December 14, 2011, Fallbrook’s Writers Read Presents

Brandon Cesmat poetry and fiction

Laurel Corona historical fiction

Michelle Latiolais fiction, poetry and essays

T. Jefferson Parker crime fiction

Brett Stokes & Nancy Bloy Gebhardt children’s picture book

Jincy Willett fiction

Café des Artistes
103 S. Main Street, Fallbrook, CA
5:30 Doors open, supper menu available (call for reservations, 760-728-3350)
6:00 – 8:00 Readings, signings and gift shopping!

What better gift for your favorite readers than books signed by your favorite local authors!

Join us for an evening of readings by some of the region’s best authors and have them inscribe their books for your loved ones.

Mysterious Galaxy bookstore will be handling sales and can accept major credit cards.*

Book selections include (and we’ll have lots more!):

For more information, contact K-B Gressitt at 760-522-1064 or kbgressitt@gmail.com.

* Brandon Cesmat’s books can be purchased with check or cash.

By Kit-Bacon Gressitt

If you have never read alternate historical fiction, there’s a really good reason to start, and he’s coming to town: Taylor Anderson, the best-selling author of the Destroyermen novels. Anderson is making two stops in San Diego to promote his sixth book in the series, Firestorm — noon Saturday, October 8 at the U.S. Naval Base Exchange, and  2 p.m. Sunday, October 9 at Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore in Clairemont Mesa.

Why read Anderson’s books? Let’s start with the success of the series. Born of a life-long desire to write and the sudden freedom to do so, Anderson drafted his first manuscript with a blend of enthusiasm, a solid background in history and firearms, and a spoonful of naïveté.

“When I got into this,” Anderson explained, “I’d been an old-time country gunsmith for years. I’d taught history, and done a lot of [historical] movies, but I really didn’t know the first thing about publishing. In my deeply stupid arrogance, I decided to use history, which I’ve always loved. … And I wrote the first book and sent it off. And the next thing I knew, I was being published.

“I did go through an agent, and he’s a great agent,” Anderson continued. “He asked me how I had the guts to send it to him. And I said I didn’t know any better. He said to send him the full manuscript, and he enjoyed it enough to spend some time telling me what to fix, and that was huge. About a month later, about Christmas time, I sent it back to him and the next thing I know, around the middle of January, he had several publishing companies kind of in a bidding war for it. And of course, they decided that it had to be a series, and I agreed entirely. I had too big of a world to explore.”

That world is an alternate Earth on which, as Anderson described, “the KT [asteroid] extinction didn’t take place.” During World War II, an American destroyer and a Japanese battle cruiser pass through a storm and land in the alternate world, launching a series of adventures and battles that engage the Lemurians and Griks, the beings that evolved in lieu of the effects of the mass extinction.

The Destroyermen books have a devoted following in the U.S. Navy, partially because the ship is one of the characters — “in a Starship Enterprise kind of way,” Anderson said, “except it’s a lot less capable and a lot more dilapidated.” Although he has been “assailed by some of the alternate history purists,” he described his series, with a laugh, as “kind of an alternate universe, military history, science fiction fantasy” blend.

Regardless of the books’ popularity with genre fans, the fact that Anderson has a gift for complex plot and dialogue and a fabulous sense of humor makes reading his work a fun and guilt-free pleasure. And then there are his humility and generosity.

“I get a lot of fan mail. Of course, it’s still feels odd for me to get it, but I get a lot of fan mail from former military, naval and active duty — from around the world,” he said. “I’ve gotten contacts from sailors who’ve been deployed. Just recently got one from a guy who said his whole ship was a fan. Our men and women in uniform are just so wonderful, and I get so many contacts from them that it just makes me proud and happy that they enjoy the story. But my hat still fits. I’ve been me so long, my wife has pretty much given up trying to do anything about it. … And it’s gratifying to have so many active and former Navy men, particularly destroyer men, say I hit it on the head. Of course, I appreciate everything they do for us. I’ve dedicated all my books to those who are defending us now or in the past. I feel like I’m giving something back in a sense. … And I get so much stuff from young folks, and that makes me really happy. I keep it this side of PG13, even though it’s for adults.”

Finally, there’s what Anderson said about his mother: “My mother is my first editor. She’s the only person who reads my books before they go out.”

And you have to love an author who loves and respects his mother.

What: Taylor Anderson signing Firestorm
Saturday, October 8, 2011: 12 noon: U.S. Naval Base Exchange, San Diego
Sunday, October 9, 2011: 2 p.m.: Mysterious Galaxy Bookstore, 7051 Clairemont Mesa Blvd.
Authors website: www.taylorandersonauthor.com

Crossposted at the North County Times.

A guest column by Joe Crews, gay veteran

It was San Diego’s biggest party of the year, the Gay Pride Parade last Saturday, attended by over 150,000 celebrants and a tiny few, but amusing, religious castigators. Best of all, it was a historic event, the nation’s first ever Pride Parade with a marching unit of openly identified active duty military personnel. The phalanx of jubilant sailors, Marines, soldiers and airmen wore civvies, but were followed by a squad of trim and muscular young men in uniform — of a sort. They were wearing only Marine-style camouflage bikinis as they danced and cavorted the two miles from Normal Street (yes, Normal Street) in Hillcrest to Balboa Park. Supposedly none of the bikini boys were active military, though some had classic jarhead appearance.

Because parade organizers placed highest priority on our gay and lesbian troops, and the impending repeal of DADT, my marching unit, Veterans for Peace, was placed near the front, number six of over 225 units. We stepped out sharply at 11:00 a.m., but the last unit did not arrive at Balboa Park until 2 hours and 45 minutes later. I was so exhilarated by the raucous public delight that we Vets for Peace were supporting gays in the military that, when we reached the park, I doubled back and joined another unit, the Free Bradley Manning platoon. I carried my large, colorful homemade sign “Free Bradley Manning – HERO!” The young, gay soldier from Oklahoma, the highly ethical Manning is a cause célèbre in the gay community ever since the military locked him away in extreme solitary confinement.

I marched at least seven miles in Saturday‘s parade, more than any time since I was in basic training at Fort Chaffee, Arkansas in 1962. After completing the second march, I just watched another 90 minutes of the parade, amused and at times almost stunned with the audacity and cleverness of paraders.

There was a long string of local politicians in convertibles and grand antique automobiles, from Mayor Jerry Sanders on down, including several other candidates for mayor. Cops and corporations marched, drag queens and daddy bears, Chihuahua lovers and a parade of adorable pugs in little perambulators, comic heroes from Superman to the Green Lantern to Wonder Woman. Everything and everybody from the bizarre to the beautiful.

At least 50 religious groups marched, including Jews, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Unitarians, Buddhists and spiritualists. But no Baptists, at least as publicly identified. They sang hymns, chanted, passed out literature and embraced each other with love and charity. My favorite was the group Gaytheists who carried signs urging President Obama to “Evolve already!” referencing the president’s very slow movement to marriage equality, which he has described as a “personal evolutionary process.” One of the gaytheists waved a colorful sign stating “Gay the pray away,” referencing the slogan of the Christian homophobic “reparative” therapy for “curing” gays with prayer and Bible reading: “Pray the gay away.” One marcher shouted out “We are on to your husband, Michele Bachman!” It is widely commented in the gay community that Marcus Bachmann is too nellie to be straight. Comedian Jon Stewart called Bachmann “an Izod shirt away from being the gay character on Modern Family.”

Well, somebody did a lot of praying, because everybody was out. And the troops are out to stay out. They ain’t going back in that closet. And they are very happy about it.

On vacation, in recovery, family reunion in Asbury Park — take your pick!

Love,
K-B