Let's Hang Out This Fall

this chess set-up is no longer in the Lower Arroyo

Do you mind if I share some calendar information? I'd love to see you, so please come out.

October
Script Kitchen starts up again this fall. Instructors Tara Samuel and John Sandel (you might know him) lead you through the process of building your story into a viable film script. I highly recommend this class for any writer/storyteller. I never would have been able to write a novel without John's teaching.

October 5
The annual Friends of the Duarte Library Festival of Authors is a low-key, fun book festival in Duarte. I'll be sharing a table with Margaret Finnegan. Margaret and I are going to read your Tarot cards at the festival! I don't know how to read Tarot cards, but I have a deck so why should that stop me?

Other local authors at Duarte will include Anne Louise Bannon and Kerry Reis. Lots and lots of authors will be there, local and otherwise, and there will be panels and bookshops (like Vroman's) in the park.

October 12
When you sign up for Free Book Friday you can win free books, like my novel, Camelot & Vine. I know, I know, October 12th is a Saturday. I'm not sure how they work it but I'd suggest you sign up before then. The date is subject to change, and I'll notify you if it's not going to happen the week of the 12th.

October 18-20
Anime Fusion. What's an author doing at an anime convention? you ask. Well, besides writing Camelot & Vine I voiced a popular anime character, Ryoko the space pirate, in an anime series called "Tenchi Muyo!". "Tenchi" has become a classic, and I love going to conventions and meeting people who love the show.

November 7
Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeeshop is having a party sort of evening. I'll be there from 7:00-8:45pm signing books, meeting people and reading from Camelot & Vine. More details to come on what looks like a fun time in this gorgeous store.

There's more in the new year, with a reading at San Marino's Crowell Public Library January 13, a chat with members of Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeeshop's Brown Bags and Books reading group February 5th, and GATOcon, an anime convention in Kingsville, TX February 22nd & 23rd.

Then maybe your book group, your con, your something-or-other. You never know 'til you ask.

By the way, books make fine holiday gifts!

Hometown Books

Books are like clothes. Not everything fits every person. I like to try on a book before I buy it.

I'm feeling support from local booksellers. Vroman's has books by local authors displayed up front, on the Colorado Blvd. side. The Pasadena Museum of History gift store has a local authors section. Webster's Fine Stationers in Altadena has been supportive from the beginning. They're big boosters of all local talent. The Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeeshop is the latest store to stock my novel, Camelot & Vine.

If you're setting out on your own publishing venture, you need to know that you pay for not all, but some of this support. You're going to have some of the same costs traditional publishers have, on a lesser scale. It's reasonable, when you think about it.

The Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeeshop has a Local Authors display right up by the front door. I want to make sure you don't have any trouble finding Camelot & Vine in this gorgeous store, so I took some pictures. This is the new, refurbished, relocated Flintridge Bookstore located at 1010 Foothill Blvd. Plenty of parking behind the building.

Local Authors and Book Club picks are together in one section, which is convenient because Camelot & Vine (am I giving you enough links?) was written by a local author (me) and it's a 2014 pick for Brown Bags & Books, Flintridge Bookstore's in-house book club.

 

I paid for the shelf-talker and furnished the information. The store's staff made judicious and excellent edits, printed it out with a picture of the book's cover, and thought to print the book club information in bold type. They have been incredibly helpful, and I love their personal touches.

Honestly, that's true of all these stores. That's why you shop locally.

I'm no dummy. If you're not in the Pasadena area, please do buy Camelot & Vine online. I want you to read and enjoy it no matter where you get it. I like shopping in my hometown, though, where I can hold the product in my hands and feel its heft. And try it on for size, so I don't have to return it if it doesn't fit.