For complete Calendar including Authors Events, go to www.SDWriteWay.org

November 8, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - This column is also published in the http://EastCountyMagazine.org. If you are from East County, I highly recommend that you check out the ECM for articles and the latest in what is happening in the East County.

East County News Service

November 6, 2015 (Anza-Borrego) – Discover the Old West of Western novelist/artist Marshal South with historian and travel writer Diana Lindsay along the Butterfield Overland Stage Route on Saturday, November 21^st.  This one-of-a-kind journey aboard a California Overland Adventures vehicle begins at 9 a.m. at the Carrizo station and ends with an optional hike to the relics of South’s homestead atop Ghost Mountain.

South promoted Anza-Borrego’s history in the 1930s and ‘40s , as well as Native American culture and desert lore through his cliffhanger western novels reminiscent of Zane Grey and Louis L’Amour.  On this excursion back in time, you’ll travel the old stage route and explore the places that inspired South and still echo with the past.

By Helen Ofield, President, Lemon Grove Historical Society

Our stockings are hung by the chimney with care

In hopes that St. Nicholas soon will be there.

November 1, 2015 (Lemon Grove) -- He will be. The witching hour is 7 p.m. on Nov. 5 in the H. Lee House, 3205 Olive, Lemon Grove.

Of course, you knew that.  Come November, neither you, we, nor anyone within earshot is exempt from visions of sugar plums, the hope of reindeer hooves on the roof, the hearkening to Donner and Blitzen, and the careful setting out of a post prandial libation and figgy pudding for The Great Claus.

He is William Swank and the name fits.  He is swell, swank, super-duper and silver-tongued.  He's been Santa Claus for 14 years, including seven in the Spreckels Organ Pavilion. He's an author of 10 books, too, bringing us to the main event.

Answering your questions about writing, publishing, and marketing books

By Sarka-Jonae Miller

October 26, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - A scientist, a novelist, and now a guest columnist... Ask An Author is happy to welcome multiple award-winning author and physicist Massimo Marino, whose science fiction trilogy sold more than 10,000 copies in the US and abroad before being picked up by a publisher. Also, get one of his novels free Nov 9-14, as well as 200 more!

“Thou shalt not” is soon forgotten, but “Once upon a time” lasts forever.” (Philip Pullman)

October 22, 2015 (Santee and Escondido)--Tellabration is a global celebration of the art of oral storytelling.  Storytelling is the conveying of events in words, images and sounds, often by improvisation or embellishment.  Stories or narratives have been shared in every culture as a means of entertainment, education, cultural preservation and in order to instill moral values.  Crucial elements of stories and storytelling include plot, characters and narrative point of view.

For complete Calendar including Authors Events, go to www.SDWriteWay.org

This column is also published in the http://EastCountyMagazine.org. If you are from East County, I highly recommend that you check out the ECM for articles and the latest in what is happening in the East County.

For complete Calendar including Authors Events, go to www.SDWriteWay.org

October 3, 2015 (San Diego's East County) - This column is also published in the http://EastCountyMagazine.org. If you are from East County, I highly recommend that you check out the ECM for articles and the latest in what is happening in the East County.

WWII storyteller now stalks the mean streets of Los Angeles

The Atlantian: The Vision Quest, Book One, by Deborah M. Pratt (VGM Publishing, Beverly Hills CA, 2015, 287 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

September 10, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - Deborah Pratt, a master storyteller with a vivid and imaginative mind for science fiction, the former co-executive producer and head writer on the iconic NBC series Quantum Leap, has followed this up with her latest book of a similar genre; The Atlantian: The Vision Quest, Book One. The Atlantian is a classic adventure that confronts the loss of innocence and the tender heartbeats of first love, held in secret while the whole of human existence hangs in the balance.

For complete Calendar including Authors Events, go to www.SDWriteWay.org

This column is also published in the http://EastCountyMagazine.org. If you are from East County, I highly recommend that you check out the ECM for articles and the latest in what is happening in the East County.

By Sarka-Jonae Miller

August 26, 2015 (San Diego) -- “How is it possible to acquire genuine reviews for a book when most reviewers want FREE books to review? If a reviewer has a Free book have they been compromised or influenced to provide a good review? I have been approached by fellow authors requesting reviews on the understanding of you scratch my back and I will scratch yours! I have of course turned down all such requests! Over the past few weeks Amazon has started to address this issue by removing reviews that they consider to be inappropriate or not genuine or verifiable. I would be most interested in your understanding of the current and future book review process.” - Mike Wilkins

Let's first address the idea that a free book automatically means a positive review. That is not the case. Any author who has run a successful giveaway knows that you're more likely to get negative reviews than positive ones from people who download free books.

For complete Calendar including Authors Events, go to www.SDWriteWay.org

I'M BACK

I have retired and moved to the southern Mexican beach town of Zipolite in the state of Oaxaca. If anyone wants to visit, I would be glad to help you get a place to stay and show you around.

I have to warn you though. It is not your typical resort town. It is clothing optional, marijuana smoking is legal, it is gay friendly, bars open all night, and you won't find any luxury hotels. What happens in Zipolite, stays in Zipolite. One can stay in a dormitory for about $4 a night or rooms or bungalows from$10 and up. Email me at sambookwarren@yahoo.com.

Answering your questions about writing, publishing, and marketing books

By Sarka-Jonae Miller

August 5, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) – How does a writer know what's right for their work with so many different opinions from agents, publishers, and articles? What is your suggestion for handling backstory? – Linda Crawford

Gustave Whitehead: First in Flight, by Susan O’Dwyer Brinchman (Apex Educational Media, La Mesa, CA, 2015, 432 pages).

Book Review by Dennis Moore

July 23, 2015 (San Diego’s East County) - I was absolutely astounded and flabbergasted after reading Susan Brinchman’s Gustave Whitehead: First in Flight, for all my life and throughout elementary school and into college I had been taught that the Wright brothers, Orville and Wilbur, were the pioneers of modern aviation. In this fascinating and well documented and researched book, Brinchman states: “Paul Jackson, Editor-in-Chief of the century-old Jane’s All the World Aircraft (2013), often referred to as ‘the bible of aviation history’, announced in its Centennial Issue, in March, 2013, that Whitehead was ‘first to fly’, ahead of the Wrights, and was the inventor of the airplane, based on the mountainous evidence accumulated over the previous eight decades.”