6 female authors to talk about writing
As Shakespeare famously said, all the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. The half-dozen women who will star at the Laguna Playhouse on Oct. 21 have chosen a particularly difficult part — one that flutters in and out of the spotlight, with no understudy and plenty of lines to master.
Still, when the spotlight does gleam and the audience sits rapt, all that toil becomes worthwhile.
For the third straight year, the Playhouse Women, a support group formed in 2007, is hosting an authors event to raise funds for the playhouse. The theater rounded up a group of authors from the “Orange County Noir” fiction anthology in 2011 and netted novelist Dean Koontz last year.
This time, moderator Barbara DeMarco-Barrett will join five other authors — Gayle Brandeis, Mary Castillo, Alison Singh Gee, Jo-Ann Mapson and Tatjana Soli — in a discussion of the literary life. The event, titled “Memorable Conversations with Six Celebrated Authors,” features hors d’oeuvres from Muldoon’s Irish Pub along with a book signing.
“We are looking forward to everybody coming and seeing six wonderful writers from our community,” said Ilona Martin, a member of the Playhouse Women and one of the event’s organizers.
With six diverse authors onstage, there ought to be plenty of inspiration for visiting writers. And for a preview, the “Memorable Conversations” team consented to filling out a questionnaire for the Coastline Pilot. Here’s the breakdown on each of the headliners:
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Gayle Brandeis
City of residence: Riverside
Genres: Fiction, essays, poetry, memoir
Titles you may have read: “The Book of Dead Birds,” “My Life with the Lincolns,” “Fruitflesh: Seeds of Inspiration for Women Who Write”
You may have also seen her: Teaching in the master of fine arts in Creative Writing program at Antioch University and serving a current two-year appointment as Inlandia Literary Laureate.
Top advice for starting writers: “Stay open — your senses, your mind, your heart. It’s how inspiration gets in. Get out of your own way.”
Least favorite question to be asked about writing: “I honestly don’t have a least favorite question about writing other than maybe, ‘How much money do you make as a writer?’ because the answer is depressing to both me and the one asking.”
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Mary Castillo
City of residence: Newport Beach
Genres: Mystery (paranormal and otherwise) and romantic comedy
Titles you may have read: “Girl in the Mist,” “Lost in the Light,” “Hot Tamara”
You may have also seen her: Doing public relations for The Lab Antimall and The Camp, alternative malls in Costa Mesa, among clients.
Top advice for starting writers: “Write! Too many people tell me how much they want to write a book, but they’re not writing. Pablo Picasso has been quoted, ‘Inspiration exists, but it has to find you working.’ The same principle applies to writing.”
Least favorite question to be asked about writing: “I don’t like being asked how much money I make. Perhaps because I don’t make a lot!”
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Barbara DeMarco-Barrett
City of residence: Newport Beach
Genres: Memoir, fiction
Titles you may have read: “Pen on Fire: A Busy Woman’s Guide to Igniting the Writer Within,” short story in “Orange County Noir”
You may also have seen her: Hosting the weekly “Writers on Writing” program on KUCI-FM and the monthly “Pen on Fire” speakers series at the Scape Gallery in Corona del Mar.
Top advice for starting writers: “If it feels difficult, you’re doing it right.”
Least favorite question to be asked about writing: “Where do you get your ideas?”
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Alison Singh Gee
City of residence: South Pasadena
Genres: Memoir, creative nonfiction
Titles you may have read: “Where the Peacocks Sing: A Palace, a Prince, and the Search for Home,” plus articles in People, Vanity Fair and elsewhere
You may have also seen her: Teaching in the Creative Nonfiction program at UCLA Extension.
Top advice for starting writers: “It’s all about writing one scene at a time. Enroll in a class with a great teacher, or find a terrific group of writing friends, and write out your story one hot moment at a time. Never listen to those who say you cannot write your story.”
Least favorite question to be asked about writing: “Why did it take you so long to write your book? Or, when you sell a book, how long before you become a millionaire?”
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Jo-Ann Mapson
City of residence: Santa Fe, N. Mex.
Genre: Women’s fiction (“also for very smart men”)
Titles you may have read: “Hank & Chloe,” “Blue Rodeo,” “Solomon’s Oak”
You may have also seen her: Teaching fiction in the University of Alaska’s low-residency master of fine arts creative writing program.
Top advice for starting writers: “Read a lot and widely. Develop ‘working hours’ and stick to them. Your first, last and always audience is yourself.”
Least favorite question to be asked about writing: “Whether I work on a computer or write in long hand.”
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Tatjana Soli
City of residence: Tustin
Genre: Literary fiction
Titles you may have read: “The Lotus Eaters,” “The Forgetting Tree”
You may have also seen her: Walking her dog, who “refuses to take no for an answer.”
Top advice for starting writers: “Follow your heart always.”
Least favorite question to be asked about writing: “Pen or pencil? Though that’s pretty dated now. PC or Apple?”
If You Go
What: “Memorable Conversations with Six Celebrated Authors”
Where: Laguna Playhouse, 606 Laguna Canyon Road, Laguna Beach
When: 5:30 to 8 p.m. Oct. 21
Cost: $55 per person; for Playhouse Women members, $45 per person
Information: (949) 497-2787, Ext. 1, or https://www.lagunaplayhouse.com