Laurel Anne Hill

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BOOK EVENTS AT THE 2013 SAN MATEO COUNTY FAIR

Anna Boothe
Audrey Kalman
Gus Tjgaard
Frank Saunders
Mar Andres Thomas
David Hirzel
Ines Villafane-Leon
Len Hodgeman

 
Minauti Dave

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

Book Event Schedule

June 10-15

All Scheduled book events are in Expo Hall, at the Fine Arts/Literary Arts Galleria Stage

Monday, June 10, 1-2 pm

 Mar Andres Thomas:  Mar, an expert in second language acquisition, has poured over 30 years of experience teaching the Spanish language into this first of a series of books focused on teaching Spanish to children. She has found that the best way for kids to learn Spanish is not through rote memorization but by using all five senses and having fun. Mi Primer Libro Bilingüe: La Comida, My First Bilingual Book: Food! can be used to learn either Spanish or English.

Mar will talk about her book and play a learning game with the children. Remember that Monday, June 10, is Kids’ Day at the San Mateo County Fair. Children 12 years of age and younger will be admitted free. Her book  Mi Primer Libro Bilingüe: La Comida, My First Bilingual Book: Food! can be used to learn either Spanish or English.

Tuesday, June 11, 6-7 pm

 David Hirzel:  Hold Fast: Tom Crean (with Shackleton’s Endurance) Author David Hirzel introduces his latest book Hold Fast, the 1916 climax of the Irish explorer Tom Crean’s true-life adventures during the “heroic era” of Antarctic exploration. When Shackleton’s Endurance was crushed by the ice, Crean was one of the few chosen for the 800-mile open-boat journey in search of help. For more information about David Hirzel, visit his blog site at http://davidhirzel.wordpress.com/.

Tuesday, June 11, 7-8 pm

 Gus Tjgaard:  Windjamming to China

Pacifica author Gus Tjgaard recounts his youthful experiences as a “Boy” aged 16 on one of the last commercial voyages under sail on the five-masted schooner Vigilant in 1936. Bucko mates gave hard lessons, but he also learned much about life, self-reliance, and the power and beauty of the sea. For more information, go to http://sbpra.com/gustavtjgaard/

Wednesday, June 12, 7-9 pm

“Fault Zone: Over the Edge is a collection of fantastical, intense and spirited writing that arises straight out of the chthonic beating heart of storytelling. From the wildly civilized animals of the imagination to the barely civilized humans who roam the cities and suburbs of America, these stories and poems take the reader on a literary journey into some very dark places that nonetheless shine with the light of truth.” —Mary F. Burns Author of J-The Woman Who Wrote the Bible and Portraits of an Artist

 Hear Fault Zone authors read from their stories. Those reading will include Laurel Anne Hill, Darlene Frank, Carole Bumpus, James Hanna, Sue Barbizon, Bardi Koodrin, Lucy Murray and more.

Thursday, June 13, 6:30 – 7 pm

 Anna Boothe:  Anna Boothe has a Master’s Degree and Ph.D. studies in Counseling and Guidance and over 20 years’ experience as a job coach for The Salvation Army, the Snelling and Snelling Agency, her own private agency, and getting a job herself, always in a month even during hard times. This is the only time-sensitive guide to getting a job in a month and the only one with in-depth chapters on The Interview and knowing when and how to accept a job. Get this book and it will be JOB HUNTING THAT WORKS for you!

Friday, June 14, 5-6 pm

 With selected readings from their book Enough of Us, Cheryl and Ellis raise issues that would-be parents overlook before deciding to make children. These include risks to kids and parents, human sustainability, and environmental degradation. The authors encourage lively participation and welcome questions and discussion. 

Cheryl Smith Levinson is a licensed marriage and family therapist. She practiced psychotherapy for 25 years, working with families dealing with severe emotional issues. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English from UCLA and a master’s degree in social science from Azusa Pacific College.

Ellis Levinson is The Consumer Guy. He has been an award-winning television investigative and consumer reporter, consumer advocate, comedian, actor, author, and New York City high school teacher. He holds two degrees in political science, a BA from NYU and a master’s from The New School.

Cheryl and Ellis blog at www.enoughof.us.

Friday, June 14, 6-7 pm

 Davd Minauti, Len Hodgeman & Lois Young: The Second Book of Truth  Minauti, Len and Lois continue the journey that began with their first collection of poems and short stories, The Liar, The King, The Libertine, further exploring their own psyches and their fictional characters for treasures of insight, wisdom and sometimes just plain fun, to share with their readers.

 Tina Gibson, author of One Page at a Time, wrote her first poem in 2010. She’s spent most of her career in the banking industry, but has also enjoyed producing and teaching self-defense seminars. She is a full member of the California Writers Club and Associate Organizer for the Society for the Promotion of Writers, Poets and Artists.

Saturday, June 15, 1-2 pm

 Ines Villafane-Leon is an international bilingual writer and conference speaker. Her book, A Story for All Seasons-Un cuento para cada estación, contains 40 International Stories with page by page translations, a parallel text in English and Spanish. Each character represents true life and personal experiences throughout their own world and country – events we can easily relate. Vulnerability is a key factor, but mind and spirit reinforce the strength of being, into the societies of today. Sales: inesleon@comcast.net/w: alma sur22 (pl.see) phone,fax 650.325. 7272 Inés Villafañe-León Amazon.com

Saturday, June 14, 2-4 pm

 Over 25 local authors will gather near the Literary Arts Stage in Expo Hall to sell and sign their books on June 15. Here’s a great opportunity to support local authors and your own “reading habit.” Plus you might even find a perfect gift for a friend. Authors present will include Ezra Barany, Mary Burns, Jon Cory, Minu Dave (aka Inana Dubay),Valerie Frankel, Tina Gibson, Jay Hartlove, Laurel Anne Hill, Dave Hirzel, Len Hodgeman, Audrey Kalman (Fault Zone Editor), Cheryl & Ellis Levinson, Claire Mack, Winifred McCaffrey, Emerian Rich, Sumiko Saulson, Frank Saunders, Jason Malcom Stewart, Mar Andres Thomas, Virginia Thomson, Max Tomlinson, Ines Villafane-Leon, LaToya Ward, LoisYoung (aka Sandra Smith), and more! To learn more about these talented local authors and poets, go to https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/contests/departments/literary-arts.

 

Tina Gibson
One Page at a Time by Tina Gibson
The Second Book of Truth by Minauti, Hodgeman & Young
Hold Fast: Tom Crean by David Hirzel
"Enough of Us" by Cheryl & Ellis Levinson
Cheryl & Ellis Levinson

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Windjamming to China by Gus Tjgaard

 

 

 

 

 

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Over 25 Local Authors to Sell and Sign Books at the San Mateo County Fair

Jon Cory, Author of "Roly's Relic" and "Plague of Scoundrels"

    

Elizabeth Fajardo, Author of “Storybook Dad” and “Eavesdropping on Angels”

AUTHORS SELL & SIGN THEIR BOOKS AT THE 2013 SAN MATEO COUNTY FAIR: SATURDAY, JUNE 15, 2-4 P.M. 

Over 25 local authors will gather near the Literary Arts Stage (Fine Arts Galleria) in Expo Hall to sell and sign their books on June 15. Here’s a great opportunity to support local authors and your own “reading habit.” Plus you might even find a perfect gift for a friend.  Authors present will include Ezra Barany, Mary Burns, Jon Cory, Minu Dave (aka Inana Dubay), Elizabeth Fajardo, Helen Fama, Valerie Frankel, Tina Gibson, Jay Hartlove, Laurel Anne Hill, Dave Hirzel, Len Hodgeman, Audrey Kalman (Fault Zone Editor), Cheryl & Ellis Levinson, Claire Mack, Winifred McCaffrey, Emerian Rich, Sumiko Saulson, Frank Saunders, Jason Malcolm Stewart, Mar Andres Thomas, Virginia Thomson, Max Tomlinson, Ines Villafane-Leon, LaToya Ward, LoisYoung (aka Sandra Smith), and more! To learn more about these talented local authors and poets, go to https://www.sanmateocountyfair.com/contests/departments/literary-arts. 

Claire Mack
Cheryl & Ellis Levinson
Ezra Barany

 

Emerian Rich
Max Tomlinson

 
Sumiko Saulson

 

 
 

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Cool Book Trailer for “How Beer Saved the World”

You, too, can "save the world."

This past week I created a book trailer for the anthology: HOW BEER SAVED THE WORLD.  My short, slide-show video takes a fun, humorous look at the 14 awesome stories in the anthology, all set to music that would have made Indiana Jones proud.

To view my cool trailer, created using ANIMOTO, go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQXBBlP6kZQ.

HOW BEER SAVED THE WORLD (Sky Warrior Book Publishing, LLC) is currently available as an e-book on Amazon and Smashwords.  A trade paper version is in the works.  I’ll keep you posted.

And be sure to read my steampunk short story published in HOW BEER SAVED THE WORLD:  “Beware the Nine.”

Warm wishes,
Laurel Anne Hill  (Author of “Heroes Arise”)

 

 

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Cinco de Mayo: The Passion a Victory Inspired (by Laurel Anne Hill)

The Wall Street Journal recently published an article written by Julie Barlow and Jean-Benoît Nadeau: Cinco de Mayo No Hecho in México, Actually.  In the article they rightly noted that Cinco de Mayo is not celebrated all that much in Mexico outside of the State of Puebla.  To quote Barlow and Nadeau, “Cinco de Mayo has no association with Mexican independence.  It commemorates a battle on May 5, 1862, in which the Mexican army vanquished the well-equipped French forces of Napoleon III.”  No new news there, although Barlow and Nadeau probably should have referred to “Mexican independence from Spain.”

But Barlow and Nadeau went on to say, “No one knows exactly why Hispanics in California began celebrating Cinco de Mayo at the end of the 1860s.  Nor does anyone understand why, a century later, the Chicano movement picked it up as an expression of their demands for civil rights…”  Well, Barlow and Nadeau sure didn’t ask for my opinion on the subject.  I would have told them.

To understand the times back then better, here’s a summary of pertinent events.  In 1861, the financially-troubled Mexican government suspended debt payments to foreign countries for two years.  This did not go over well with Mexico’s major creditors: Spain, France and Britain.  Napoleon III of France instigated a military intervention.   Spain and Britain supported the idea until they realized France’s ulterior motive was to take over Mexico in its entirety.  The celebrated “Cinco de Mayo” battle occurred on May 5, 1862, when approximately 4,500 poorly-equipped Mexican troops defeated 8,000 well-equipped French troops.  A Mexican David defeated the French Goliath, helping to boost Mexican national pride and patriotism.

The clear victory of the Mexican forces that day only delayed the French takeover.  French forces entered Mexico City in 1863.  In 1864, France installed a puppet — Maximilian  —  as Emperor of Mexico.  Maximilian threatened any Mexican captured in the war with immediate execution.  Talk about zero rights for prisoners of war!  In 1867, the Republicans of Mexico reclaimed their capital and executed Maximilian.  To use a cliché, what goes around comes around. 

Meanwhile, back in California, USA, a state which contained a significant number of citizens of Mexican birth and/or heritage.  At least several years after immigrating to California, my paternal great-great grandmother Francisca Tejada de Orendain, donated a significant amount of money to aid the Mexican campaign against the French.  Her daughter (my great-grandmother), Hipolita Orendain de Medina, helped to recruit Mexicans in California to return to their homeland and fight for the cause.  At the time, Hipolita was only in her teens.

Hipolita’s scrapbook, letters and journal now reside with the California Historical Society in San Francisco.  A few years ago, I paid to have those scrapbook, letters and journal entries in Spanish translated to English.  I donated a copy of the results to the California Historical Society.  The following is a scrapbook entry (written originally in Spanish) from José Montesinol to Hipolita.

 

To Hipolita

What is it about your look, what is it about your smile, that attracts so many hearts? What magic and enchanting qualities does your breath have that awakens soldiers, wounded by deception and their abandonment of love for glory? What is it about you that livens the noble sentiments of philanthropic charity and patriotism in the souls of everyone who surrounds you? And what powerful influence do you exercise over those who look at you for the first time, as you conquer them, and then obey your requests as if they were irresistible commands? I know that your child-like, silvery voice, expressing your humanitarian charity, also stirs up patriotism; when only with your innocent candidness and your Spartan soul you obligate compatriots, residents of this soil, to help the valiant, wounded Mexicans that have fallen in the fields bloodied by France’s civilizing ferocity. I know that here, in the exterior, our young heroes lie dead in the middle of oblivion. But you have made the Mexican leaders proud and aware, so that they might prize those whose lives were lost because of their honor, valor, and abnegation. I have seen you arm the unfortunate ex-prisoners of the French, so that they might march and continue to defend their country; you push them …you lead them to the boats that put them on the path toward glory…and you smile like a patriot because you know that even a small group is a force that strengthens the loyal lines; but then you cry like a little girl because amongst those who depart, far from your side, there are loved ones who you will perhaps never seen again.

Who are you? Tell me______Are you a woman or a genius? ______You are an ideal being, with a patriotic heart; How is it, I ask, that the good of the country has been entrusted to the sacred temple of your care? Are you the priestess who harnesses energy, warmth, and civic virtues? I believe you must be because that is what I sense.

Vestial Aztec, who tends to and stokes the patriotic fire, I lay myself before your virtues and self-sacrifice; I adore you with unbridled enthusiasm.

José Montesinol
September 27, 1865 San Francisco

 

I’m sure my great-grandmother and great-great-grandmother were not the only Mexican Californians loyal to their homeland back then.  Once the French forces were kicked out of Mexico, is it any surprise that May 5, 1862  — a date that must have served as a patriotic rallying  cry — would be celebrated by California’s Mexican community?  Is it such a surprise that the Chicano movement a century later would have likened its David vs. Goliath situation to the famous Cinco de Mayo battle?

These facts come as no surprise to me.

Warm wishes,

Laurel Anne Hill (Author of the award-winning novel, “Heroes Arise”)
http://www.laurelannehill.com

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Laurel Anne Hill’s New Steampunk Short Story in “How Beer Saved the World”

How Beer Saved the World

What’s a proper British maid to do when strange things start happening in her master’s home?  To find out, read Laurel Anne Hill’s steampunk short story, “Beware the Nine” – now available in the ebook anthology: How Beer Saved the World (Sky Warrior Books, 2013).  Here’s what Book View Café has to say about How Beer Saved the World:

Here’s a book that takes issue with the popular image of beer as the drink of sports-watching couch potatoes: How Beer Saved the World, an anthology of quirky short stories celebrating beer. Edited by Book View Cafe’s Phyllis Irene Radford, and including stories by BVC members Brenda Clough and Nancy Jane Moore, this is a collection of 14 different takes on positive outcomes brought on by beer.

Beer goes back to the early days of the human race. As it says in the introduction, “Fermented grains have been a mainstay of the human diet almost as long as we have been human.” So pour yourself a cold one and sit down with these stories.

The book is published by Sky Warrior Book Publishing and is available in ebook form from Amazon and Smashwords.

Happy reading,

Laurel Anne Hill
http://www.laurelanne

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“Shanghai Steam” Nominated for an Aurora Award!

Shanghai Steam Anthology

I just received awesome news.  “Shanghai Steam” (the anthology containing my Moon-Flame Woman short story) has been nominated for an Aurora Award.  The annual Aurora Awards are sponsored by the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Association (CSFFA).  The Auroras don’t have a category for short story collections.  Thus, “Shanghai Steam” was nominated in the category of “Best Related Work — English.”  Each Aurora category contains only five nominations.  That’s FIVE selected from the many related Canadian works considered.  For more information about “Shanghai Steam,” go to: http://www.shanghai-steam.com/.  And if you’re a member of CSFFA, please vote for “Shanghai Steam!”

The five works nominated in the “Best Related Work — English” category are as follows:

Best Related Work – English
Shanghai Steam edited by Ace Jordyn, Calvin D. Jim, and Renée Bennett, EDGE
Imaginarium 2012: The Best Canadian Speculative Writing edited by Sandra Kasturi and Halli Villegas, ChiZine Publications
Hair Side, Flesh Side by Helen Marshall, ChiZine Publications
Blood and Water edited by Hayden Trenholm, Bundoran Press
On Spec published by the Copper Pig Writers’ Society

To view a complete list of all Aurora nominations for the year, go to: http://www.prixaurorawards.ca/2013-aurora-award-ballot/.

Please help me do a happy dance.

Warm wishes,

Laurel Anne Hill
(Author of the Award-Winning Novel, “Heroes Arise”)