* Sept. 25 (the launch): Cody’s Books, Berkeley, at 7 p.m. (1730 Fourth St.)
* Sept. 26: M is for Mystery, San Mateo, at 7 p.m. (86 E. 3rd Ave.)
* Oct. 4: A Great Good Place for Books, Oakland , at 7 p.m. (6120 LaSalle Ave.)
* Oct. 13: Book Passage, Corte Madera, at 4 p.m. (51 Tamal Vista Blvd.)
* Oct. 17: Rickshaw Stop, San Francisco, at 7 p.m. (155 Fell St., at Van Ness)

7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Nov. 9, 2006
$8 members of Oakland Heritage Alliance
$10 non-members (free if you become a member)
Chapel of the Chimes, 4499 Piedmont Ave.

Join me, Annalee Allen and William Wong for a lecture sponsored by Oakland Heritage Alliance.  All of us have published neighborhood histories through Arcadia Publishing, and we’ll discuss our process of researching and writing.

Chapel of the Chimes is an architectural marvel designed by Oakland’s famous female architect Julia Morgan. It’s not so much a chapel as it is a columbarium. Beautifully morbid, this space is, with ash containers shaped as books, placed upon a bookshelf.

Annalee’s book is Oakland: A Postcard History and William’s book is Oakland’s Chinatown. Mine is Oakland Hills.

6:30-8:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 3, 2006
at the Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell Street (@Van Ness), San Francisco
$7-25 sliding scale

I will be reading from Woman of Ill Fame along with five other published authors from the same writers group.
Michael Chorost‘s memoir Rebuilt won the 2006 PEN award. Erika Mailman‘s Woman of Ill Fame tells a tale of a Gold Rush prostitute. Joe Quirk‘s Sperm Is from Men, Eggs Are from Women explains why men and women are different. Kemble Scott‘s Soma peeks at the sexual underbelly of SF. Melodie Bowsher‘s My Lost and Found Life chronicles the redemption of an embezzler’s daughter. David Sterry (author of Chicken) has a new memoir forthcoming: Master of Ceremonies, A True story of Love, Murder, and Chippendales.
We’re charging a small fee because this is a fundraiser for the Meridian Gallery, the art gallery that has given us free meeting space for a decade. They run a wonderful afterschool arts program for at-risk teens and we absolutely love them. Their building, however, is GOING CONDO and they’re being evicted, so we’re raising money to help them with the big move.

2-3 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 7
part of the Litquake Festival
Koret Auditorium, SF Public Library
100 Larkin St., San Francisco

I am so excited to read at Litquake; it’s the most fabulous week-long literary extravaganza EVER! I’ll be reading as part of an event called Off the Richter Scale, during the That’s History portion. In a one-hour segment, they have scheduled six writers… we are asked to each read for SIX MINUTES ONLY. I love it! Perfect for my short attention span. Off the Richter Scale continues all day; check out the schedule here.
I’ll be reading from Woman of Ill Fame, the novel about a Gold Rush prostitute appearing from Heyday Books in February 2007.

3-3:30, Monday, Oct. 2
Cover to Cover with Denny Smithson
KPFA radio,  94.1 FM

I’ll be appearing on Denny Smithson’s Cover to Cover program, discussing Oakland’s Neighborhoods. Tune in and hear our stentorian tones!