Another author and I had a fabulous book event on August 1st. Marciana Ciresi and I are in the same writing group so we knew each other’s book well. We took turns asking questions about our stories’ settings, characters, political unrest, as well as our research sources. I showed a slideshow to introduce the Alta California wilderness and the adventurous life of Captain William A. Richardson. Marciana showed books she used for her historical research sources for post-World War II Italy and Argentina.
Last month, I had a great time presenting my novel Dancing on the Brink of the World to the Philanthropic Educational Organization, Chapter GJ. What a fine group of interesting women involved in helping young women succeed in this world through scholarships, grants, and loans. The theme we focused on was women’s roles and duties in the past and their difficult, laborious lives. I set up on a table visuals, including a map from my novel and a steel engraving print of Yerba Buena Cove, to help my audience go back in time to the 1820s.
Celebrate on April 25 or 26 by visiting your local independent bookstore and buy one of the thousands of wonderful fiction or nonfiction books available. Keep bookstores alive and thriving. If you can’t go this weekend, visit your store sometime this week or month. I’m thrilled to see my book displayed on the top shelf at the front of my local indie bookstore, Moonraker.
My novel is showing up on bookstore display tables in good company! Here’s my book at the awesome Sausalito Books by the Bay. I see it’s for sale in other countries too. Check out Hatchard’s Bookshop in London or Blackwells Bookstore in Oxford, UK. Grab a copy at your local bookstore.
“I have always imagined that Paradise will be a kind of library.”
—Jorge Luis Borges
Since childhood, once I learned to read, books and libraries were a magnet for me. I rode my bike three miles to our local library when I was ten and would stay for hours dipping into any book that caught my attention. When I moved to San Francisco, the first thing I did was get a library card, after getting my driver’s license. When I moved to Sausalito, I joined the library.
After my husband and I bought a house in Larkspur, I joined the local library board, serving for fifteen years. During those years, the Board began research on a purpose-built library building. I’m thrilled the new library, now under construction, is scheduled to open in 2026, and I plan to visit it when I travel there to see old friends.
I always visit bookstores and libraries on my vacations. I adored walking around Blackwells in Oxford and Shakespeare & Company in Paris, and bought many books to take home. Libraries in European castles, monasteries, universities, and mansions store so many treasured books. The scholarship, human insights, adventures, and experiences locked in these homes for books remind me of the saying, “Knowledge is power.” Those depositories of knowledge had sometimes spread ideas that overturned the balance of history. I hope you use and support and treasure your local library.
