I’m still floating from our LitFest in the Dena panel on May 4, 2024. Gracias to The Irresponsible Reader for letting me guest post and talk about the panelists.
H.C. Newton is a guy with a hobby that’s gotten out of control. He reads widely and voraciously, with little discipline, and then he writes about it. He covers a wide spectrum–mysteries, urban fantasy, science fiction, fantasy, chick lit, lad lit, Westerns, and Romances. He’s on sick leave right now and offered me a chance to write about the books written by my dream panel at Litfest in the Dena.
When I pitched H.C. this idea for a guest post he replied, “There’s more to So Cal than the beach??” I understand where he was coming from. When my family moved to Southern California from North Carolina in the late 1960s, we’d heard the Beach Boys on the radio and seen the Gidget movies but we were shocked to learn that not everyone lived on the beach. We landed first in Reseda in the San Fernando Valley and then in Fountain Valley in Orange County. We couldn’t see the ocean and we were confused. I’ve lived in Huntington Beach for almost 30 years now and I’m still a bit confused by Southern California. So that’s what I write about.
My two novels have been inspired by so many wonderful California authors including the five on this list–Carribean Fragoza, Dana Johnson, Lou Mathews, Victoria Patterson, and Mike Sonken. Their short story collections, novels, essays and poetry are set in a wide variety of Southern California neighborhoods spanning all of Southern California—from Orange County to the San Gabriel Valley, from North Long Beach to Pasadena, and from South El Monte to Beachwood Canyon right underneath the Hollywood sign.
Read the full post here.
Here’s to Reading Irresponsibly!