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Sausalito Houseboat Wars: What Really Happened?
On May 1, I gave a talk at the Mill Valley Library: ”Sausalito Houseboat Wars: What Really Happened.” Not only was I thrilled by the turnout and how well it went, the library recorded it and I just watched the video and it’s pretty compelling.
Last fall, anticipating I would be finished with my novel, Pirates of Sausalito: Houseboat Wars Murder Mystery, I pitched a librarian on hosting an event, and she connected me with the Mill Valley Historical Society involved. They asked me to talk more about the history my book is based on than about the novel itself. I was wary at first, but it was a brilliant idea — we had a full house, in the main reading room. It’s unlikely that many people would have come if I were talking only about my book.
Here is the video, which is 50 minutes long. I’ve posted highlights below.
Pirates of Sausalito
My fourth novel, Pirates of Sausalito: Houseboat Wars Murder Mystery, is now available. The story, inspired by true events, is set in the late 1970s on the shoreline of Richardson Bay. Hippies and squatters living on houseboats in a ramshackle shantytown are...
‘The Pirates of Sausalito’ Or Maybe ‘Pirates? In Sausalito?’ Help Me Decide
I'm publishing my fourth novel this spring and I'm still vacillating about its title. Maybe you can help. In January, I published an advance reader copy for beta readers with the title The Pretend Pirates of Sausalito: Houseboat Wars Murder Mystery True Story. Based...
‘Writing California’ + Seeking Feedback on Book Cover Redesign
On September 21, I’ll be part of a local author panel at the Mill Valley Library discussing researching and writing about California. I’ll be discussing my 2015 novel Wasted, a “green-noir” mystery set in the garbage and recycling world of Berkeley, as well as my work-in-progress, a historical mystery/comedy based on true events in Sausalito during the houseboat wars in the 1970s.
Because I’ll be talking about Wasted, I am percolating, again, on whether or not to redesign its cover, which is a problem.
When Plots Collide — Create Suspenseful Page-Turners by Weaving Multiple Storylines
What I love about these colliding plots is how an action in one story causes an action in another. We see Peter Fallows find his journalistic footing and redeem himself with solid reporting and writing. That’s his story. At the same time, his actions tighten the vice around Sherman.
When ‘Ted Lasso’ Meets ‘Grapes of Wrath,’ ‘On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous,’ and My Unfinished Novel
During the school year, I’m a crossing guard — an hour in the morning, and an hour in the afternoon — and twice every weekday I walk to and from my corner, which adds up to five miles, more when I swung by Coyote Coffee to sit outside and schmooze with the regulars....
Sausalypso Video on YouTube
Finally getting around to posting the video of Sausalypso Houseboat Wars Murder Mystery, the play I wrote and directed earlier this spring. Watching it on the screen can’t match the energy of being there in person, but it’s still fun. Replete with a pretend pirate, a greedy developer with a maniacal laugh, his vengeful ex-wife and his hiccuping henchman, not to mention Sausalypso’s first ever woman police chief.
Here are some highlights — in case you don’t have time to watch the whole thing. 🙂
Scene 3 (The Greedy Developer and the Liberal Police Chief) 7:24
Scene 4 (The Vengeful Ex-Wife Confronts the Mistress) 12:28
Scene 6 (Eviction Raid) 24:20 (includes sword fight)
Scene 7 (I Hated You Before You Were Born) 33:12
Sausalypso! — ‘All is Lost’ or ‘The Show Must Go On’?
While directing my play, “Sausalypso Houseboat Wars Murder Mystery,” I read a book called Save the Cat Writes a Novel, in which author Jessica Brody lays out the various “beats” in a novel, one of which is “All is Lost.”
Three days before Opening Night, when three cast and crew members got covid, that was how I felt. All is lost.
Oh, and all four shows were sold out. Which was great, except a full house without a full cast is not great.
But we came up with a plan to push Opening Night from forward a week, so by the time three more cast members notified me they had covid the next day, we had switched the show dates, canceled our in-person rehearsals, and were practicing on zoom. Crossing our fingers that enough of us would be healthy to mount the show on our new Opening Night.
Cover Idea for ‘Showdown in Sausalito,’ My Next Novel
As some of you know, I'm directing a murder mystery play this winter at my local community theater — Sausalypso Houseboat Wars Murder Mystery. We completed auditions and casting in November and last week, we had our first table read-through with the actors. (Which was...
‘When I Killed My Father’ Named Finalist in San Francisco Writers Conference 2022 Writing Contest
I was thrilled to learn last week that my last novel, When I Killed My Father: An Assisted-Suicide Family Thriller, is a finalist in the San Francisco Writers Conference 2022 Writing Contest (Adult Fiction.) Winners will be announced before November 30, 2022. You can...
Finding Your Voice: Differentiating Author Voice from Character Voice(s)
Last month, I participated in a panel discussion on “Finding Your Voice” for the California Writers Club Marin Branch. I’m writing my fourth novel, another “page-turner with a conscience,” and I know that I have an author voice that is me, the writer, and it’s...
Exploring End-of-Life Controversies Through Fiction Writing (Podcast + Video)
I've been listening to podcasts almost everyday since the beginning of the pandemic, and now I'm a guest on a podcast. What a thrill! Thank you to hospice doctor and End of Life University founder Karen Wyatt for hosting this engaging conversation about addressing...
Reading My Own Novel, Nine Years After Writing It
In June, I hiked and hung out with my brother-in-law at his family’s off-the-grid cabin at Echo Lake, and one evening, impatient with the library book I was reading on my tablet, I scrolled through what other books I had downloaded and there was my first novel, which I finished writing nine years ago — Bones in the Wash: Politics is Tough. Family is Tougher.
I started reading it and could not stop.
It was a thrilling experience, to enjoy my own book, enjoy it immensely, as if I were a reader, and not the writer.
I like to say that I write the kinds of books I enjoy reading, so I have to acknowledge that I am the target audience of my book. Which means there are plenty of readers for whom it may not sing. But that’s true of all books.
(Reminds me of what I wrote long ago in an online dating profile — ”I’m not for everyone, but if you’re looking for someone like me, I’m perfect.”)
My Podcast/Video Interview on ‘Let’s Talk Death’
In May, I was invited to be a guest on the Let’s Talk Death podcast, which is also a video now, to discuss my assisted-suicide family thriller, When I Killed My Father. I talked about how the book was inspired by my family coming together to deal with our mother’s dementia, and how somewhere along the way, I imagined a fictional situation characterized by conflict instead of communication.
I wrote the book because I believe it’s important to talk about death. But it’s not easy to talk about death and it certainly wasn’t easy to write the book. Now that it’s been several years since our mother’s death and several years since the novel’s publication, however, I find that it’s not as hard for me to talk about these issues as it used to be. And if you watch or listen, you’ll see it’s not a heavy conversation. It was fun, enough so that part of me feels like there’s something wrong with that. But no, there isn’t.
“If You’re Looking for Someone Like Me, I’m Perfect” — Write Your Book Blurb Like a Dating Profile
An earlier version of this article was posted in the California Writers' Club Bulletin, Spring 2022. While I was making slides last month for my "How to Write a Killer Book Blurb" workshop, I realized that a book blurb is a lot like a dating profile. Years ago,...
Setting That Works: How Memorable Setting Can Advance Plot, Reveal Character, Echo Theme , and More
Thank you for joining me yesterday for "Setting That Works: How Memorable Setting Can Advance Plot, Reveal Character, Echo Theme, and More." I hope you learned something that will help you. It was a pleasure to meet you and learn about where you are in your writing...
Prologue: A Short History of Sausalypso
On January 1, the first day of the year, I wrote the words "the end" to Sausalypso, the novel I've been working on during the pandemic. That doesn't mean I'm finished, but I made it to the end of the first draft and now I go back and rewrite, reorganize, and make it...
The Whole World is Watching, Part 2
This is Chapter 12 of my novel-in-progress, Sausalypso Houseboat Wars Murder Mystery, and I’m sharing it because it requires less context than most chapters. The protagonist in this chapter is Tin Alley, the first woman chief of police in Sausalypso, an affluent town...
What If I Changed the Title of My Novel?
Last fall, after a fellow author interviewed for a podcast, she said to me that she found it interesting that someone as articulate and accomplished as I was chose such a poor book title. Ouch! She was referring to my most recent novel, which is titled, When I Killed...
Sausalypso Houseboat Wars Murder Mystery
I recently finished writing my third play, “Sausalypso Houseboat Wars Murder Mystery,” and soon, I would be working with my local community theater troupe, the Tam Valley Players on casting and rehearsing — if this were a normal year.
But it’s not. I’m happy with the script, and disappointed we won’t be performing it anytime soon.
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