Thirsty for a Good Read from the American West? Introducing Quench Book Blog




Quench Book Blog:
Satisfying Your Thirst for West Coast Literature
(Awesomely amateur photo credit: The Quench Wench Carrie Keyes)

  Sometimes life offers you a seed. If you plant it--nourish it--it might develop and bear fruit. Last year, eCoronado offered me a fantastic opportunity--to interview and review Laura McNeal's young adult novel Dark Water, a moving story about a young girl's love for a migrant worker. The locally relevant story/author was nominated for a National Book Award.

Since that time, I've received inquiries from a few publicists, asking whether I might be interested in reviewing their clients' books in advance of the official publishing date. A true honor.

As a result, I've just launched Quench Book Blog, designed to satisfy your thirst for the hottest books and authors in the American West. Quench strives to help promote "left coast" literary talent with reviews, interviews, and more.

Now, I'm immersed in former California Book Award winner Tom McNeal's highly anticipated To Be Sung Underwater, available in June of 2011. Tom is also a former O.Henry Prize winner, and I'm honored to read his work. My review of Tom's novel will be featured on Quench soon.


Quench Book Blog
(Awesomely amateur photo credit: The Quench Wench Carrie Keyes)

If you like to keep up to date with upcoming titles inspired by and/or written in the American West, visit Quench Book Blog. There, you can subscribe by email or feed, follow it on Google, or whatever, um... whets your whistle.

Pencil in Paradise will continue to offer light and quirky lifestyle content. I'll also continue to write freelance articles for Coronado Patch, sandiego.com, and the Coronado Yacht Club. Soon, I'll also be uploading reviews onto Amazon, Library Thing, and possibly Technorati Blog Critics (Books).

Thank you, loyal readers, eCoronado and the McNeals, for helping me plant a literary seed. Reading and responding to literature will surely inspire me to grow my own juicy novel someday.

Now, back to the beach chair. I've got a lot of reading to do!