A group of local writers has published a book of members” writings. A book signing takes place at 4 p.m. Thursday, July 13 at Watershed Books, 305 N. Main Street in Lakeport.
A party held Thursday, June 15 at the Cactus Grill in Clearlake served as an official launch for “Reads: An Anthology of Writings by the Lakeside Writers Guild” (iUniverse, Inc., 2006). The group began meeting after a Lake County Arts Council seminar that took place five years ago. “What made this group special was the strong sense of friendship and community that evolved,” the authors noted in book publicity.
Best-selling author and editor Hal Z. Bennett led the group once a week for the past five years and encouraged the group to self-publish. The authors include Fran Ransley, Bennett, Jane Thanx, Laurelee Roark, Linda Drew, Melissa Drew, Richard Schmidt and Susanne Scholz. Several of the authors have been published in other local venues.
All aspects of book production were a collaborative effort, according to the process as described in the book”s introduction. Group members edited each other”s works and pooled their money to finance the printing costs. Scholz shot several photographs for the book”s front cover and the group made the final selection of reeds on Cache Creek that are reflected in the water.
Books can be purchased locally at Moontide in Middletown, The Bookkeeper in Cobb and Catfish Books and Watershed Books, both in Lakeport.
Contact Cynthia Parkhill at cparkhill@clearlakeobserver.com.
