My first novel, A Circle Outside, was published in the UK, Europe, and Australia in July 2025. It will be released in North America, February (2026).
Most importantly, the book will be available in Santa Cruz. A Circle Outside is set in 1980s Santa Cruz. Two crucial scenes happen at beloved locations: The Poet and Patriot pub and the Saturn Cafe.
If you are from Santa Cruz, you might ask me “Are you going to do a reading at Bookshop Santa Cruz?” Bookshop Santa Cruz is sacred ground for Santa Cruzans. Ask anyone who was there and hear how the townspeople rescued the business after the 1989 Earthquake. Ask a publishing wonk and hear the David and Goliath story of Founder Neal Coonerty, fighting off the predations of the Crown Books in the 1990s. He won and Bookshop thrives.
Bookshop Santa Cruz is where Santa Cruz authors expect to release their books.
But Bookshop Santa Cruz doesn’t do events with authors unless they are an author of great renown and can bring in a room full of people who will pre-order the book as a condition of attending the event. I don’t blame them. Bookselling is already hard enough.
So no, I’m not doing an event at Bookshop Santa Cruz. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t really looking forward to trying to perform in that awkward open space in the middle of the store. A quiet author’s recitation with her chin in her hand? That’s not me.
When I thought about how to promote the book in Santa Cruz, I wanted to give readers something special if they were going to leave the house. I thought about my friends who also have books.
That’s why Irene Reti, Coleen Douglas, and I cooked up Wonder and Awe in the Redwoods. March 22, 2026 at 239 High Street (the old Native Son’s Hall) just over the pedestian bridge from the Plaza. Free admission and parking. (Books will be for sale.)
I’ve known both Coleen and Irene for years. All three of us were UCSC students around the same time, and then worked there. (The only university built inside a redwood forest.)
Coleen I knew as a member of the band The Pearl Divers. Irene ran a lesbian publishing house, Herbooks, for decades, and once published a book of my poetry.
All three of us feature redwoods in our creative lives.
Coleen has combined her science background with her love of the wild spirits of nature. She offers redwood experiences where she tells stories and gives practical guidance for connecting to nature, and especially the forests of Santa Cruz.
The vision of Irene’s photography amazes me. Here is some of her work. Irene’s website includes her books and pdf's of classic out-of-print publications from Herbooks.
I will read a party scene from A Circle Outside, which I wrote hoping I could read it out loud someday.
Wonder and Awe in the Redwoods begins at 2 pm, March, 22, a Sunday afternoon. If you’re in the area, reserve your spot now.