Carolyn See, California Literary Legend, Dies at 82

You know that one teacher that changed your life, that one teacher that made you see a better version of yourself was actually possible and attainable?

That was Carolyn See for me. She was my teacher, my friend and mentor. I am a better writer and a better human being for having known her and learned from her and worked with her.

I just can’t say enough how much she changed my life for the better. She was the best!!! I’ll never forget her. I’ll never forget what I learned from her.

RIP Carolyn See, my friend and mentor. I love you, and I miss you!!!

To learn more about Carolyn See and her amazing body of work, here’s the announcement in the LA Times today.

Classical Carousel Reviews The Brubury Tales

I am honored and so grateful for the amazing reviews and responses to my book The Brubury Tales that continue to come in.

Just today, an in-depth book review of The Brubury Tales was posted at Classical Carousel, an exceptional literary blog that reviews classic books by dead authors almost exclusively. But, because the site was already taking on  Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, The Brubury Tales (my homage to Chaucer’s amazing work) was chosen to be included in a side-by-side reading challenge of old and new! That decision alone was a huge honor and an awesome reminder to me of how lucky I am to keep finding an audience for such an unusual book — based on a work that means so very much to me.

You can read the full review of The Brubury Tales here.

And please be sure to check out the full reviews of The Canterbury Tales as well, and all the many Classical Carousel reviews of some of the best books by some of the best dead writers ever.

The Brubury Tales is available in paperback and ebook formats at Amazon.

 

The Brubury Tales is an ambitious homage to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales. It takes Chaucer’s story and frame to Los Angeles just after the riots, where seven security guards on the graveyard shift swap tales in a hilarious storytelling competition for Christmas vacation time.

 

The Read at Moorpark College Featuring Frank Mundo

The Read – Poetry Event with Frank Mundo

Wed, 26 Feb 2014 17:30 PST

The Read @ Moorpark College: Open Mic Poetry and Fiction

Students, faculty, and members of the community are welcome to share their poems and stories.  Each event features a published author as our special guest.  This month we welcome the return of poet Frank Mundo!

February 26^th: Frank Mundo, author of The Brubury Tales.

Time: “The Read” begins at 5:30 pm.

Location: 3rd Floor of the Moorpark College Library.

Please help spread the word!

Location: 3rd Floor of the Moorpark College Library

Contact: Wade Bradford

Visit Moorpark College Website.

More books by Frank Mundo.

5 favorite coming-of-age books by Candi Sary

Five Favorite Books is a special feature at LA Books Examiner in which our favorite authors share their five favorite books within a category. In this edition, Los Angeles author Candi Sary discusses her five favorite Coming-of-Age Books. Candi is the author of Black Crow White Lie, an excellent coming-of-age novel set in Hollywood that releases on October 1 from Casperian Books. To learn more about Candi and her books, visit candisary.com.

Five Favorite Coming-of-Age Books by Candi Sary

#5: The Highest Tide by Jim Lynch
While reading The Highest Tide, Miles O’Mally felt more like a kid who lived somewhere in my life than just the narrator of this exceptional novel. The story looks at life through the eyes of the bright thirteen-year-old who spends most of his time on the mud flats of Skookumchuck Bay in Washington, collecting sea creatures for money, and paying close attention to life in the water. He’s a young scientist trying to understand the natural world, while also trying to make sense of friendships, his first crush, his parents’ separation, and his own unique identity. Miles comes up with profound ideas while observing sea life — just little bits of wisdom that stuck in my mind for days after reading the passages. The novel plays with the opposing perspectives of science and magic, at times giving the feeling that science is magic. This is a novel about the challenges of growing up, and yet the author does a wonderful job of pointing out the magic and the beauty along that difficult journey. There is something so special about this book that even after the story ended, its ideas continue to make me wonder.

#4: White Oleander by Janet Fitch
White Oleander made me fall in love with fiction all over again. It came along when I hadn’t read anything in a while that blew me away. Then I met Astrid and Ingrid. Ingrid, the poet/murderess, is the intriguing bohemian who kills her boyfriend and leaves her daughter to a life of foster care. Astrid is the daughter on a journey of self-discovery. She tries to make sense of the world through the variety of foster families she has to live with, as well as through her mother who still influences her from jail. The Los Angeles setting comes alive with the Santa Ana winds and the intense heat, and it gives a haunting quality to the story. This is a powerful novel with some of the most stunning sentences I’ve ever come across. The detail put into this book makes it so complete and thorough and a one-of-a-kind literary experience.

Read the rest of Candi Sary’s Five Favorite books at LA Books Examiner.

 

Purchase Black Crow White Lie by Candi Sary at Amazon.com or Casperian Books. Read the LA Books Examiner’s review of Black Crow White Lie.

Read more Five Favorite Books

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

Frank Mundo is the author of The Brubury Tales (foreword by Carolyn See) and Gary, the Four-Eyed Fairy and Other Stories.

Read Chapter One of One Last Thing Before I Go by Jonathan Tropper

If you haven’t read Jonathan Tropper’s books, you’re in for a wickedly funny treat. USA Today calls Tropper “a more sincere, insightful version of Nick Hornby, that other master of the male psyche,” and Entertainment Weekly exclaimed “It’s amazing what can happen in the hands of a casually brilliant author.”

An acclaimed screenwriter, Tropper has also written for Steven Spielberg and is currently writing a new Cinemax series, Banshee, that will debut in January. Tropper’s last novel, This Is Where I Leave You, was a phenomenal success named one of the best books of 2009 by NPR, Entertainment Weekly, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, and Amazon, among others.

One Last Thing Before I Go demonstrates yet again Tropper’s deft touch with the darkest of materials and his ability to make readers laugh out loud in one paragraph and move them to tears in the next. You can meet Jonathan Tropper on Tuesday night at The Grove in LA where he’ll be reading and signing from his new novel. In the meantime, take a few minutes to read the first chapter of One Last Thing Before I Go, which the author has generously shared with readers at LA Books Examiner below. Enjoy!

When: Tuesday August 28 @ 7 pm
Where: Barnes & Noble (The Grove)
189 Grove Drive Suite K-30 Los Angeles
Get directions

Learn more about Jonathan Tropper and his work at his website: jonathantropper.com

About the book:
You don’t have to look very hard at Drew Silver to see that mistakes have been made. His fleeting fame as the drummer for a one-hit wonder rock band is nearly a decade behind him. He lives in the Versailles, an apartment building filled almost exclusively with divorced men like him, and makes a living playing in wedding bands. His ex-wife, Denise, is about to marry a guy Silver can’t quite bring himself to hate. And his Princeton-bound teenage daughter Casey has just confided in him that she’s pregnant—because Silver is the one she cares least about letting down.

So when he learns that his heart requires emergency, lifesaving surgery, Silver makes the radical decision to refuse the operation, choosing instead to use what little time he has left to repair his relationship with Casey, become a better man, and live in the moment, even if that moment isn’t destined to last very long. As his exasperated family looks on, Silver grapples with the ultimate question of whether or not his own life is worth saving.

With the wedding looming and both Silver and Casey in crisis, this broken family struggles to come together, only to risk damaging each other even more. One Last Thing Before I Go is Jonathan Tropper at his funny, insightful, heartbreaking best.

Read Chapter On at Frank Mundo’s LA Books Examiner.

“Read Chapter One” is a special feature at Frank Mundo’s LA Books Examiner where authors, from emerging to bestsellers, share an excerpt of their newest books:

North of Hollywood by actor/playwright and local author Rick Lenz

The Sausage Maker’s Daughters by Los Angeles author A.G.S. Johnson

33 Days by LA author and former 80′s indie rocker Bill See

Girl in Translation, the bestselling debut novel by Jean Kwok

The Heights, the bestselling book by novelist, playwright, and filmmaker Peter Hedges

The Omega Theory by international bestselling author Mark Alpert

Fatal Error by bestselling author J.A. Jance

The Dark Side of Innocence by LA writer and bestselling author Terri Cheney

Golden State, the fresh and entertaining debut novel by local author David Prybil, Barnes and Noble Rising Star Award Winner

A Discovery of Witches by professor of history at the University of Southern California and bestselling author Deborah Harkness

The Meaning of Matthew by Judy Shepard, an activist and co-founder of the Matthew Shepard Foundation

The Ark, the bestselling Internet sensation by Boyd Morrison

The Insider by Reece Hirsch

Changes by Jim Butcher, bestselling author of The Dresden Files

Bicycle Diaries by David Byrne, former lead singer of The Talking Heads

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 (now available for Kindle and Nook). Don’t forget to subscribe to my emails and follow me on Twitter @LABooksExaminer for the latest updates.

The Brubury Tales on MP3…and the Bestsellers List

Earlier this year, I won a spoken word poetry contest at The Rapp Saloon in Santa Monica hosted by Don Kingfisher Campbell. The prize was time in the recording studio with producer Barry Schwam to record from my work.

Well, here it is, Selections from The Brubury Tales, which includes Five sections of The Brubury Tales read by me — about 45 minutes of material!

And I’m pleased to report that Selections from The Brubury Tales is still hanging in there at #88 (but falling quickly) on Amazon’s best selling spoken word poetry albums list (it reached #5 yesterday).

Download the MP3 now before it falls off for good

The Brubury Tales is a modern version of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in Los Angeles just after the 1992 riots. Also available in paperback and for kindle at Amazon.

Coming soon for Nook.

Gary, the Four-Eyed Fairy and Other Stories

Frank Mundo Reads from The Brubury Tales at Beyond Baroque Bookstore

Frank Mundo reads and signs The Brubury Tales, a modern version of Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales in Los Angeles, at Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center and Bookstore.

Date: June 15, Friday, 2012
Time: 7:30 PM

Beyond Baroque Literary Arts Center and Bookstore
681 Venice Bl. Venice, CA 90291
310-822-3006  Get directions
$7, $5 students, seniors & kids
www.beyondbaroque.org

About the Book
An ambitious homage to Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales, The Brubury Tales takes Chaucer’s story and frame to Los Angeles just after the riots, where seven security guards on the graveyard shift swap tales in a hilarious storytelling competition for Christmas vacation time. The tales themselves are “readable” updates of classic stories by Dostoevsky, Dickens, Boccaccio, O Henry, Poe, Twain, Gilman, Crane, Saki, Anderson, Bierce, and even Khayyam’s Rubaiyat.

The Brubury Tales, a bestselling Amazon.com poetry book in the UK, Germany, Italy and Spain, won a Poet Laureate Award nomination for UCLA and Berkeley, Reader Views 2011 Reviewers Choice Award for Poetry Book of the Year and the 2011 Bookhitch award for Most Innovative Poetry Book of the Year. The book has also won a Reason to Rhyme Award from Byline Magazine, was selected for Powell library’s month-long WORDS… exhibit, and an excerpt was published by Indiana University.

This unique novel-in-verse also contains a special foreword by California literary legend, Carolyn See, who says, “The Brubury Tales is a landmark book, in what is going to be — and already is — an exceptional, distinguished literary career.”

About the Author
Frank Mundo, the LA Books Examiner, is the author of The Brubury Tales and Gary, the Four-Eyed Fairy and Other Stories. Frank Mundo has been a writer and book reviewer in Los Angeles for almost 20 years, publishing hundreds of stories, poems, essays, book reviews and author interviews. Frank earned a BA in English from UCLA, where he completed the Creative Writing Program. Frank grew up in Los Angeles where he currently lives with his wife, Nancy, and their dogs, Jax and Rusty.

The Brubury Tales by Frank Mundo is available in paperback and eBook formats at Amazon and Barnes & Noble.

Language with Mike the Poet at The Last Bookstore

If you’re looking for a great way to beat the heat on Sunday afternoon, The Last Bookstore in Downtown Los Angeles is holding its monthly open mic event called Language With Mike The Poet.

When: Sunday, May 20th, 3 pm – 5 pm

Where: The Last Bookstore, 453 S. Spring Street in Downtown. 213.488.0599. Get Directions.

Who: Mike “The Poet” Sonksen is a 3rd-generation LA native acclaimed for poetry performances, published articles and legendary city tours. Poet, journalist, historian, tour guide, teacher, Sonksen graduated from U.C.L.A. and is the author of I Am Alive in Los Angeles, which is available on iTunes and has been added to the curriculum of several universities. Mike has performed his poetry coast to coast at college campuses, museums, bookstores, nightclubs and just about any venue you can imagine. See Mike The Poet in action on YouTube.

Featured poets for this month’s event are Traci Akemi and Gia Scott-Heron.

Traci Akemi is a multi-disciplinary artist, arts educator, community organizer and founder of the Tuesday Night Project. Author of a collection of poetry, Signaling (The Undeniables press), Traci tours universities, libraries and community events, presenting readings and workshops to diverse audiences, from performers to youth educators, high school students to senior citizens.

Gia Scott-Heron AKA “Miss Gia” has been writing songs and poetry since the age of 10. She began pursuing poetry full time after graduating with honors from Pitzer college in 2002. Miss Gia has performed at various venues, including Spreadin’ Love N Spoken Word, The World Stage, The Regent, ‘Da Poetry Lounge, Remedy, Reflections, Shades of Afrika, Green, and Natural High, to name a few. She has published books of poetry, including Introducing Me, Scott Free, and Contagias and produced an LP called Souletree, a compilation of 12 of her favorite poems set to music. Learn more about Miss Gia and her work at her website.

Other great Local poets, artists and performers scheduled to appear include: Armond Kinard, Joe Gardner, V. Lazaro Zamora, Allan Arnold Gamalinda Aquino, Cara Van Le, Irene Soriano, Edren Sumagaysay, Trevon Kelley, Jamal Carter, Forrest Wilson, Juan Bueno, Sho’ EslaBomba Kilson, Peter Woods, Jesse Bliss, Elena Secota, and me, Frank Mundo, your LA Books Examiner.

Get out of the house this weekend! Join Mike The Poet at The Last Bookstore for a great line-up of poetry and spoken-word performances from local writers and artists you don’t want to miss.

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

Cypress Park Branch Library featuring author Jim Marquez

On Friday, May 18th, Cypress Park Branch Library’s open mic event for writers and musicians returns with special guest Jim “The Beast” Marquez. Participation is open to everyone, and teens are especially encouraged to share their poetry, writings and music during the event.

What: Open mic featuring author Jim “The Beast” Marquez

When: Friday, May 18th 3:30 pm to 5 pm

Where: Cypress Park Library, 1150 Cypress Ave. Los Angeles. 323-224-0039. Driving Directions. Follow them on twitter @CypressParkLAPL

Born and raised in East Los Angeles and a graduate of ELAC and Cal State L.A., Jim Marquez, known as The Beast to his friends and fans, is the author of more than a dozen independent, LA-centric books, including East Los, Pieces Of L.A. and East L.A. Collage.

The Beast will be reading from his new book, Beastly Bus Tales, a collection of stories that represent the author’s Beastly style, described in a recent interview with Cypress Park Branch Library as:

“..Rough-going, but elegant, I think. And most foul. Very Sexy. Over the top. Naive. Scatter-brained. Loving. Lonely. Erratic, Pulsing. Electric. Intense. Moody. First person narrative but lately switching to third person. Unafraid. Honest. Stories about bars, booze, broads, sex, death, memory, dreams, passion, adventures in foreign lands, dealing with the humanity of sketchy environs, race, class struggle, art, identity.”

Signed copies will available for purchase at the end of the program. For more information on Jim “The Beast” Marquez, follow him on Facebook.

Please come out and support Cypress Park Branch Library and this important community event, meet Jim Marquez, share your stories, poetry and music, and encourage writing and reading for teens and adults in Los Angeles and everywhere.

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

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.