Left Coast Literary

I love this photo of Pamela Tartaglio. I took it yesterday at the Los Angeles Times Festival of books. I don't usually think of myself as much of a portrait photographer. It helps when you have a good model.

Pam is the 2013 Past President of Women Writing the West, and the current Chair of Women Writing the West’s WILLA Literary Awards. She's writing a novel set in 1894 in Cripple Creek, Colorado, sometimes called the world’s greatest gold camp. She also blogs at Past and Present With Pamela, and she's a docent at the Pasadena Museum of History where, ahem, Camelot & Vine is stocked in the gift store.

To get to the Festival, Margaret Finnegan (you should click that link) and I took the Metro Gold Line to Union station, where we actually found the free bus that took us to the USC Campus. Our goal was to have fun, find new and different books, meet authors, and (thrills!) sign more copies of Literary Pasadena: The Fiction Edition, at the Prospect Park Books booth.

The big six publishers: Simon & Schuster, Random House, Hachette, HarperCollins, Macmillan, and Penguin Group were not at the Festival, unless you want to count the fact that Penguin owns Author Solutions and Author Solutions had about 20 booths. I kid you not. Google them to find out why this could be, maybe, not great. I don't know why the big six didn't come. Maybe the west coast is not their thing.

You can get your signed copies of Literary Pasadena today at the Festival any time, and/or meet some of the authors between 12pm and 1pm. There are a lot of authors in this book! Probably someone you know. The Prospect Park booth (#63) isn't big enough for all of us, so I got my shot Saturday and I won't be there today because I am pooped!

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.

Kay Mouradian

I love writers of all kinds. I love journalists, novelists, humorists, essayists and anyone who works hard to make the words meaningful when they put pen to paper or fingers to keys.

And Kay Mouradian is particularly easy to like, because she's Kay.

This photo of her with a fan at the Los Angeles Times Festival of Books is typical of her because it shows how intently she listens. Kay was signing her book, A Gift in the Sunlight, An Armenian Story, at the Abril Armenian Book Store booth. A Gift in the Sunlight is Kay's novel based on her mother's experiences in the Armenian Genocide.

I bought my copy, and after Kay signed it for me I stood back to watch as people approached. Some folks were tentative at first. They'd read the signs on the booth: "Remember the Armenian Genocide." Some weren't interested--it was a festival, after all, and controversy isn't festive. But some stopped to ask questions, share experiences or even disagree.

Kay listened. She heard. She answered. She's not interested in confrontation but in bringing the truth to light, and she's comfortable talking about the subject. A retired professor, she's created a presentation she gives (free) to libraries, schools and other organizations to teach them about this historical event that's finally being talked about after nearly a hundred years. If you contact her to speak to your group I know you'll like her. Not just because she's a writer, not just because she's a good listener, but because she's Kay.

Wear Your Extrovert Genes

Did you know the Doo Dah Parade is coming up this Saturday? Did you know it's in a new location? Do you want to be in it? You could march with the winners of the Thorny Rose Award.

I just learned that Friends of Hahamongna (I'm a Friend) won this year's Thorny Rose Award and at the last minute has been invited to march in the parade. Each year, says the Pasadena Star-News, "the Thorny Rose is awarded to Pasadena's most controversial citizen or group by an anonymous committee of local socio-political observers." This year the observers had a hard time coming up with anyone cantankerous enough. The Friends of Hahamongna are pretty nice. But they just won't drop the Hahamongna issue, so I guess you could call them a thorn in someone's side.

Columnist Larry Wilson expressed concern that the Friends of Hahamongna might take the award as an insult instead of an homage. But the Friends are good-humored folk who see the Thorny Rose as an opportunity to spread the word.

A few weeks ago some of you joined in signing the petition at savehahamongna.org, asking the City Council to reconsider a 2003 decision to build soccer fields at Hahamongna (there's still time to sign). Now you can join the Friends of Hahamongna in the Doo Dah Parade. The parade starts at 11:00am this Saturday at 2627 E. Colorado Blvd. Look for the Friends of Hahamongna and join in the friendly chaos!

Los Angeles Times Festival of Books

Here's a photo taken outside Pasadena: an overview of one small section of the gargantuan Los Angeles Times Festival of Books on the UCLA campus.

The fun part: going down the Janss steps. The good-for-me part: going up them.
plunging into the crowd was the insane part.

I went Saturday with my brother and sister-in-law. They had a list of signings to attend, so we ran the gamut of fun/good-for-us/insane several times over. We met Michael Connelly, Kate DiCamillo, Nick McDonnell, Dave Eggers and T.C. Boyle (at the Vroman's booth!). See? There's always a Pasadena connection. Michelle Huneven was there, too. She's the Altadena author whose novel, Blame, was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award. Had I known, I'd have brought my copy of Blame for her to sign. I was thrilled to stop by the booth of Glendale's Abril Armenian Book Store, buy A Gift in the Sunlight by my friend Kay Mouradian, and have her sign it.

The Festival will host about 400 authors--of all genres and degrees of fame--over the weekend. If you go today you could meet Po Bronson, Elizabeth George, Antwone Fisher, Pico Iyer and/or a local author you already know.

Wear sensible shoes. Have patience with the crowd. And watch out for readers of all ages underfoot.