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MWP contact information:

Manzanita Writers Press

325 Lewis Avenue (by appt only), PO Box 215, San Andreas, CA 95249 –

Email: manzanitawp@gmail.com

Phone: 209-728-6117

New authors and books!

Judy Creighton’s new book, Cheese Loves Wine – a wine-pairing guide with recipes and historical information about cheeses.

Michele Rugo’s children’s book, Farmers Market: Share the Joy!

Inspire your children to grow their own food and participate in farmers markets to know where their food comes from.

Doug Alberts’ book of poems and stories, Love Simply.

Kevin Arnold

Do Not Think Badly of Me

In this far-reaching poetry collection, Kevin Arnold explores the intricacies of relationships, enhancing his observations with reflections on the little things in life.

The book begins with the journey of his wife’s descent into Alzheimer’s with all the struggles and revelations involved. The collection’s title is from a letter written by Alois Alzheimer, who, in response to being asked where she was ‘right now,’ responded, “Here and everywhere, here and now, you must not think badly of me.”

These poems move well beyond Alzheimer’s to reflect with vision and clarity on episodes he has shared with his children, teachers, students and lovers. The poems provide glimpses into urban, suburban and rural experiences, often accentuating his appreciation and respect for nature and the environment.

His poetry has been widely published in numerous literary journals. Kevin has previously published a chapbook, Nineteen Poems around a Divorce. His award-winning novel, The Sureness of Horses, was published in 2018.

Linda Toren – Raven Braids the Wind – Haiku: A Life in Syllables

A moving collection of haiku poetry that is at once a reflection on nature, diary of days, and exploration of life during the second year of the Covid pandemic.

Raven Braids the Wind started with a simple assignment in elementary school—write a haiku. That first haiku—Lonely people live/within themselves like dusty/books upon a shelf—is, a senryu (a haiku poem focused on personal reflection or comment about the self or world). Thousands of haiku later, this poetic form has become a daily journey in which the author explores and translates the natural world and the inner world of introspection. Whether or not you write haiku, you will be able to appreciate their accessibility and simplicity and find yourself opening doors and windows to companionable thoughts and feelings.

Cate Culver – The Untold History of Sonora Pass and Its People: 1860 – 1960.

Thomas White – Soldier By Chance: Memories of Vietnam

Mother Lode Voices – Volume 3 – A California Anthology

Monika Rose – Bed Bumps – a children’s book, easy reader grades pre-K, K-3.

Purchase Monika’s new children’s book for early readers!

It’s fun and educational, with learning prompts and activities at the back to stimulate recall and understanding of the text.

Available now!

Sneak peek inside!

Visit the store to buy books or purchase tickets to events, classes, and workshops. 

New books from Manzanita Writer Press! 

Cate Culver – The Untold History of Sonora Pass and Its People: 1860-1960

Thomas White – Soldier By Chance: Memories of Vietnam

Mother Lode Voices – A Calaveras Anthology – Volume 3

Stephen Finlay Archer – Revolution: The Irish Clans – Book Five in the Series – ON AMAZON – and forthcoming here in April!

Stephen Finlay Archer – McCarthy Gold: The Irish Clans – Book Four in the Series

Stephen Finlay Archer – The Rising: The Irish Clans – Book Three in the Series

Stephen Finlay Archer – Entente: The Irish Clans – Book Two in the Series

Stephen Finlay Archer – Searchers: The Irish Clans – Book One in the Series

Out of the Fire, a collection of stories, poems, photography from over 50 contributors who experienced the 2015 Butte Fire that devastated the western section of Calaveras County. In the aftermath, poignant stories that help heal and provide hope for anyone experiencing such a shock to the community.

Don Urbanus – Darn Weeds!

Stephen Finlay Archer’s second novel in his series, The Irish Clans, titled Entente. 

The mysteries of an ancient Clans pact deepen beneath the horrors of WWI as Irish Rebels march toward revolution in Book Two: Entente.

Irish Rebels strive for an entente (alliance) with Germany, facilitated by Irish patriot Sir Roger Casement in Germany, to support the Irish Revolution starting with the 1916 Easter Rising. This culminates with the attempted delivery of weapons from Germany to the rebels just before the outbreak of rebellion in Ireland. Will that be successful thereby facilitating the revolt?

Irish Republican Tadgh McCarthy, and his companion Morgan, fight for life, love, freedom, and moral truth in the trenches of Belgium. After that ordeal one of adversarial pieces of the puzzle of the Clans pact is revealed at great risk to them both, although the complexity of its mysteries still confounds our heroes.

Irish-Canadian Collin O’Donnell agonizes over whether his sister Claire is still alive and in peril in Ireland, while struggling to honor his young marriage with Kathy in North America, during and immediately following the birth of their first child. What will he do when faced with the perceived need to take immediate action?

The Irish Clans is an epic saga of five novels immersed in the tumultuous Irish revolutionary period of 1915 through 1923 while the world is embroiled in the Great War to end all wars, and its aftermath. The McCarthy and O’Donnell Clans, once mighty, were overthrown, but are not extinct. They are linked on two continents by a crafty medieval pact, entwined in religious and military history and mythology and using Clan relics, and waiting for Divine intervention to be revealed when the Gaelic heritage is ripe for its second coming. This is an intriguing story of patriotism and passion.

The search is on for wealth, honor, passion and freedom in Book One: Searchers.

This is the first novel in a five-book saga, published in March 2016 that begins with a travesty at sea necessitating searches for life’s true treasures, both in 1915 Ireland, when the funeral of O’Donovan Rossa affords a golden opportunity to fan the flames of revolution, and in America, for transplanted Irish families connected to the world of the Irish Clans. Three characters are guided by Divine synchronicity and grapple with destiny —

Claire, a spunky young Irish woman, adrift with amnesia off the coast of southern Ireland and near death, may unwittingly be the key to unlocking an ancient Clans pact treasure mystery. What are her secrets locked in a mind trying to shut out her tortured past? Has she lost, and will she find love in a not-so-strange land?

Tadgh McCarthy, a young Irish rebel sea captain, confronted by a calamity at sea, makes a life and death decision that will reinvent his future — to carry out his predestined mission in the revolution and to validate his birthright as Clan Chieftain. Will it change his loveless life forever?

Collin O’Donnell, a beleaguered young Irish-Canadian, riddled with guilt over the death of his parents and abduction of his sister Claire, must make a crucial decision that may  cost him the love of his life, Kathy. Together they search his past life to find what happened to Claire, at great peril to them both, starting near the dangerous Navy Yard area in Brooklyn.

Kevin Arnold – The Sureness of Horses

Set in Palo Alto, California, this softcover literary romance novel blends a transplanted Texas woman’s world of equestrian foxhunts and jumping with a man’s passion for writing modern poetry, hurling these two unlikely lovers into clashing worlds and sensibilities. Add in Wayne Middleton’s regrets in letting down his friend and lusting after the man’s wife. It seems as if his life continues to spiral downhill, while the love of his life tries to include him in her world of horses, and he wants to lose himself in this new, enticing pull of the ride.This new novel intertwines the world of Silicon Valley equestrian jumping and foxhunting with poetry meant to woo a sophisticated Texan woman relocating to Palo Alto, one who is not quite willing to give up her connection to her powerful, wealthy husband just yet. Couple that with Wades’ guilt over having the hots for his best friend’s wife while feeling helpless in his inability to help his friend keep his job. Trouble ensues when Wade’s new ladylove rejects his poetry group that she perceives as being sordid and seedy, and he broods over the rejection. Poetry and horses and romance–a perfect combination.

Voices on the Wind

Voices of Wisdom

Stephen Finlay Archer’s newest book in the Irish Clans series:

Book 4  – McCarthy Gold

Book 3 Rising

Order Stephen Archer’s new book, the second in the Irish Clans series. The third book, The Rising, is now released to the public.

Stephen Archer’s second book in the Irish Clans series, Entente, was released June 18 at 5:30 at the Fireside Room in Greenhorn Creek at Camps Restaurant. It was a success and many came away with a better understanding of Ireland’s involvement in World War I.

Featured author: Stephen Finlay Archer

SearchersSearchers:
The Irish Clans

Book One in the Series
By Stephen Finlay Archer               
Order this book online now!    

The Irish Clans is an epic saga of four novels immersed in the tumultuous Irish revolutionary period of 1915 through 1923 while the world is embroiled in the Great War to end all wars, and its aftermath. The McCarthy and O’Donnell Clans, once mighty, were overthrown, but are not extinct. They are linked on two continents by a crafty medieval pact, entiwined in religious and military history, utilizing Clan relics steeped in mythology. this hidden pact and its secrets can only be revealed to the Clans by Divine intervention when the Gaelic heritage is ripe for its second coming.

Don Urbanus – Darn Weeds!

DARN WEEDS!

CRAZY TALES FROM YOUR LOCAL NURSERY

Jim Fletcher, “official storyteller of Calaveras County,” photographed with a bronze statue of Mark Twain at Camps Restaurant in Angels Camp, Calif., where he gives a weekly presentation on Twain’s “88 Days in the Mother Lode.”

Don Urbanus releases Darn Weeds! Crazy Tales of a Nurseryman

Char Gruendl, Editor/compiler-  Part of Me – Journal Excerpts by Leslie Tepper Gruendl

Kevin Arnold’s The Sureness of Horses

s.

A novel about equestrian jumping and an unlikely romance that blossoms between a poet and a foxhunting equestrian. Out of his league, sales rep and avid poet Wade enters a posh world of horses and foxhunting as a whirlwind romance spins out of control, saddling two lovers with an attraction neither understands. As Wade wrestles his own demons, reining in a desire for a best friend’s flirtatious wife, a looming tragedy threatens his clashing worlds.

Set in the Silicon Valley and Palo Alto proper, the novel depicts a world of the equestrian foxhunt and incorporates Palo Alto locations that many in the Bay Area will recognize.  Poetry and horses mingle in this unlikely romance between two people who meet by chance and explore the sureness of horses.

You can also find your copy on Amazon as an eBook, paperback, and soon, in hardcover.

What people are saying about Kevin’s new novel:

“Lyrical, compelling, absolutely riveting. Arnold had me hooked from page one.”

—Sara Houghteling, Fulbright fellow, Winner of the 2016 Narrative Prize and author of the award-winning novel Pictures at an Exhibition

 

“Unassuming Midwesterner Wade Middleton and wealthy, sophisticated Diana Buchanan are brought together by chance, newcomers in the swank confines of Palo Alto, California: “The Sureness of Horses” explores the various levels of that town’s mysterious, evolving class-system ladder—and on those quiet streets discovers violence where sexual passion and career ambition chafe. In the purest, most empathetic narrative tones, Kevin Arnold charts the forking paths of a moral wilderness in a society of ambitions achieved, ambitions pursued, and ambitions thwarted.”

—Louis B. Jones, Fiction co-Director, Squaw Valley Community of Writers and author of five prizewinning novels

“When Diana introduced Wade to riding to hounds, I couldn’t put the book down. Foxhunting was one of George Washington’s greatest passions, and these action-packed scenes ground Kevin’s novel in a rich American tradition. They remind me why I’ve devoted myself and my family to Foxhunting for nearly thirty years.”

—Melinda K. Baxter, Master of Foxhounds, MFHA

“Kevin Arnold’s new novel touches the raw places that are the material of our human lives. In The Sureness of Horses, Arnold moves us through the subtlety and texture of poetry, love, parenting, growing older, and yes, the uncertainty of our own sureness. It’s a humble novel that speaks volumes.”

—Persis Karim, Neda Nobari Chair of the Center for Iranian Diaspora Studies, San Francisco State University

“What stood out for me was the artful blending of poetry into a muscular, well-plotted novel. The title is taken from a Jane Hirshfield poem, emphasizing aptly Arnold’s twin skills as poet and storyteller. It’s the rare novelist who can enhance a narrative—and move a reader—with the use of poems that amplify the story’s arc. Arnold is one of those very fortunate writers.”

—Julia Glass, author of the National Book Award-winning Three Junes and A House Among the Trees.

AND a New poetry collection by Mary Stewart Anthony!

Golden Chrysalis: Wings for the Soul

Mary Stewart Anthony, author of Love Song of a Flower Child, a memoir that received a fivestar review from San Francisco Book Review, presents her first collection of poetry written over a period of some twenty-five years. Her poems showcase the landscape of a mystical odyssey in which she connects penetrating observations of the natural world with portents of the spiritual realm. She digs deep to find the greater purpose and meaning of human existence and champions the preservation of the individual soul against the shallow mechanisms of Modernity.

What people are saying about Golden Chrysalis: Wings for the Soul

Rediscover your love of poetry in Golden Chrysalis: Wings for the Soul. With tenderness and wit, Mary Anthony trains her poet’s eye on the rich landscapes of our inner selves, connecting our earthiest experiences to a sublime purpose. A liberal dose of life-affirming language to refresh parched hearts.

― Sydney Avey, author of The Sheepwalker’s Daughter and

The Lyre and the Lamb

 

Golden Chrysalis: Wings for the Soul is filled with astounding imagery. The descriptive language takes my breath away. Some are parables depicting a tug-of-war between good and evil. In “Pilgrimage,” Anthony says that “Each pilgrim carves a path of faith and/Leaves it for another who will follow.” What a legacy to leave behind. I want to linger in silence, like the flower in “Ephrata” that “trembles under liquid light” as my spirit trembles under the beauty of words that heal the soul .”

― Denella Kimura, Poet, Waiting for Wings: A Child’s Journey

 

Golden Chrysalis, Wings for the Soul is a book of transitions, of moving and evolving from one feeling, one consciousness, one reality to another. The medium of movement symbolically is the chrysalis, but in her rich poetic reality, the transformative vehicles are nature, love, sympathy, and faith. In many ways, these poems are imaginative homilies, sometimes rhymed, sometimes rhythmically moving, always earnest explorations of our place in a dynamic universe where changes happen beyond our control and challengingly, beautifully within our control. Mary Anthony’s poems give our minds wings to see realities and imagine transformative possibilities.

― Dan Harder, author of Askew: Found and Lost in the Almost

South of France

A collection of poetry written over a period of twenty-five years showcasing the landscape of a mystical odyssey in which the poet, Mary Stewart Anthony, connects the natural world with portents of the spiritual realm. She explores human existence and champions the preservation of the individual soul against the shallow mechanisms of Modernity.

Out of the Fire  still available! Get your copies now while the first edition is out. Limited supply of first edition books. We have approximately 35 left. Next printing coming summer 2018.

Available at Manzanita Arts Emporium for $20.00 each. Call to reserve your copies. Or order yours online.

Order Stephen Archer’s new book, the second in the Irish Clans series. The third book, The Rising, is now released to the public.

Stephen Archer’s second book in the Irish Clans series, Entente, was released June 18 at 5:30 at the Fireside Room in Greenhorn Creek at Camps Restaurant. It was a success and many came away with a better understanding of Ireland’s involvement in World War I.

Featured author: Stephen Finlay Archer

SearchersSearchers:
The Irish Clans

Book One in the Series
By Stephen Finlay Archer               
Order this book online now!    

The Irish Clans is an epic saga of four novels immersed in the tumultuous Irish revolutionary period of 1915 through 1923 while the world is embroiled in the Great War to end all wars, and its aftermath. The McCarthy and O’Donnell Clans, once mighty, were overthrown, but are not extinct. They are linked on two continents by a crafty medieval pact, entiwined in religious and military history, utilizing Clan relics steeped in mythology. this hidden pact and its secrets can only be revealed to the Clans by Divine intervention when the Gaelic heritage is ripe for its second coming.

Buy the book today!

              


By Glenn Wasson     
$25.00 Buy the book

Too Much To Swallow
The Gold Gastrolith of
Calaveras County &
Selected Works

By Glenn Wasson
$25.00
Hardcover

 MT88Days

Mark Twain’s 88 Days
In The Mother Lode
& Stories of the Gold Rush

By James Fletcher
$20.00   Buy now!

Tales Mark Twain Would Have Loved To Steal

By Glenn Wasson  – Buy now!

StoriesMTSteal, Wasson                            
Copper Dawn, Self

Copper Dawn
Poems & Short Essays   18.95
By Dave Self  – Purchase at Manzanita Arts Emporium

Chance    

Chance: A Jockey’s Odyssey

By Franklin Ted Laskin
$21.99  Buy the book

George A, Laskin

George A. Custer,
Please Come To The Courtesy Phone
By Franklin Ted Laskin
$18.95  Buy the book!

WineCheeseChocolate

A Taste Of Literary Elegance
WINE, CHEESE & CHOCOLATE
An Anthology of Poetry, Prose, Photography and Art
$20.00  Buy the book

RiverByGlass

River By The Glass
A Collection of Poems

By Monika Rose
$21.95  Buy the book

Wild Edges, V6

Wild Edges
MANZANITA, Volume 6
Poetry and Prose of the Mother Lode and Sierras
$15.00
  Buy the book

MANZANITA, Volume 5

Poetry and Prose of the
Mother Lode and Sierras
$15.00
  Buy the book!



MANZANITA, Volume 4
Poetry and Prose of the
Mother Lode and Sierras
$15.00
   Buy the book!

 

Glenn Wasson

Jim Fletcher

Ted Laskin

Dave Self

Monika Rose

Interview with Monika Rose

Stephen Finlay Archer

Affiliate Authors

Antoinette May – Pilate’s Wife, The Determined Heart, The Sacred Well

Getty Ambau – Desta series, Health books – author from Ethiopia, in the US most of his life – educated at Yale as a microbiologist.

Denella Kimura

Amy Smith

Cynthia Restivo

Sy Baldwin

Shelley Muniz

Scott Thomas Anderson