Author Events, Nov 11-17

This Thursday, local author Julia Park Tracey is visiting Petaluma Copperfields and will read from the first book of the Doris Diaries, a series about her great aunt’s life from the 1920s.

For more events or to list author events in our calendar, visit The Press Democrat’s events listings at pressdemocrat.com.

SUNDAY (Nov 11)

Learn to Write Books for Kids, 2 p.m.
Five amazing authors! For kids and grown-ups alike, this panel of Napa County’s finest children’s authors discuss the ins and outs of creating, writing, and publishing books for kids. From picture books to young adult, they’ll tell all! Panel with Diana Greenwood (Insight), Naheed Hasnat (Shooting Kabul), Nikki Shannon Smith (The Little Christmas Elf), Rose Cooper (Gossip From the Girl’s Room), Amy Gibson (Around the World on Eighty Legs)
Copperfield’s Books, 3900 Bel Aire Plaza, Napa, 252-8002, copperfieldsbooks.com.

MONDAY (Nov 12)

Scott Hutchins, “A Working Theory of Love,” 6 p.m.
With a lightness of touch that belies pitch-perfect emotional control, Hutchins takes us on an odyssey of love, grief, and reconciliation that shows us how, once we let go of the idea that we’re trapped by our own sad histories–our childhoods, our bad decisions, our miscommunications with those we love–we have the chance to truly be free. A Working Theory of Love marks the electrifying debut of a prodigious new talent.  This free event includes pre-event appetizers.
Copperfield’s Books, 775 Village Court, Santa Rosa, 578-8938, copperfieldsbooks.com.

Dine with local authors, 6 p.m.
Theresa Dintino, Camilla Gray-Nelson, Arlene Miller, Jennie Orvino and James Wills. 
Gaia’s Garden International Vegetarian Buffet, 1899 Mendocino Ave., Santa Rosa. Call or email to request dining with specific author, 544-2491 or info@jeaneslone.com.

TUESDAY (Nov 13)

Diary of a Wimpy Kid Release Party, 6:30-8:30 a.m.
Wake the kids early for a before school party with hot chocolate, donut holes, and the seventh and latest book in the Wimpy Kid Series, “Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Third Wheel”.
Copperfield’s Books, 140 Kentucky St., Petaluma. 762-0563, copperfieldsbooks.com.

Julia Scheeres, “A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Jonestown,” 7 p.m.
Nearly one thousand people died in Jonestown on November 18, 1978. Contrary to popular notions, they didn’t all freely “drink the Kool-Aid” that day. In ‘A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown’, author Julia Scheeres reveals how the tragic end to Jonestown was planned by Jim Jones and his lieutenants for several years before it actually happened. Although the people who built the community wanted to forge a better life for themselves and their children, Jones never intended for them to succeed. He wanted them to die. Nearly thirty-five years after the tragedy, the untold stories from Jonestown are still heart-breaking, inconceivable and haunting. This is not only the most thorough book on Jonestown that has ever been written; it is also a fascinating, powerful, and gripping work that belongs at the upper echelon of narrative nonfiction.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. (415) 927-0960, bookpassage.com.

WEDNESDAY (Nov 14)

Copperfield’s Cooks with Thomas Keller, “Bouchon Bakery,” 6:30 p.m.
The tastes of childhood have always been a touchstone for Thomas Keller, and in this dazzling amalgam of American and French baked goods, you’ll find recipes for the beloved TKOs and Oh Ohs (Keller’s takes on Oreos and Hostess’s Ho Hos) and all the French classics he fell in love with as a young chef apprenticing in Paris. The deft twists, perfectly written recipes, and dazzling photographs make perfection inevitable.
Bouchon Bakery Courtyard, between 6534 & 6528 Washington St., Yountville, copperfieldsbooks.com.

THURSDAY (Nov 15)

Seré Prince Halverson, author of “Underside of Joy,” shares her journey towards the world of publishing in a writer’s forum to aid budding novelists.

Seré Prince Halverson, “My Long, Slippery, Uphill-Both-Ways Path to Publication,” 7 p.m.,
Writers Forum of Petaluma: Soon after Seré Prince Halverson earned her degree in journalism she realized that she didn’t really want to report facts, she wanted to write fiction. Twenty-five years, two marriages, four kids, one career as a copywriter, two agents and three novels later, The Underside of Joy was finally published by Dutton. Seré will share what she learned along the way, including: How to keep writing when it seems like it’s the last thing you should be doing, Parting ways with an unenthusiastic agent, (Otherwise known as: Your date for the prom should at least like your dress), The query letter that rose out of the slush pile, Carving out time for a writer’s retreat, Never, never, never, never give up, and more.
Petaluma Community Center, 320 N. McDowell Blvd., Petaluma. More info, www.sereprincehalverson.com.

Julia Park Tracey, “I’ve Got Some Lovin’ to Do: The Diaries of a Roaring Twenties Teen,” 7 p.m.
Local author Julia Park Tracey shares with us the diaries of her great-aunt Doris Bailey, capturing the life of a precocious and daring teenager in the 1920’s. I’ve Got Some Lovin’ to Do, presents an entertaining portrayal of an American girl brimming with curiosity, a zest for life, and a hunger to experience love for the first time.
Copperfield’s Books, 140 Kentucky St., Petaluma. 762-0563, copperfieldsbooks.com.

Barbara Kingsolver, “Flight Behavior,” 7 p.m.
Barbara Kingsolver was named one the most important writers of the 20th Century by Writers Digest. In 2000 she received the National Humanities Medal, our country’s highest honor for service through the arts. Critical acclaim for her books includes multiple awards. “The Poisonwood Bible” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the Orange Prize, and won the national book award of South Africa, before being named an Oprah Book Club selection. “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” won numerous prizes including the James Beard award. “The Lacuna” won Britain’s prestigious Orange Prize for Fiction in 2010. In 2011, Kingsolver was awarded the Dayton Literary Peace Prize for the body of her work. She is much loved in Sonoma County where her last appearance at Wells Fargo Center for the Arts packed the house and received rave reviews.  $25.00 and Special $45.00 (Special includes new book-Flight Behavior)
Wells Fargo Center for the Arts, 50 Mark West Springs Road, Santa Rosa, 546-3600, wellsfargocenterarts.org.

FRIDAY (Nov 16)

Margaret Talbot, “The Entertainer: Movies, Magic, and My Father’s Twentieth Century,” 7 p.m.
Margaret Talbot’s father Lyle left his Midwestern home in 1918 to join a traveling carnival, and went on to have a career that spanned the entire trajectory of the entertainment industry. After touring with carnivals, he became a magician’s assistant, an actor in a traveling theater troupe, a romantic lead in early talkies, a star of major Warner Brothers pictures with the likes of Humphrey Bogart and Carole Lombard, an actor in cult B movies, and finally part of the advent of television, with regular roles on Ozzie and Harriet and Leave it to Beaver.From early century small-town America to the birth of Hollywood, Lyle’s own life was entwined with a radically changing America. “The Entertainer” masterfully combines social history, old Hollywood stories, and family memoir, with Talbot using her father’s experiences as a touchstone to dig deep into the massive changes in American entertainment. Talbot paints a vivid picture of a changing world with a deep warmth and nostalgia.
Book Passage, 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera. (415) 927-0960, bookpassage.com.

SATURDAY (Nov 17)

Ana Manwaring, “The Narrator’s Tale: All About Point of View,” 9:30 a.m.
Redwood Writers workshop: A workshop on the intricacies of Point of View. This will be a hands on workshop so come prepared with pen, paper, and a scene from your original writing (double spaced) that includes plenty of narration.
Flamingo Conference Resort & Spa, 2777 Fourth St., Santa Rosa. $25 for members, $35 for nonmembers. Information and to register, redwoodwriters.org/workshops/november-2012-workshop.

Whitney Otto, “Eight Girls Taking Pictures,” 6 p.m.
From the author of How to Make an American Quilt comes a powerful and sweeping novel inspired by the lives of famous female photographers. While their circumstances may differ, the tensions these women experience–from wanting a private life or a public life; passion or security; art or domesticity; children or creative freedom–are universal.
 
Copperfield’s Books, 140 Kentucky St., Petaluma. 762-0563, copperfieldsbooks.com.

To submit book events for consideration in this column, contact Sara Peyton at sara.peyton@gmail.com at least three weeks in advance of the event.