Lucky Me--A Writer's Life

Okay, I'm sitting at Lestat's Coffehouse, writing away on this as part of "Blazing Laptops" the 9-hour writing marathon, to benefit San Diego Writers, Ink.
Lucky me, I sat down at an empty table this morning at about 8:45 and who should sit beside me but Judy Reeves, one of my favorite people (and writers) in the world. Then someone sat on the other side of me and it turned out to be Drusilla Campbell, who I have "known" for years but never met--and who is a new "must-read" author I am telling everyone about.
Both women have great websites, full of interest and excerpts. Look them both up--I'm busy writing here...Actually, I am doing a writing prompt for the group in a minute or two, so I'd better prepare.
hasta pronto!

Jenny Redbug at Blazing Laptops June 10th

I'll be at the annual "Blazing Laptops" event on Sunday, June 10th. Blazing Laptops is a nine-hour writing marathon to benefit San Diego Writers, Ink. You can contribute as little as $5, and every penny goes to support their great writing programs.
San Diego Writers, Ink, or SDWI, is one of the great local resources (along with SCWC) that is helping to make San Diego into the world-class writing/reading city we know it can be; this kind of event helps to make everyone aware of how many great writers--published and not yet published--we have here in San Diego.
You can sign up yourself--the venue is Lestat's in Normal Heights--but you need to get at least $100 in pledges to attend. It is a benefit event, after all. The marathon starts at 9am (great coffee is handy for those who need it) and goes until 6pm. There will be writing tips and cues given throughout the day--I'll be doing one midday.
Or, if you have plans already that day, you can help support SDWI--and my own efforts at supporting them-- just click to pledge on my page.
Lately, I've not only been working on editing projects, but I've started working on a novel of my own--tentatively titled: "Dog Beach: A Love Story." So I can really use the day of just writing!
hasta pronto!

Three New Books for Spring

Okay, I'll start by saying that none of these books is a particularly cheery read...So if you're reading this post because you wanted New Books For Spring to mean sunny bunny books, you can stop reading now. It was simply that three recent books--published just weeks or months ago--inspired me to put together a short list of "must reads" for Spring. In no particular order, here they are:
Little Girl Gone by Drusilla Campbell. The taut, concise read shows what a master of prose Campbell is--she gives us a young woman courageously questioning her life choices, an even younger boy embroiled but not paralyzed by grief, and a supporting cast of characters that run the gamut of motive and type. Amazingly, these people are all fully realized on the pages, as are her Southern California settings...if you live, or have lived in San Diego, you'll find it even more intriguing, but either way, you won't want to put it down. Check out her site here.
Black and White, by Wes Albers, is also set in San Diego, and also explores a modern exploration of the human condition, but there the resemblance ends. This book is a no-hold-barred tale of life and work (often the same thing) on the streets for a "regular cop" driving a black-and-white patrol car.  The title has at least one other meaning but I'll leave that to you to discover. Wes Albers, a veteran cop himself, writes like you know they talk--even if you don't know. The story of this man's inner life colliding with his hard-won persona really hit home for me. Black and White is available from booksellers, and on Amazon--and the Kindle edition is, at the time of this writing, available for only ninety-nine cents!
And, last but definitely not least, Tincture of Time, by John Rosenberg...This book will keep you up nights, if you are silly enough to start reading it in bed...But it would be equally compelling by the pool or at the beach. If you like stories with exotic settings, passionate and obsessed people, and wildly fantastic but somehow believable events, you'll love Tincture of Time.
In the interests of full disclosure, I have to say I was involved with this book from early on--I heard John give an superb pitch for this book (a medical thriller set in Brazil) in a pitch class I was giving at SCWC a few years ago, and immediately wanted to read it. I introduced him to an agent friend and the usual circuitous path to publication followed...The book is out now, though not yet available on Kindle, and I highly recommend it.
hasta pronto!

"Ocotillo Dreams", an Appreciation

I recently read Melinda Palacio's wonderful "Ocotillo Dreams" and have been thinking about it quite a bit. If you don't know the versatile and talented Ms Palacio, check out her site here. She's probably best known as a poet, but she's also a blogger, speaker, and now, a novelist to be reckoned with.
Like Isola, the heroine of "Ocotillo Dreams," I grew up in a family that sometimes embraced and sometimes barely balanced between two cultures; I have found myself fascinated more and more by my own blended culture--and drawn to others' hybrid identities--as each year passes.
I also grew up with a mother who challenged stereotypes, and created her own persona--part hippy, part activist, part "earth mother", and always her own woman--so I could relate to Isola's mixture of embarrassment and pride in her own mom.
The novel's story is deceptively simple--Isola comes to Arizona to settle her late mom's "estate" and finds herself involved with some undocumented workers that have crossed and are crossing the border. But the story is not the whole story--the deeper tale is one of identity, self-awareness, and belonging. Isola must learn about herself in order to learn about her mother--and in order to find her life's deeper purpose.
For those of us who live on the border, and confront these challenges daily, the book's characters and locations will feel specific and familiar, but no less intriguing for all that. For those unfamiliar with the Southwest U.S. and our border issues, this book is a great way to explore the territory and the culture--but more than all that, readers will be drawn into the novel and soon care deeply about the people they meet in its pages.
This week I've switched literary gears a few times--I finished the Hunger Games series, am currently reading "Black and White" Wes Albers debut police novel, set in San Diego. And of course, I'm preparing for the YA fiction class I'm teaching on March 31st at San Diego Writer's Ink.
Meanwhile, the wind is gusting hard under a bright blue sky--blowing my little boat about at its mooring, reminding me who is boss. Nature, that is.
hasta pronto!

SDLFF and Pitch Witches with new link

I'm having a great week at the San Diego Latino Film Festival--so far my favorites are "Mosquita Y Mari" and "Mamitas". Today it's the Frontera Films showcase--more than an hour of very short films, all about the border, or made by border filmmakers, or about the border experience.
Just saw that my friend Marla Miller has posted her video class of the "Pitch Witches" workshop we did at SCWC. Here is the link to her site--it is at the top of the page right now.
I am reading book two of the "Hunger Games" series...and I just finished the marvelous "Ocotillo Dreams" by Melinda Palacio--stay tuned for the book review...I'm off to get ready to see more films--hasta pronto!