her own family, with a paranormal
twist. <br /><div class="im">
</div>
</div>
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This is her second year as in invitee to the Cal Expo California Authors Booth. </div>
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<div>
Visit her website at <a href="http://www.dantechronicles.com/" target="_blank">http://www.dantechronicles.com</a></div>
<div>
Like her FB page: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/DanteChronicles" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/<wbr></wbr>DanteChronicles</a> </div>
<div>
Can't get enough of the Dante family? Check out her book trailer is located on YouTube: <a href="http://youtu.be/K5YMoaavcBE" target="_blank">http://youtu.be/K5YMoaavcBE</a></div>
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Margaret Murray & Steve Unger will also be rejoining us this Saturday. Look for their post and a more in-depth examination of some of their other books! </div>
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See you in the store. </div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-34334199499037458172013-07-13T08:00:00.000-07:002013-07-13T08:00:00.861-07:00Sunday Authors<div>
<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Here are two of the authors who will be in tomorrow. Be sure to check out their websites!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Margaret Murray</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Margaret Murray has two published novels. She is writing a prequel to the book, <i>Sundagger</i>, which will be featured this Sunday. </span></span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Sundagger is a fantasy meets speculative fiction. Sara, the main character, has had it with her job. On top of that, her son has gone missing. Seeking some way out of the stresses of life she winds up in a sweat lodge and launches herself on a modern day vision quest.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">She began<a href="http://www.sundagger.net/" style="color: #1155cc;" target="_blank"> Sundagger.net</a><a href="http://sundagger.net/"> </a>in 1999 after visiting the Four Corners area in the Southwest, as well as making a stop by Chaco Canyon. Entranced, she undertook research Pre-Puebloan culture. Sundagger is the culmination of her fascination with ancient American pre-history and her own, more personal trials and anguish. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="color: black;"> She also runs a small publishing company,<a href="http://www.margaretcmurray.com/writewords-press/"> WriteWords Press</a>. </span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">American Commander “Mac” MacTavish and his international team of scientists and engineers are wrapping up an eighteen-month mission at Mars Base. Without warning, all communication with Earth is mysteriously lost. Mac’s egotistical science chief discovers that a massive solar flare has impacted Earth, causing catastrophic damage and most likely political and social upheaval. Unsure if it is safe to return home, Mac decides to wait for the arrival of the Mars 3 spacecraft and the relief crew already en route from Earth. After several weeks with no communication, Mars 3 lands nearby, showing no signs of life. Expecting a grisly scene, Mac enters the lifeless lander, but he is stunned and horrified by what he discovers. Are Mac and his crew the sole survivors of a galactic solar catastrophe or something more sinister? Now it is up to him to discover the truth in the midst of this Red Storm.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Learn more at his website-<a href="http://redstormnovel.com/"> redstormnovel.com</a></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">And tweet him - @Redstormluna</span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-69372032762171454352013-07-12T08:00:00.000-07:002013-07-12T08:00:06.804-07:00Saturday Authors -- July 13 2013<h4>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Valerie Murphy:</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><br />Valerie Murphy is a mother of three and has had a passion for storytelling since she was a young girl. So, it's no wonder that she has published books for kids. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Her list of published works includes: </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><i><span style="background-color: white;">Children’s Book Of Poems Schmoems </span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i><br /></i></span><span style="background-color: white;">The Gumshoes series:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><i><span style="background-color: white;">The Gumshoes: A New Town, Oh Joy!</span><span style="background-color: white;">The Gumshoes: Rogues Hollow</span></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><i> </i></span><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: #222222;"><i>Oh Joy!</i> recently received an honorable mention at the san Francisco Book Festival, and this weekend at the Avid Reader, she will be featuring her series. </span></span><br /></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Here is a synopsis of <i>The Gumshoes: A New Town, Oh Joy!</i> as presented by the author:<br /><i><br /></i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Bug, a ten year old boy, just moved to a new town. Desperately trying to find a skate park, he discovers a few new friends instead. But these aren't just any friends. They're The Gumshoes, a paranormal investigation club. Will Bug ditch his skateboarding ways to become a Gumshoe? </i><i><br /></i><i><br /></i><span style="background-color: transparent;"> </span>Valerie is currently working on her first young adult novel which she hopes will bring awareness to Cystic Fibrosis, her son was diagnosed with the devastating disease with in 2006.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Steve Unger:</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="text-indent: 48px;">Unger has been a traveler and writer from the time he learned to type with two fingers on a manual typewriter in the basement of his parents' house in Ferndale, Michigan. <u> </u></span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He still travels, writes, and types with two fingers, and is happiest when he can combine his two passions of traveling and writing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Extensive travel in North and South America, Western Europe, Israel, and Romania has influenced, inspired and shaped all of his writing. Including the title which he will feature this saturday at the Avid Reader at Tower: <i>In the Footsteps of Dracula: A Personal Journey and Travel Guide.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>In the Footsteps of Dracula: A Personal Journey and Travel Guide</i> meticulously follows Bram Stoker's depiction of Jonathan Harker's 1893 expedition from London to Count Dracula's castle on the Borgo Pass in Transylvania in text and almost 200 pictures. <i>In the Footsteps of Dracula </i>also includes every site connected with the historical Prince Dracula, that is, Vlad Ţepeş or Vlad the Impaler.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">Unger has been a traveler and writer from the time he learned to type with two fingers on a manual typewriter in the basement of his parents' house in Ferndale, Michigan. </span><u style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </u><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;">He still travels, writes, and types with two fingers, and is happiest when he can combine his two passions of traveling and writing.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><span class="il" style="background-color: #ffffcc; text-indent: 0.5in;">Steven</span><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> P. Unger lives in Elk Grove, California with his fiancée Paula, Bailey the dog, and Batman the cat.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">His other published titles include:</span></div>
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<i style="text-indent: 0.5in;"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;">Before the Paparazzi<em>: Fifty Years of Extraordinary Photographs</em></span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Before the Paparazzi<em>: Fifty Years of Extraordinary Photographs</em></i><span style="text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-38875842380164302342013-07-11T16:55:00.001-07:002013-07-11T16:55:50.329-07:00Meet & Greets For JulyThe State Fair is about to start, and there will be a very cool authors' booth that any booklover stopping by Cal Expo should pause to see. But, if the bustle and heat are not your thing, you can meet some of the authors at our store. <div>
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Starting this weekend we will be featuring between 3 and 5 authors in the store for Meet & Greets. Come, speak with them, have books signed, and just generally enjoy the community. </div>
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So who, exactly will we be having?</div>
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This Saturday we will be welcoming Nan Mahon, Valerie Murphy, and Steve Unger.</div>
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This Sunday we will feature: Margaret Murray, Frank Luna, and Janet Parrish. </div>
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Each Week we will be featuring these authors and their books, here, so you acn know just a little more before you come on in. </div>
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See you this Weekend!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4026315752812360193.post-45034693188224250212013-07-02T15:54:00.001-07:002013-07-02T15:54:19.172-07:00First Post to Events BlogHello all,<br />
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Welcome to the new Avid Reader Tower Events blog! This blog is designed to go into more detail about upcoming events, authors and books in the spotlight than we have room on other venues. <br />
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Hope your summer is going well, and do stop on by the website for all the particulars, or to order books online. <br />
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Stay cool in this heat wave, and we'll see you soon! Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18192881880294922194noreply@blogger.com0