Meet local author Rick Lenz and read chapter one of North of Hollywood

Rick Lenz has been a working actor almost all his adult life. His acting ranges from the serious to the comedic, and he has been featured in both starring and supporting roles on TV and in film. In addition to acting opposite many of the entertainment industry’s biggest stars—Peter Sellers, Goldie Hawn and Elizabeth Taylor, to name a few—Lenz is a playwright, artist, and now an author of a new memoir called North of Hollywood, a gut-wrenchingly honest account of the actor/playwright’s experiences over the years. Last month, North of Hollywood won first place at the 2012 Los Angeles Times Book Festival awards for Biography/Autobiography.

North of Hollywood is just the beginning for this budding new author. Lenz is also planning his first novel called Redeeming Norma Jean. Originally from Michigan and having acted across the country, Rick Lenz lives in North Hollywood with his wife. They are parents to three children, and have recently become proud grandparents.

You can meet Rick Lenz and get signed copies of his memoir North of Hollywood at three local venues this weekend and next week:

5/18/2012            12 PM – 4 PM at Barnes & Noble – Manhattan Beach, CA.

5/20/2012            3:00 PM at Diesel – Brentwood, Santa Monica, CA.

6/07/2012            1:30 – 3:30 PM at Theatre of Arts -

In the meantime, click here to enjoy an excerpt from North of Hollywood by Rick Lenz, which the author has generously shared with readers of LA Books Examiner.

 

Frank Mundo, LA Books Examiner, is the author of The Brubury Tales (foreword by Carolyn See) and Gary, the Four-Eyed Fairy and Other Stories. Don’t forget to subscribe to my emails and follow me on Twitter @LABooksExaminer for the latest updates.

Golden State: Meet Author David Prybil and Read an Excerpt from his Book

About the Author:
The LA Books Examiner is pleased to introduce local author David Prybil, Barnes and Noble Rising Star Award Winner, who has generously shared an excerpt from his fresh and entertaining debut novel Golden State. David is a writer-producer with 15 years of experience in the film business and credits as a producer on such well-received films as Saved! (for MGM) and Dancer, Texas (for Sony Pictures). A former creative executive and production company president, he is a graduate of The University of Michigan, with a JD/MBA from Indiana University.

David lives with his wife and two young sons in Los Angeles, CA. This is his first novel.

Golden State by David Prybil is available in hardcover, paperback and eBook at Amazon, iUniverse, Barnes and Noble and www.DavidPrybil.com.

About the Book:
Two months after announcing his candidacy for Governor of California – Arnold Schwarzenegger won! This is the stage that Barnes and Noble Rising Star Award Winner David Prybil sets for his cast of characters, most of whom had great expectations based not only on Schwarzenegger’s campaign promises, but also the action hero’s ability to save the day in most of his movies.

They include: 

Missy Carver, a realtor who is determined to find Arnold his “Sacramento dream estate” and secure the partnership she’s sure will make her feel complete. 

Spencer Brine, a depressed obituarist whose star-crossed love for a local stripper provides him the inspiration for an unlikely rise through the paper’s ranks. 

Widower Todd Tisdale, lost in former glories, who pins his hopes for saving his struggling tuxedo shop on befriending Arnold, no matter what it takes.

Rowena Pickett, a directionless tanning salon employee who only wants to be loved—even if it’s by an Alzheimer-afflicted mother who can barely remember her name, or a prison inmate pen pal she can’t touch.

As these characters’ lives intersect, often in unexpectedly fateful ways, David Prybil’s darkly humorous work examines both the rough underbelly of dashed hopes and the enduring power of the American Dream.

On the coattails of Schwarzenegger’s departure from office, this is the perfect time to read Prybil’s fiction-based-on-fact story.  California is beginning a new chapter as Jerry Brown steps in as Governor, and it is important now more than ever to recognize that California is a community.  Its members are bound by incredible connections and David Prybil’s work serves as vivid reminder of this.

Read an excerpt from Golden State by David Prybil at Frank Mundo’s LA Books Examiner.

 

Golden State by David Prybil is available in hardcover, paperback and eBook at Amazon, iUniverse, Barnes and Noble and www.DavidPrybil.com.

For the latest updates to Frank Mundo, LA Books Examiner, be sure to subscribeand follow me on Twitter @LABooksExaminer.

Frank Mundo is the author of The Brubury Tales (foreword by Carolyn See), which is available on Amazon.com in paperback and in eBook. The Brubury Tales is a finalist for Reader View’s 2011 Reviewer’s Choice Award for poetry.

LA Books Examiner’s Author Interview Series

LA Books Examiner’s Five Favorite Books Feature

LA Books Examiner’s Pause for Poetry Profiles