Point of View

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Point of View: What I Learned At the Book Festival

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Sacramento Book Festival

Well, it’s over. The Second Annual (and first full) Sacramento Book Festival has been consigned to the history books. And oh what a festival it was. We were hoping for great weather – the average temperature in Sacramento on May 31st is 87 degrees, so we had good reason to think it would be comfortable shirtsleeves weather. Instead, we got the hottest May 31st in the city in 100 years. Because of course we did. And still, despite the heat, they came. People crammed into the charming (but a little small) Shepard Garden and Arts Center – over 5,000 of … Read more

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Point of View: What I Learned (So Far) From Building a Book Festival

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construction - deposit photos

Last spring, I was invited to be a part of a new book festival in Sacramento. It was a modest effort – about 20 authors under 10×10 canopies, tacked onto the end of a local farmer’s market. It was a success – we all sold a decent number of books, and some folks came 200 miles for the event. A month or two later, we decided to do it all again, but for real this time, and launched ourselves into a nine-month odyssey that comes to fruition this coming weekend. So I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve … Read more

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Point of View: Adrift

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river - deposit photos

And the river flowsI am never gonna get it back againAnd the river flowsI am never gonna take it back again… “Take Me Back”, by Erasure Sometimes a song speaks to you in an unexpected way, and the music unlocks something you’ve been feeling for a long time, but couldn’t quite name. Our world is in a state of flux, where everything we thought we knew is being questioned, threatened, and overturned. Most of us just want to go back to the way things used to be, when we were standing on what we thought was solid ground. As I … Read more

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Point of View: Something We Can Do!

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Sacramento LGBT Center

Something a little different today, For the last few months, I’ve felt as if I was trapped in a never-ending vortex of horrible news, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it. I have felt depressed, dejected and powerless, as I’m sure many of you have too. Then ever so slowly, things have started to shift. More people standing together and fighting back. And there have been glimmering signs of hope. Then a few days ago, this landed in my email inbox, from my friend Luis at the Sacramento LGBT Center: “On March 24, the federal government abruptly … Read more

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Point of View: Putting On a Book Festival

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Sacramento Book Festival Logo

About a year ago, I was asked to participate in a local book festival. It was a trial “pop-up” event – twelve booths attached to an existing farmer’s market. There were about twenty authors there, and although it was never really busy, we all sold a decent number of books. It was clear that there was a hunger for this kind of event here in Sacramento. Flash forward to today. We’re a month-and-a-half out from launching our second annual Sacramento Book Festival on May 31st, and this one’s gonna be way bigger – 140 authors, bookstores, local writing and literacy … Read more

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Point of View: What a Real Man Is

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smug man with crown on head - deposit photos

This week a new word popped into my awareness, one that’s probably been circulating for a while, and one that comes from a worldview that has become almost omnipresent in its injection into our daily lives. See, it’s the straight white men who are oppressed. Women, gays, democrats and trans folk have been telling them for far too long that they can’t just be men and do manly things, like oppressing women, gays, democrats and trans folk. It’s really unfair. And now the combination of our hyper-masculine co-presidents, the crypto bros, the Andrew Tates of the world and all the … Read more

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Point Of View: Let the Rain Wash Me Clean

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teen in the rain - deposit photos

I was sitting at my desk about half an hour ago, when I heard something outside. I opened the blinds and peered out, and a decent rain was falling out of the sky. Within a couple minutes it built into a thunderous crescendo, pummeling the roof above, like a hundred drummers beating on tautly stretched hides. It was mesmerizing. The rain has passed, and now there are patches of blue sky outside. And while we know the rain will come again, maybe as soon as this afternoon, for now the air is crisp and clean, and the world feels new … Read more

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Point of View: Selling Books at a Time of Existential Threats

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This is Fine

We’ve all seen the meme. In a world that seems to be burning down around us, it captures that horrible frozen feeling many of us have that the forces moving around us are just too large to comprehend, let alone combat. Have you seen the whole original comic strip this came from? It’s by artist KC Green, and there’s a great interview and explanation here at The Verge. This is the world we as authors are living in. Lately a new version has been making the rounds, where “This is fine” is replaced with “Buy my book”: And here’s a … Read more

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Point of View: Picking Up Where I Left Off

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man on a cliff with an umbrella - deposit photos

December was a rough month. January was a rough month. February was a rough month. March… well, we’ll see. So far it hasn’t been grand. I like to write a bit every day, but lately life, stress, and the pile-up of things to do has gotten the better of me. I’m lucky if I can manage to write once or twice a week. Which right now is just enough to keep my blog serial Down the River going. Part of it, too, is a schedule in turmoil, and persistent insomnia that leaves me unwilling or unable to get up early … Read more

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Point of View: Adrift

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adrift - deposit photos

If you’re anything like Mark and I, you’re probably feeling a bit lost at sea right now. Our new Administration here in the US has turned everything upside down – black is White, Zelensky is Putin, and all the lies are now true. Or at least they will be once they finish beating us over the head with them. The weather here in Northern California is vacillating between super cold and rainy and too warm for February, suggesting a hot summer to come. I’ve now been looking for a job now for sixteen months. I interview, they love me, they … Read more

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