Litfest Pasadena 2015

Come on down and join us in the Playhouse District on May 9th. We're going to have ourselves a Litfest!

Litfest is Pasadena's annual celebration of literature. Starting in the late morning and continuing into the night, there will be panels about everything from poetry to mystery, memoir to YA. I'll be on the "Adventures in Self-Publishing" panel at 4pm at Vroman's upstairs. PLEASE NOTE, THIS IS A TIME CHANGE.

Or spend the whole day in the District. Check out the area restaurants and shops. Listen to all the panels you can get to. Meet the authors and buy their books at Vroman's. As for my books, Vroman's already has Act As If in stock, and for the weekend of Litfest they'll have Camelot & Vine as well.

Just so's you know: if you can't come to Litfest there's always Amazon, but let's buy local when we can. You can buy both of my books at Hoopla! in Altadena and the Flintridge Bookstore in La Canada, and you can get Act As If at the Pasadena Museum of History Store. 

Litfest Pasadena, 2013

Litfest Pasadena 2013 happened yesterday, May 11th, and a good time was had by all. Such a good time, in fact, that I'm too tired to write much today. But I deserve a day off after Litfest!

 Setting up

The crowds loved it

 My partners in fun, Kat Ward and Des Zamorano

My husband John Sandel brought things I forgot and stayed to help for a while.

This was my first book fair/festival with Camelot & Vine. I loved it. Can't wait for the next one!

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This is a repost from PetreaBurchard.com/blog.

Bookmarks: Ludlum I'm Not

I approach the drop.

I steal a glimpse over my shoulder to make sure I'm not being followed by anyone except my camera crew.

"Little...free...liberry...dot..............org! This is the place."

I write an encoded note so my contact will know this is the right book. Or maybe I sign it.

You know, this Little Free Library's got a pretty good collection.

(all photos by John Sandel)

No need to be sneaky. Leave a book, take a book. It's free. This LFL is at 1614 Las Lunas Street, Pasadena.

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As the end of my daily posting looms I'm excited to have free time, but I don't want too much. I'd love to visit your book club and talk about Camelot & Vine, for example. Or if you're involved with anime cons, invite me! I'd love to come.

I keep a calendar on the main page of my website, so if I'm not here you can always check there.
Next up: tomorrow, Sunday April 28th, 2pm at Barnes and Noble in Old Town Pasadena, a group signing of Literary Pasadena: The Fiction Edition.
The following Sunday, May 5th, I'll be signing and selling books to benefit the Bloom Again Foundation at Lunafest, at Descanso Gardens. It starts at 12:30pm. Click the link to buy your tickets in advance.
Then Litfest! May 11, all day, at Central Park in Pasadena. Look for the Boz Books booth.

More on my website. I hope to see you at one or all of these events.

Bookmarks: Literaries Who Launch

photo by John Sandel

I went to a book launch party Thursday night and didn't think to take pictures because I was excited to be one of the book's authors. Thanks to John, we have this panorama of everyone's backs.

The book we celebrated is Literary Pasadena: The Fiction Edition, published by Prospect Park Books. It's a collection of short stories and excerpts, produced as a companion to LitFest Pasadena, coming to Central Park May 11th.

I hope you'll read it. Everyone in this picture has a piece in it. I don't know who took this photo, but here are everyone's fronts. The shot was sent to us all by the book's editor, Patricia O'Sullivan, who looks happy. She's just in front of me and to my right. (I'm the only one wearing a yellow top. It's spring, right? I can wear yellow.)

I knew some of these people already, met more last night, and hope to meet still more at upcoming events for the book.*

Publisher Colleen Dunn Bates of Prospect Park Books wrote a post about the party here, and there are more pictures. I also wrote a post, comparing taking photos in and about Pasadena to writing stories here.

For me, this party was a milestone of sorts. I've had my works published before, and I've been paid to write before. But I've never had a book launch party where I was involved as a writer. Still hoping to have a launch party for Camelot & Vine. Not sure how I'm going to do it.

* This coming Thursday, 4/18, at 7pm will be the Vroman's launch. This will be a panel, not a group signing.
* There will be signings of Literary Pasadena at noon both Saturday 4/20 and Sunday 4/21 at the Prospect Park Books booth at the LA Times Festival of Books. I'm in the Saturday signing.
* Sunday, 4/28 at 2pm, there will be a group signing at Barnes & Noble in Old Town.
* Then of course there's Litfest May 11th in Central Park, where Prospect Park will of course have a booth, and so will Boz Books!
* On Thursday, June 13th at 7pm, I'll be participating in a panel about "writing Pasadena," at the Pasadena Museum of History.

The Next Big Thing

Litfest Pasadena, 2012

I've been tagged by best-selling thriller author and former Pasadenamanian Dianne Emley to participate in "The Next Big Thing," an internet meme where authors share what they're working on. Big thank you to Dianne! She's been a friend to PDP since the beginning, and was the first author I profiled here.

The deal is I answer a set of questions about my novel, Camelot & Vine, then tag someone else to answer the same questions about their book next week on their own site or blog. Here we go:

1. Where did the idea come from for the book?
Some years ago I spent most of a summer in England, studying acting at Oxford. I fell in love with the country, its ancient architecture, history, and legends.

2. What genre does your book fall under?
I'd call it "historical time travel adventure." There's no such genre officially, but not every book fits a genre. A bookstore would probably shelve Camelot & Vine under general fiction, or maybe even fantasy.

3. Which actors would you choose to play your characters in a movie rendition?
Update: We decided in comments not to reveal this, because people will picture the characters their own way. Although if you read the comments you'll see who I picture as King Arthur.

4. What is the one sentence synopsis of your book?
A failing Hollywood actress heals her past and finds her future when she falls through a gap in time and lands in a Dark Ages war camp, accidentally saving King Arthur's life.

5. Will your book be self-published or represented by an agency?
I'm publishing the book under my own label, Boz Books.

6. How long did it take you to write the first draft of your manuscript?
The first draft only took a few months. The other drafts took forEVER.

7. What other books would you compare this story to within your genre?
The closest thing I can think of is Outlander by Diana Gabaldon. There's no "onstage" sex in Camelot & Vine, though, so if you want sex with your time travel, Gabaldon is a must-read.

8. Who or what inspired you to write this book?
I have a strong desire to visit ancient times, to really see history, and I wondered what it would have been like to know someone like King Arthur, had he existed. Because I can never know, I immersed myself in 500 A.D., studying it and visualizing it as completely as I could.

9. What else about the book might pique the reader's interest?
I set most of the story atop Cadbury Hill, an iron age hillfort in the Somerset region of England. Legend says Cadbury was "Camallate." There's archaeological evidence of an early sixth century settlement on the hill, with a wall, a great hall and a church. We don't know if King Arthur existed, but if he did, the Cadbury settlement would fit. Using real places and real history made the story feel authentic to me.

That's the Q&A. With this Saturday's Bookmarks on PDP, I'll introduce you to Kate Wong, the talented artist who designed Camelot & Vine. We're going to reveal the cover!

My final task with "The Next Big Thing is to introduce you to Kat Ward. Kat is the owner, editor, and head writer at Hometown Pasadena. She's also a novelist. Her "Next Big Thing" post goes up next Wednesday, January 23rd. Be sure and visit her.

Theme Day: People Watching

I don't often photograph people. It's not that people aren't interesting, it's that I'm shy of invading their space. But last spring's LitFest Pasadena was an excellent people-watching opportunity. Folks expected to be photographed. At least the authors did.

I was seated on the ground, getting ready to take pictures of an author panel, when young-and-handsome here popped into my frame. I snapped the shutter. Junior was obviously not watching the same people I was watching.

City Daily Photo, last I checked, is over 1400 blogs worldwide. We will have a new website one of these days, but in the mean time, please visit our Facebook Page to find your favorite blogs around the world. You can also visit Julie's Page to see who's participating in today's theme.

Litfest 2012

Happy crowds.
Dedicated volunteers.
Diverse authors, publishers and booksellers.
Entertaining speakers and panels.
Good food.
Fun.
Expanding horizons.

Reading. This is what it's all about.

Yesterday's Litfest Pasadena was a smashing success. Can't wait for next year!

People of Letters

For a while now, I've been trying to pass myself off as a Woman of Letters. Finally I have proof! I am a Woman of Letter! And there's more where that came from.

This letter is by way of reminding you (because I didn't have an L) that Saturday, all day, the first annual Litfest Pasadena will be held at Central Park, south of Castle Green between Fair Oaks and Raymond.

The original date was rained out but that's not going to happen this time. You can take the train to DelMar Station (it's right across the street) and/or there are several lots nearby. It's going to be like a big fair, with food trucks, fun for the kids, and people of letters (people of several letters, in fact).

I'll be there as a volunteer in the morning, helping at one of the stages, and if that doesn't wear me out I'll be there as an attendee in the afternoon. So come on down. Everyone will be there: writers, publishers, editors, speakers and most of all, READERS, who tend to have more letters than you can count.

Don't Bring Around a Cloud

UPDATE:
LITFEST PASADENA POSTPONED UNTIL MAY 12th.
With what's being called "100% chance of rain" Saturday, I guess it had to happen.
The links are still good! However, I promise to keep you informed.


John and I have a two bedroom house with a den. The den is my office, the extra bedroom is John's office and we share the master bedroom. (The dining room is Boz's bedroom. He keeps office hours on the front porch.)

I tell you this not to give you a home tour but to give you an idea of how many places we have for stashing and stacking books: shelves in the offices; the coffee table as well as built-in shelves (okay, we have some DVDs, too) in the living room; matching nightstands in the bedroom, each with a shelf for books, not to mention--okay, I'm mentioning--the books lining the tops of the dressers; plus the boxes in the garage full of books we haven't found shelves for. But we will, because we need to make room for more books.

Which brings me to the first annual LitFest Pasadena, Saturday, 9am to 5:30pm at Central Park, just south of Castle Green. Come on down! Admission is free. There'll be writers, panels, booksellers, booths, a children's area, fabulous food trucks and more. The full LitFest panel schedule is here.

Can't wait to see you!

Rain, you say? Yes, well. Ahem. There's a chance of rain.

Oh no! Wait. No. Oh joy! Wait.

Well, I hope the rain waits 'til Sunday because everyone's worked so hard. But we need our rain around here and we take it when we can get it. If rain happens, check the Pasadena Star-News online for contingency plans.

Building Materialize

It's amazing how often I can pass a place and not notice it. I have no idea how many times I've driven down Raymond Avenue in Old Town, how many times I've walked there, how many times I've passed 182 South Raymond.

Yesterday I noticed this building, plopped charmingly between Fishbeck's and Del Mar Station, directly across the street from Central Park. I've never seen it before. (Yesterday was a beautiful day to be at the park; I was there to attend a meeting of the volunteers who'll be helping out at LitFest Pasadena on Saturday, March 17th. We're ready! Come on down!)

I was able to discover the current inhabitants of 182: Hamlett Benefits Group (no website) and J. Bullock and Associates, an Architectural Presentation firm (new term for me, but they have a website so now I get it).

In a sales blurb the structure is described as "historical" but that history itself isn't mentioned. The place looks historical, but one of the things the blurb doesn't say is when the building was built. It says the building has been called the Wilkinson Building as well as the Casablanca Building. I had no luck finding them on the web either.

If you've got info, please share! Otherwise, I'm happy to believe that I never saw 182 before yesterday because it just now materialized.

Update, 3/12/12:
Brilliant (and diligent) reader Betsy found information linking designer Bernarr Judson Garnett to the Wilkinson Building and the Wilkinson Building to the Pasadena Public Library. 182 S. Raymond was built in 1931 and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Thank you, Betsy!

Another update, 3/12:
Another brilliant reader, Diana, sends this information from the National Register of Historic Places, the records of which differ from those of Pasadena Public Library where Betsy got her info: 

The National Register nomination (http://pasadena.cfwebtools.com/search.cfm?res_id=3963&display=resource) says this is a vernacular masonry building built by William T. Loesch. The descriptive paragraph, which is pretty terse, reads:
"Known historically as the Wilkinson Building, this one-story brick building with a stuccoed façade sits well back from the street. Brick trim enhances the building by outlining the edges of the façade, doorways, and windows as well as by creating a frieze-like panel across the front. The rear entrance fronts on the railroad tracks."

The record also says the building was built in 1922, not 1931. It's a "contributing building" to the Old Pasadena historic district, but there's no further description of it in the National Register nomination for the historic district\ other than the one quoted above.

By the way, if you're experiencing difficulty commenting as Diana did, I'm sorry and I've notified Blogger. I'm not the only one with this problem. Many who use Blogger are complaining about this ongoing difficulty but we've received no response. I welcome your suggestions. My immediate thought is, "Wordpress."

March Your Calendar

March in Pasadena is overloaded. I don't know why this is true but it's the same every year. Just like the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you can't possibly get to all the parties and events you want to attend. Your digital calendar has run out of room; you have to remove spaces between words to get it all in. If you still use an analog datebook (I do), you've resorted to putting things on post-its so you can move them around and try to fit them all in.

Three things you must attend, no matter what:

Art Night, Friday, March 9th, 6-10pm. Twice a year, Pasadena's finest art venues open their doors for free. It's a tradition both erudite and wacky. You can go after Real Irish.

LitFest Pasadena, Saturday, March 17th, 9:30am to 5:00pm. Speaking of erudite and wacky, here comes a new tradition! The first annual Litfest Pasadena will take place in Central Park (pictured here) under the batting eyelashes of Castle Green. Authors, publishers, booksellers--everyone who reads will be there. Food and a kids' area, too. (They still need volunteers, find out more here.)

And don't miss Primavera IV! Saturday, March 24th, 11-5pm. Primavera is the Altadena bloggers' gift to all San Gabriel Valley bloggers and blog fans. Everyone's invited! We bring a dish to share, we enjoy Altadena's Farnsworth Park and we bask in each others' actual, as opposed to virtual, company. It's the one event when you can talk to all the local bloggers without bothering with word verification!

Bawdy Litfest

dining room at Castle Green (on a not-so-bawdy day)

More for your calendar!

Thursday evening, October 20th, head out to the Castle Green and support Litfest Pasadena. The evening is called Singing the Bawdy Electric (in reference to Walt Whitman's poem). As Timothy Rutt said on Altadenablog, "every bawdy is invited."

There will be readings by Jonathan Gold, Larry Wilson, Ron Koertge and others. Plus music, food and bawdy surprises to light up even the darkest corners of Castle Green. It's $75 per person or $100 for two (so bring a friend!). Email juliaharm@gmail.com or leave a message on the Litfest Pasadena Facebook page.

Funds raised on October 20th will go towards creating a literary fringe festival that aims to be to the LA Times Book Festival what the Doo Dah Parade is to the Tournament of Roses--more light-hearted, less corporate, a little sillier--according to writer/historian Michele Zack, one of the planners. That fringe-y event is scheduled to take place in Pasadena's Central Park March 17, 2012. But as light-hearted as it may sound it's got literary clout behind it including Michelle Huneven, Jervey Tervalon, Lian Dolan, the director of Pasadena Public Library Jan Sanders and too many more to list here.

By the way, the 20th is also the day of the Great California Shakeout. If you want to know if and how that relates to the Bawdy Electric, you'll have to come to Castle Green Thursday night.

Update: Today, 4pm at Webster's in Altadena: Poetry and Wine!