San Francisco’s Wordslinging Women

Thanks to Mia Lipman for this nice write-up in San Francisco Magazine! In the magazine’s cover story, “A Year in Preview,” Lipman writes that the San Francisco “lit scene gets much of its oomph from wordslinging women, including a trio of established authors with distinctly local voices and new books out in 2011. All three have aged gracefully into midcareer success without the boon of a genre-defying debut or an Oprah pick.”

The authors are Ann Packer (The Dive From Clausen’s Pier), whose story collection Swim Back to Me will be released this year; Carol Edgardian, co-editor of Narrative Magazine and author of the forthcoming novel Stages of Amazement; and yours truly.

“And the kid sister in the mix, Michelle Richmond, who just joined the 40-plus club with an international bestseller under her belt (yes, it’s true, I did just turn 40, but I wasn’t quite ready to see it in print!), will start accepting submissions this month for her new indie press, Fiction Attic. We’ll also see her fourth novel, California Street, land in the fall… “It imagines an outlandish circumstance that’s not really that far-fetched,” Richmond says.

Well, yes, I do have a new book coming out in Fall 2011. Finally! While I’m still keeping hush-hush on the details, I can say that it’s been tremendously fun to write, if a bit daunting (considering the 6 months of research that I ultimately threw out with the bathwater). Like my previous two books, it takes much of its inspiration from location. Although this time, I’ve widened my lens to include a broader California backdrop.