Thanks to Fresh, 9120 5th St. in Bay City, and to Sweet Perfection, 1911 2nd St. in Tillamook, for donating to our Writer in the House Small Press Semi-Summit at Colonyhouse in Rockaway Beach on June 6-8. Fresh provided excellent soup, beautiful salad, and homemade bread, and Sweet Perfection supplied outrageous brownies and divine lemon bars! We appreciate the generosity of these local business. Please help us support them!
Archives for June 2014
New Releases: “The Lanvin Murders”
Angela M. Sanders just published her first mystery novel, The Lanvin Murders. Angela’s goal with The Lanvin Murders was to mash-up Portlandia and Agatha Christie, with a few dozen vintage dresses tossed into the mix. In The Lanvin Murders, all Portland, Oregon, vintage clothing store owner Joanna Hayworth wants to do is turn her back on the modern world and retreat into a carefully curated life of satin cocktail gowns, icy martinis, and old movies. But when Joanna finds a key in a 1930s Lanvin coat cast off by an ex-showgirl, everything changes. The elderly woman turns up dead, and Joanna is pulled into a long-ago drama of back room deals, blackmail, and lost love. She must find a very real—and present day—killer before she becomes his next victim.
Angela also sends out a monthly newsletter filled with the sorts of things the book’s heroine likes. Past newsletters have included old cocktail recipes, dating advice from Zsa Zsa Gabor, profiles of women mystery novelists, a drag queen’s makeup tips, and more. The Lanvin Murders is $3.99 on Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble. A trade paperback, $12.95, will be available for order in bookstores or online the week of June 23.
Daniel H. Wilson featured on Authors Road series
Science fiction writer Daniel H. Wilson describes how someone with a PhD in robotics became a best-selling author in an engaging 
video interview that is sure to inspire writers of all genres.
Wilson, the author of Robopocalypse, Robogenesis, and How to Survive a Robot Uprising, says writing about what you love is essential. “Only write what you are really interested in,” he says in a wide-ranging interview that explores what inspires and motivates him.
“I’m a dork. I’ve always loved robots… that gives it a certain veracity. There’s no faking it. If you really enjoy it, it shows. People can tell.”
Wilson wraps up by describing his latest project – an interactive story experience for an iPhone. “Human beings communicate through stories,” he says. “Any technology that pops up, we’ll use it to tell stories.”
New Releases: “Water”
Emily Pittman Newberry announces the creation of the artists’ book Water in collaboration with Portland artist Shu-Ju Wang. This hand-made, limited edition book contains two poems by Emily under the title “Water Suite,” along with Shu-Ju’s evocative art. The main poem is a meditation on water as it transitions through rain and snow, and the way that the rest of nature interacts with these ever changing forms.
The whole set of 40 books will be on display in August at the Waterstone Gallery, 424 N.W. 12th Ave. In addition there will be an artists’ talk and poetry performance at 11 a.m. Sunday Aug. 17. Other talks and performances will be at the John Wilson Special Collections, Multnomah County Library, 810 S.W. 10th Ave., at 6 p.m. Sept. 10, and at Stonehenge Studios, 3508 S.W. Corbett Ave., at 7 p.m. Dec. 11.
New Releases: “Sparked by Love”
Sparked By Love, the first book in Peggy Bird’s “Holiday For Romance” series, will be released by Crimson Romance on June 16.
Glass blower Leo Wilson meets Shannon Morgan when his glass fireworks installation is accepted for the Fourth of July celebration in Vancouver, Washington and she’s the person who has to approve permits for him to get the work up. Sparks fly—the wrong kind at first—then the right kind burst into flame. But when Shannon’s father and ex-boyfriend complicate her life, Leo’s left wondering if the sparks they generate are enough to hold her.
