Literary Stars

Two weeks until the event, get your tickets today! On March 23, 2013, guests will dine and mingle with Bay Area Literary Stars on the second floor of the Walnut Creek Library. The evening begins with a reception and silent auction followed by dinner served by Grace Street Catering and wine from Charles Creek Winery.

Reserve your seats HERE.

Our 2013 Literary Stars include:

Penny Warner: Danville mystery writer and Valley Times columnist Penny Warner is the author of 60 books including “How to Dine on Killer Wine,” “The Code Busters Club” and the “Official Nancy Drew Handbook.”

David Talbot (SOLD OUT)  Founder of salon.com, pioneering online journalist David Talbot is the author of a controversial study of the Kennedy assassination and other areas of “hidden history.” His 2012 best-seller “Season of the Witch” recounts the darker side of  San Francisco in the 1960s and 70s, including the Zebra and Zodiac murders, Moscone-Milk assassinations, and Jonestown tragedy.

Romney Steele: Oakland author, artist and teacher Romney Steele’s lavishly illustrated “My Nepenthe” tells the story of her personal relationship with this iconic Big Sur restaurant. Her subsequent cookbook “Plum Gorgeous” celebrates the romance and beauty of orchard fruit. Additionally, Romney is the creator of  “The Cook and Her Farmer,” an Oakland-based pop-up event, and soon to be brick and mortar cafe.

Kevin Smokler is a San Francisco writer and lecturer whose most recent book is the 2013 essay collection “Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books you Haven’t Touched since High School.”

Sylvie Simmons: (SOLD OUT) London-born, San Francisco-based, Sylvie Simmons is an award-winning journalist and author. Her latest book is the critically-acclaimed, New York Times bestseller ”I’m Your Man: The Life of Leonard Cohen.”

Matt Richtel is a novelist, cartoonist and Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who covers technology for the New York Times. His three critically acclaimed novels are thrillers set in Silicon Valley.

Fred Setterberg: East Bay journalist Fred Setterberg’s “Lunchbucket Paradise: A True-Life Novel” documents growing up in the East Bay suburbs in the 1950s and 60s. His earlier memoir “The Roads Taken” is a literary tour that reconnects Americans to our land, our culture and each other.

Jane Porter’s books include, the bestselling “Flirting With Forty” and ”Odd Mom Out”. Her new trilogy, which includes The Good Woman, revolves around the lives and loves of four sisters in the Bay Area.

Laurie King is the creator of two series of mystery novels, one featuring sleuth Mary Russell partnered with the legendary Sherlock Holmes, the other featuring police inspector Kate Martinelli in her native San Francisco. 

John King: Contra Costa County resident John King is the urban design writer for the San Francisco Chronicle and the author of the 2011 “Cityscapes: San Francisco and its Buildings.”

Wendy Johnson: When it was published in 2008, Wendy Johnson’s “Gardening at the Dragon’s Gate: At Work in the Wild and Cultivated World” was described by the New York Times as “part memoir, part Sunset Magazine.”  As the longtime head gardener at Green Gulch Zen Center in Marin County, Johnson practiced sustainable gardening before it was even a term of art.

C. W. Gortner: Half-Spanish by birth, bestselling author C.W. Gortner writes historical novels about powerful and maligned women of the Renaissance, including Elizabeth I, Catherine de Medici, Isabella of Castile, and her daughter, the “mad” queen Juana. He lives in San Francisco and is currently at work on a novel about Lucrezia Borgia.

Zoe Ferraris: San Francisco author Zoe Ferraris’s mystery novels “Finding Nouf,” “City of Veils” and “Kingdom of Strangers” were inspired by her experience living in Saudi Arabia.

Lucille Lang Day: Oakland-born Lucille Lang Day is the author of the critically acclaimed 2012 memoir “Married at 14: A True Story,” as well as eight books of poetry, a children’s book and the textbook “How to Encourage Girls in Math and Science.” She holds degrees in creative writing, biological sciences, zoology and education.

Brian Copeland (SOLD OUT) – The multi-talented writer, comedian, television and talk radio host is the author of “Not a Genuine Black Man: My Life as an Outsider,” and the host of the Brian Copeland Show on KGO radio in San Francisco. His most recent stage piece, “The Waiting Period,” is a hard-hitting, but comical look at his struggle with chronic depression, set during the 10-day waiting period he had to endure before he could purchase a handgun with which he planned to end his life.

Meg Waite Clayton  (SOLD OUT) is a Palo Alto resident and the best-selling author of  “The Four Ms. Bradwells,” “The Wednesday Sisters,” and “The Language of Light,” a book club favorite.

Max Byrd’s new thriller about a secret arms race at the eve of World War II follows his highly acclaimed historical novels recounting events in the lives of Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson and Ulysses S. Grant.

Gary Bogue and Chuck Todd(one seat left) Gary wrote a popular East Bay newspaper column on pets, wildlife and the environment and has collaborated with illustrator Chuck Todd on four books, including “There’s an Opossum in my Backyard” and “The Racoon Next Door.”

Cara Black (SOLD OUT) San Francisco mystery writer Cara Black is the author of the bestselling Aimee Leduc murder mysteries, set in Paris and richly imbued with the romance and intrigue evoked by its ancient streets, alleyways  and cafes.

Anita Amirrezvani: Bay Area novelist and poet Anita Amirrezvani was born in Iran which is the setting of “The Blood of Flowers,” and “Equal of the Sun.” Her well-crafted writing of historical fiction made her one of bookpage.com’s 10 female authors to watch in 2012.