Pasadena Central Library, West Wing

When it comes to Pasadena's Central Library, there might be no better tour guide than Dan McLaughlin, Librarian, Archivist and Pasadena historian. Lucky me, I asked him for a tour and he said yes. He even held my book, Act As If, when I took his picture. (Which I did not ask him to do but I wasn't going to turn him down.)

Dan is also an author of novels, plays and history books, two of which I purchased at Art Night. You may remember Pasadena Pursuit, the Pasadena Museum of History exhibit he curated across the hall from Ann Erdman's Mystery History.

I'm working on my new novel and it takes place in a library. It might even take place in Pasadena. For research and inspiration, I hoped to snoop around, above and behind things in Pasadena's Myron Hunt-designed, 1927-opened, 130,000 square foot Central Library.

Let's start with the library's west wing, which is way bigger than I imagined it could be.

When you enter the door west of the check-out desk where it says "Staff Only," a corridor takes you past a coffee room and several offices. Pretty soon you come upon this long room where books are being checked in and catalogued. I'm standing near the west end of the room. The windows face out onto the parking lot. Does the purple protect workers and books from the sun? The door at the far end opens onto the hallway that leads from the parking lot into the library.

We're on the second floor now, right above where I was standing when I took the previous shot. I hope the employees don't mind me showing their lounge. I think it's pretty nice. Very roomy and comfy, with a kitchen off to the left. The coffee room on the first floor is a lot smaller. This one's more like a full kitchen.

I never knew about this and it's hiding in plain view! The walkway leads from the lounge to the office pictured below. You can look north over the parking lot and to the mountains from here. Next time I'm at the library, I'm going to look up from the parking lot and see if I can spot it.

We're looking toward the mountains. More purple. I'm gonna go with sun protection.

Dan asked me to be careful about taking photos of library patrons. "We like people to feel safe here," he said, "we protect their privacy." I don't think you can recognize anyone in this photo of the Main Hall, taken from the second floor balcony looking east. The Hall's floor is cork, to reduce noise. The woodwork is quarter-sawn oak.

An interesting tale about the chandeliers: they're replicas of the ones Myron Hunt designed for the building. Other lights were installed in the 1960's "which obscured the beautiful ceilings," and no one knows what happened to the originals. But Hunt had designed the same ones for the Huntington Library, and these are copies of the Huntington's.

I took about a million photos and I'll post more. But I want to thank the library staff right now, and especially Dan McLaughlin. I had hoped to be inspired by my tour and I haven't stopped writing since.

Do you want an architectural tour of the Pasadena Central Library? Yes, you may have one.

Better than a Kegger

Back when I was in college, when you wanted to have a party you purchased a keg of beer and some plastic cups, then played LPs until everyone passed out on the sofa. That was fun, but I wanted to host a more grown-up party for the official launch of my book, Act As If: Stumbling Through Hollywood with Headshot in Hand. 

I kept the invitation list small because my overwhelming wealth is overwhelming in the wrong way, and I thought I couldn't afford to feed a lot of people. It turns out we had plenty. If you want some crappy wine, come on over and sit on the porch with us. We're serving even the Cabernet on ice.

So it's official. Act As If, a humorous look at the life of a journeyman actor in Hollywood (journeyman as in "not famous") is on its way to being what it's going to be.

There were a lot of people to thank, and I'd like to thank them again here:

• The Pasadena Musem of History, where we were so comfortably accommodated in air-conditioned splendor and where my guests were invited to view the exhibits as a bonus. 
• Richard Gilbert-Hill, editor of the ActorsInk newsletter at Nowcasting.com, which spawned my column, Act As If, which spawned the book. Richard is an actor, writer and voice coach. He wrote the book's beautiful foreword.
• Liz Hanley, theatrical agent at Bicoastal Talent. Liz and I go way back. She makes the book possible as much as Richard does, and she's a character throughout the book.
• Greta Hanley, commercial agent at Bicoastal Talent. Without commercial auditions, some of the wildest essays would not have been possible.
• Paula Johnson, who designed the book. The cover is great, the interior is great, and Paula is great.
• Along with Liz, the book was blurbed by Kat Likkel (writer/producer, My Name is Earl, Galavant), Fran Montano (artistic director, the Actors Workout Studio), Rick Hall (actor, Curb Your Enthusiasm) and Jane Macfie (actor, The Mindy Project). These people took the time to read and comment for the cover.
• The actors, casting directors, producers and friends who contributed their stories and support. I don't think a book can be made by one person alone.

And John Sandel, my beta reader, editor, co-teacher, husband and friend, without whom nothing is possible.

You can find both Act As If: Stumbling Through Hollywood with Headshot in Hand and Camelot & Vine at Hoopla! in Altadena, Flintridge Bookstore in La Canada, the Pasadena Museum of History gift shop and, soon, Vroman's in Pasadena. If you're far away there's always Amazon, where the book is available in paperback or for your Kindle.

Pasadena Library's 2nd Annual Author Fair

Are you coming by Pasadena's Central Library (285 E. Walnut St.) this Saturday, February 21st? Of course you are, because it's highly likely that at least one of your author friends (me) will be there. And probably more than one.

It's the library's 2nd annual Author Fair, 10am-2pm, and oh boy! Everyone's going to be there! Look at this list of authors:

Marcella Adams, Maria Alexander, Cindy Arora, Ontresicia Averette, Anne Louise Bannon, Julie Berry, Boualem Bousseloub, Mary Brodsky, Petrea Burchard, Stuart Douglass Byles, Christina Cha, Justin Chapman, Regina Conroy, Joey L. Dowdy, Quoleshna Elbert, Carol Elek, Jamie Eubanks, Jess Faraday, Kenneth Grant, Anjeza Angie Gega, Steven Gibson, Ken Goldstein, Michael Paul Gonzalez, Reg Green, Claudia Heller, Lisa Hernandez, Rubin Johnson, Lloyd Kaneko, Gay Toltl Kinman, Sarai Koo, Ph.D./ Gail Taylor, Jay Mathews, Dan McLaughlin, Kay Murdy, Elizabeth Pomeroy, Adrienne Ramsey-Harris, Raquel Reyes-Lopez, Thelma Reyna, Susan S. Rosvall, Jo Anne Sadler, Kathy Salama, Gisele Samaan, Yvette Samaan, Yvonne Senkandwa, Jason Silva, Lucie Simone, Frederick Smith, Ellen Snortland & Lisa Gaeta, Lynn Martin Snowden & Kyle Sydney Powell, Rick Stepp-Bolling, Diane E.M. Tegarden,Mary Terzian, Larissa Theule, Alicia Thompson, Marcia L. Thompson, Sarah Thursday, Cherie Mercer Twohy, Erika Wain Decker, Nancy Woo, Nancy Young, and last but absolutely not least, Desiree Zamorano!!!

All during the Fair, authors will read from their works in the Auditorium. While Desiree reads from The Amado Women at 10:30, I'll be covering for her at her signing table (no, I will not sign her books). At 11:10am she'll cover for me while I read something funny, or maybe something poignant—poignant, yeah, that's it—from my new book, Act As If: Stumbling Through Hollywood with Headshot in Hand.

You can buy an autographed copy from me and I'll have a few copies of Camelot & Vine on hand as well. Or just stop by and say hi. There's no pressure to buy anything, though you might want to get yourself a treat at the Espress Yourself coffee shop (pictured) on the library grounds.

All these authors will be there to sign their books and answer your questions. Or maybe ask you some!

Act As If Big Launch!

Stats: have I posted this before?

Update, 2/11/15: I have a venue for the launch! More info soon.

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Act As If: Stumbling Through Hollywood with Headshot in Hand is available on Amazon, and will soon be available on Smashwords, Kobo, iBooks, etc.

But I haven't actually launched it yet.

What would be a fun way to launch? Did you like the Camelot Where You Are contest? Should we do something like that this time, or should we try something else? A party? A read-a-thon? All three?

I did a lot of pre-publicity for Camelot & Vine and it was fun. I guess you'd call this launch "post-publicity," but they say there's no such thing as bad publicity, so I'm good with all of it—pre, post and bad.

If you've read either book, please review! Any number of stars is welcome.

By the way (which is what BTW used to mean), this round of the Story Kitchen workshop still has openings. Call the Flintridge Bookstore & Coffeehouse to sign up. (818) 790-0717. Methinks my friend the Oscar-nominated screenwriter will stop in one evening.

Wilma's Last Sales Pitch Before Christmas

The reason her bed is soaking wet is she was deeply involved in her bone. The reason the floor in the foreground is scratched is she was deeply involved in a squirrel outside the window, and she thought it would make sense to try to get him.

I distracted her with fine reading material.

 

(As an aside, it is next to impossible to photograph her tail because it's always moving.)

But she seems calm now. Her tail is slowing down. She's—

She's literally a dog, not a literary dog.

Act As If: Stumbling Through Hollywood with Headshot in Hand

(mostly) comic essays for the actor in your life

Camelot & Vine

"Intelligent escapism" for the armchair adventurer in your life

Buy, read, enjoy, review! And thank you for another great year.

Small Business Saturday

 

 photo by John Sandel  

Small Business Saturday, held every year on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, is sponsored by American Express. But you don't have to use a credit card to take part. You can shop at your favorite local independent businesses all year 'round and make a difference in your community with every dollar you spend.

Do I have to tell you this? I don't have to tell you this. You know this.

I'll be participating in this year's Small Biz Sat. at the Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeehouse. Mostly I'll be in the Bookstore part unless I need a snack.

Come by 1010 Foothill Blvd. in La Canada from 2-4 pm and say hi. I'll sign your copy of Act As If. If 2-4 pm isn't convenient don't worry, the books, gifts, decorations and treats will be there all day.

Print copies of Act As If are currently not available anywhere else! This is an exclusive Flintridge event, so come on down.

I probably shouldn't mention that Wilma is a small business expert.

Act As If

Act As If: Stumbling Through Hollywood with Headshot in Hand is now a book! Based on my long-running column for NowCasting.com, which is itself based on my 30-year acting career, this is the book for the actor in your life, aspiring or pro. Some blurbs: 

"…all graduating MFA students who want to make a living in 'The Biz' should be handed this book with their diploma, to give them a realistic view of the business they want to pursue. It's an honest, practical and remarkably uncynical look at the job of being an actor."

            Rick Hall, actor—Good Luck Charlie, 24, Curb Your Enthusiasm

"This book is a must for anyone thinking of taking Hollywood by storm. Petrea can point out common pitfalls while throwing in a dash of empowerment. It's your life, your career. Keep your eyes open and be sure to have this book on your nightstand."

            Liz Hanley (aka “Blanche”), Theatrical Agent, Bicoastal Talent

"I felt like I had a friend after reading this, someone who knows and expresses so eloquently the ups and downs and striving that an actor goes through on their artistic and career journey. It’s a delight, it’s fun, it’s comforting, and it’s real. Give it as a gift to yourself, or a fellow actor."

            Fran Montano, Artistic Director, The Actors Workout Studio

Act As If is officially in "soft launch." Everyone's already busy with the holidays, so I'll do an official launch (hard launch?) in the new year, with a contest and everything.

However! There will be a pre-launch on November 29th at Flintridge Bookstore and Coffeehouse, from 2-4 PM.

(This leaves room for a post-launch, a launch-launch, and a lunch-launch. Watch this space.)

Flintridge Bookstore is celebrating Small Business Saturday all day on the 29th, and you should come! It's a wonderful store with all the books you want, plus gorgeous gifts, AND coffee with treats. Easy to get to, at 1010 Foothill, and there's plenty of parking behind/under the store. Here's a chance to expand your literary horizons and check out Flintridge.

My Thanksgiving weekend is planned thusly:
Thanksgiving, which I will enjoy so quietly I'll be able to hear myself chew.
Black Friday, which I celebrate annually by hunkering down in the house with the curtains drawn.
Small Business Saturday, please see above.
(Apparently the western world still keeps Sundays open for church.)
Cyber Monday, when we're encouraged to shop online exactly like we do every other day, and when I will likely stay offline and write.
And Giving Tuesday—because after having spent the weekend acquiring, it's time to share what you have left, if anything, with the needy. I'll probably do that online.

Remember, books make great gifts!

Freebies

Blog friends have been my online support through thick and thin. I think you've all read Camelot & Vine by now. You've certainly heard enough about it. But as the publication of Act As If approaches, I want to give you some chances to read Camelot & Vine or share it with a friend for free. I want you to take a chance on the book so you can find out you love it, because you will. And then you'll buy Act As If.

Through October 30th, Camelot & Vine is available exclusively through these Amazon channels:

Kindle Unlimited: This is Amazon's ebook service where you pay $9.99 a month and they give you access to over 700,000 titles, including Camelot & Vine. Kindle Unlimited is great for voracious readers who read more than one book a month. Members read all they want for a monthly fee. You also get to keep the book on your Kindle as long as you keep your subscription going.

Amazon Prime Lending Library: Members of Amazon Prime can borrow one free ebook every month. Camelot & Vine is available this way as well.

Kindle Owners Lending Library: Essentially the same as Amazon Prime Lending Library when it comes to ebooks. Either way you need a Kindle.

Camelot & Vine is also part of the Amazon Matchbook Program, where you buy the paperback and get the ebook for 99cents, and you don't have to be a member of anything. And remember, the holidays are coming! Books make excellent gifts!

I don't know if you can see the spine: my publishing company is called Boz Books.

I don't know why it seems fitting that my book should be next to the works of Burgess. It's not fitting at all, really.

Boz Books Biz

This just in: I'll be reading from "Camelot & Vine" Wednesday, September 3rd at 8pm in Selfies, a showcase of self-published LA authors, at Traxx bar in Union Station. This is a fun, casual venue and it's easy to get there. Everyone will read a few minutes of their work. Come find out why best-selling authors are leaving their publishers to hop on the self-publishing bandwagon.

**********

Did I ever tell you that Boz Books is an actual publishing company? Yup. The company pays taxes and everything. And it's about to publish its second book.

Woohoo!

Act As If: Stumbling Through Hollywood With Headshot in Hand will be out very soon. I learned from experience with Camelot & Vine not to give an exact date until it's absolutely certain. But soon. I hope to have a coming out party this time so watch this space, you'll be invited.

There's also news for Camelot & Vine. It's now part of both the Amazon Prime and Kindle Unlimited programs, as well as Amazon's Matchbook program where you buy the paperback and get the ebook for 99 cents.

Kindle Unlimited is Amazon's subscription service for readers in the U.S. If you're a member you pay a monthly fee to read as many books as you want from a huge (ebook) library.

Not in the U.S.? Camelot & Vine is also part of the Kindle Owners' Lending Library (KOLL) available to Amazon Prime customers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, and Japan.

All you have to do is go to my links, or go to your account, and join.

Borrow, read, love, let me know...

**********

photo: The Mystery & Imagination Bookstore in Glendale, CA

Housekeeping

Have you noticed? My blog is now my website—my Online HQ. I've been working on it to the detriment of my other responsibilities. Except Wilma. Wilma keeps me to a standard.

You can now type PetreaBurchard.com, CamelotAndVine.com, BozBooks.net or LivingVicuriously.net into the url field. They'll all bring you here.

Then there are the nifty tabs. See, up top, beneath the title and subtitle? Click a tab, any tab. Let me know what you think.

The process has taught me a lot about patience. And Googling. But Blogger is pretty easy. So far I'm pleased with the results but I'm not finished tweaking.

This is all in preparation for the release of Act As If, my new book, coming out this month. My next task is to get the book online and ready to go. Then I can give the dust bunnies all the attention they deserve.

Wilma Acts As If

Act As If: Stumbling Though Hollywood With Headshot in Hand is my book of essays about the life of a journeyman actor in Hollywood, a life I lived for twenty years. It's not easy work, but it's hilarious if you bring your attitude.

The book comes out in August. In celebration, Wilma shows us how to Act As If. 

Here's Wilma with John, acting as if she's dangerous.

Here's Wilma with her bunny, acting as if she's a big time squirrel hunter. (I'm sorry, Bunny.)

Here's Wilma, acting like she owns everything in the house. She doesn't.
(Photo by John Sandel. Raised bowls thanks to Bellis.)

Here's Wilma with John again, acting like—actually, she's not acting here. She's being herself.

I discuss these techniques and more in Act As If, and I give each topic all the gravitas or hilarity (or both) it deserves. Wilma is a very good actor.

See

Well, hello there. I haven't seen you in a while.

I have excuses reasons. I'm working on the final production for Act As If: Stumbling through Hollywood with Headshot in Hand, my new book of essays about my experiences in Hollywood. I'm writing another novel. I'm making website changes. John and I are training Wilma, who is willing but has the attention span of a dog.

And I'm seeing differently.

When I started taking pictures, I began to see like a photographer. I saw the shape of the photo in my mind, with levels and shades, thirds and quadrants. I learned to frame the picture in the camera instead of in software. It became almost automatic. And every day, I couldn't wait to share my photos with you here.

Now I rarely see a photo like I once did. I wonder if this is the photographer's equivalent of writer's block, yet I don't believe in writer's block. When I feel a block, I keep writing. It's the same as grocery store worker's block. When you feel it, you still go to work.

I haven't been taking as many photos lately, and if I would just get out there with the camera I'd begin to see photos again. But right now, I'm doing other things and I can't wait to share them with you when they're finished.

Act As If

Here's the cover of my new book, Act As If. It was designed by John Sandel. Tell me what you think.

When will the book be published? When will everything else be done? I don't know. Soon!

"Soon" is a relative term. I thought I could predict things with Camelot & Vine, but among the many lessons I learned during that process was the new old adage: "Everything takes longer than you think it will."

Act As If is a book of essays about my experiences as a journeyman actor in Hollywood, based on the column I wrote for several years for NowCasting.com.

jour·ney·man      

'jərnēmən 

noun: journeyman; plural noun: journeymen, a trained worker who is employed by someone else.

Because it's a book of essays, Act As If is excellent toilet reading. I think of that as a marketing strong point. I get a lot of reading done when I'm on the toilet. Mostly magazines and journals. I read Who Moved My Cheese? on the toilet (true story), but that's a different post.

Act As If

Readers of Living Vicuriously will hear it first: my new book is almost finished.

This is a bit of a lie, it's not like I wrote the whole thing this summer. That wouldn't be a good book, not from me, because it takes me time to get it right. If I tell you I wrote something last week and I'd like you to read it, just smile and say, "Sorry, I have some emergency knitting to do."

But this book took time. It's based on a series of columns I wrote from 2004-2008, called "Act As If." "Act As If" appeared (and still does, occasionally), in the ActorsInk enewsletter from NowCasting.com. It's directed at actors, as if you haven't figured that out yet.

Comedy and tragedy are closely linked. Really, you can take the same situation and look at it from either angle and be right. "Act As If" was a humor column, and I've put the best columns in the book, edited them and brought them up to date. It's short, light reading, but don't read it while you're waiting for an audition.

I wrote mostly funny stories about my acting career, which wasn't exactly tragic but wasn't exactly triumphant either. The same things happen to all actors - bad auditions, forgotten lines, museum-quality parking ticket collections -  and we'd better learn to laugh about them or waiters and baristas everywhere will be sobbing into your iced latte. The last time I saw a statistic, only 2% of the actors in Hollywood were actually making a living. That doesn't mean they were stars. And that was only union members, back when the economy was good.

I hope to have the book ready later this fall. We're working on a cover. Plus I'll need some blurbs. Do you have Jim Carrey's number? How about David Mamet? Harrison Ford? Jennifer Aniston?

I know. You have some knitting to do.

Less is More and More

After five years and a few months of daily photo-blogging, I burned myself out on it. That includes taking pictures. I didn't feeling like seeing through the camera anymore. Didn't want to carry the camera in the first place. 

But sometimes, a photo is irresistible. After all, there is light, there is shadow, and there is chance. Plus I have a dog. 

I thought I'd have more time when I stopped blogging daily, but of course I filled it. I'm working on many things this summer:

- Putting together a performance technique class for writers.

- Preparing my next book for publication (a non-fiction humor book called "Act As If," about the life of a journeyman actor in Hollywood)

- Writing and researching my next novel (first draft stage, this will take forever)

- Recording the audiobook of Camelot & Vine. (Have you read it? Feel free to review it, either on Goodreads or Amazon, even if you didn't like it. Apparently volume is the game on those sites, so the more the merrier.)

I thought I was going to get the back yard fixed up, but I'm having enough trouble finding time to sweep the back porch.

What are you doing this summer? Have you found more work to do, or are you giving yourself a break?