ALL BOOKED UP – It”s a busy month for Island Books, where four book signings by local authors will be taking place
Published 6:57 pm Monday, November 24, 2008
By DeAnn Rossetti
`Hidden Impact’ by Charles Neff
Hidden Impact,” a suspenseful thriller, is the story of Jim Nordberg, a former Peace Corps worker who returns to Nicaragua for a visit, only to discover that a diary of notes taken during the secret meetings of government officials, who supported the Contras, has surfaced. Since he knows where it is, Nordberg becomes a target, along with native Luci Fuentes, of those determined to get their hands on the document at any cost.
Charles Neff, the son of children’s novelist Pricilla Holton-Neff, has spent his life traveling the globe with various university international studies programs. He developed a small business training program in Russia, on the coast that faces Alaska, for the University of Alaska before retiring three years ago. Neff speaks four languages and has had professional involvement in 19 countries, so it’s not surprising that he found the political ramifications of the Iran-Contra hearings fascinating.
“It occurred to me that the real facts of that case have only partially come to light,” said Neff. “I thought, what if someone took notes during the secret meetings, and what if they were stolen and appeared again?” Neff said he wrote “Hidden Impact” in four months in 2001, and then spent the next one and a half years revising his manuscript. He published the novel with a print-on-demand publisher, Booksurge. Neff has written two other books, one on cross-cultural learning and the other on presidential searches, but calls this his first true novel. He is also revising a political thriller with contemporary political relevance and working on an idea for a third novel that involves a caper with a violin.
When he’s not writing, Neff plays the coronet with a keyboardist at the Corner Inn on Tuesday and Saturday evenings, and sings with the Bellevue Chamber Chorus. He will be signing his book, “Hidden Impact,” at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 26, at Island Books.
`Tofu Now,’ by Susan Lebow
Singer, songwriter, clothing designer, jeweler and author, Susan Lebow has led a very interesting life. She moved to Mercer Island from Seattle in the third grade and graduated from Mercer Island High in 1966. After several semesters at Seattle Community College, she went “exploring in the world” and became a feminist and anti-war activist. She recognized women’s rights as part of the civil rights movement and became involved with the National Organization for Women (NOW), in the late ’70s and early ’80s. Lebow worked her way up in NOW, from secretary/treasurer to president of the Seattle chapter last year. She met and married her husband, a musician, 33 years ago and spent many years traveling with various musical groups and writing editorials, book reviews and poetry as a freelance writer.
Lebow said that she and her husband, both being vegetarians, were always looking for good vegetarian recipes for themselves but also ones for non-vegetarians who want soy in their diet.
“I began to write down a number of recipes when I started to cook with lots of tofu,” she said. “I was making things just like my mom used to make, except I was making them with tofu.”
Once she had the recipes down, it took Lebow four months to actually write up the cookbook. It contains helpful information on how to purchase and store tofu, followed by chapters on American, Italian, Asian and Mexican cuisine, and soups and stews.
“This is a cookbook for those who want some tofu in their diet, but who aren’t vegetarians or gourmets, and never want to be,” she said. “These are good, basic, everyday recipes that are tasty and healthy.”
Lebow ran into Olga Vives, the vice president of NOW, and told her that she’d written a cookbook, and was hoping that NOW would publish it and take 40 percent of the profits. Vives agreed, and had it published and printed via the oldest women-owned union printing shop in Seattle, using soy ink.
“All the recipes in the book are fast and most are easy,” she said. “I looked at other cookbooks and decided I wanted one that had delicious food that’s not too strange and that doesn’t take a long time to make, which is what everyone wants today.”
Lebow also said she wrote the book for the average person who has just purchased some tofu and wants to know what to do with it. “After you try a couple of recipes, you’ll see how versatile tofu is and you’ll be able to make up your own recipes … my book totally demystifies tofu.” Of the 50 recipes in the book, Lebow said “Richard’s Favorite Tofu” is her own favorite, because it’s tofu that can be eaten hot or cold, over noodles or in sandwiches. Lebow is currently working to find a publisher for her first novel, which took her 10 years to write. Her mentor, Island resident Connie Beals who helped her with the cookbook, is counseling her with her novel as well. The novel, called “Another Way Home” takes place on Mercer Island from 1966 through 1983 and is about “waking up.”
Susan Lebow will be signing her book, “Tofu Now” at 7 p.m. on Friday, January 28 at Island Books.
Accidental Happiness, by Jean Reynolds Page
Jean Reynolds Pages second novel is the story of Gina, a young widow who has moved out of the house and onto a sailboat, and is accosted at one point by her husband Ben’s ex-wife, Reese, and her seven year old daughter Angel. There is some question as to whether Angel is Ben’s daughter, and there is a natural conflict between Reese and Gina, who end up helping one another. “It’s clear that Reese has a lot of secrets and a past that ties in with Ben,” said Page. “These are things Gina didn’t know about that come out, so Gina not only has to confront a Ben she never knew, she has to confront her grief in losing him, which is something she’d been trying not to do.”
Page began developing “Accidental Happiness” in March of 2004, and then had to put it on hold because of the book tour for her first book, “A Blessed Event.”
“It’s impossible to work on a new narrative while you’re in a deep relationship with an old book,” said Page. “But my editor was pregnant and due in June, so I had to have the first draft of this book done before June. This book (was written) much more quickly than the other one.”
Page, who has lived on Mercer Island for two years with her husband, Richard Page, the head of cardiology at the University of Washington Medical Center, and their three children, said that she was concerned that her life had begun to mirror that of her character Reese. “Angel, the little girl, has to deal with a relatively unstable, bohemian mother and I was afraid that for the three months I was intensely working on this book that my children’s lives were paralleling hers.”
Page is currently pulling together ideas for another book, but is also looking forward to taking some time off to read and sail in the family sailboat. “I love books, especially before I start to read them, because it know it could be wonderful to experience that new world,” she said. “That’s the clutter around my house; stacks of books.” Page, who is of no relation to Roger Page of Island Books, said that she believes people will come away from her novel with a hopeful message. “The central theme here is about being able to move away from grief and reinvent a new, hopeful life,” she said. “I realized that I’m dealing again with two very different women who are able to fill in the gaps for each other to get to a better place in their lives (just as she did in “A Blessed Event”). Sometimes I think I am trying to reconcile two different aspects of my own character through my book characters.”
Jean Reynolds Page will be signing “Accidental Happiness” at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 29 at Island Books.
In addition to these authors, Island author Thelma Ritchie will be signing her book, “Terra Nova: Settling the Red Planet” at Island Books at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 25.
“All the recipes in the book are fast and most are easy,” she said. “I looked at other cookbooks and decided I wanted one that had delicious food that’s not too strange and that doesn’t take a long time to make, which is what everyone wants today.”
Lebow also said she wrote the book for the average person who has just purchased some tofu and wants to know what to do with it. “After you try a couple of recipes, you’ll see how versatile tofu is and you’ll be able to make up your own recipes … My book totally demystifies tofu.” Of the 50 recipes in the book, Lebow said “Richard’s Favorite Tofu” is her own favorite, because it’s tofu that can be eaten hot or cold, over noodles or in sandwiches.
Lebow is currently working to find a publisher for her first novel, which took her 10 years to write. Her mentor, Island resident Connie Beals, who helped her with the cookbook, is counseling her on her novel as well. The novel, called “Another Way Home” takes place on Mercer Island from 1966 through 1983 and is about “waking up.”
Susan Lebow will be signing her book, “Tofu Now” at 7 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 28, at Island Books.
`Accidental Happiness,’ by Jean Reynolds Page
Jean Reynolds Page’s second novel is the story of Gina, a young widow who has moved out of the house and onto a sailboat, and is accosted at one point by her husband Ben’s ex-wife, Reese and her 7-year-old daughter Angel. There is some question as to whether Angel is Ben’s daughter, and there is a natural conflict between Reese and Gina, who end up helping one another.
“It’s clear that Reese has a lot of secrets and a past that ties in with Ben,” said Page. “These are things Gina didn’t know about that come out, so Gina not only has to confront a Ben she never knew, she has to confront her grief in losing him, which is something she’d been trying not to do.”
Page began developing “Accidental Happiness” in March of 2004, and then had to put it on hold because of the book tour for her first book, “A Blessed Event.”
“It’s impossible to work on a new narrative while you’re in a deep relationship with an old book,” said Page. “But my editor was pregnant and due in June, so I had to have the first draft of this book done before June. This book (was written) much more quickly than the other one.”
Page has lived on Mercer Island for two years with her husband, Richard Page, the head of cardiology at the University of Washington Medical Center, and their three children. She said that she was concerned that her life had begun to mirror that of her character Reese. “Angel, the little girl, has to deal with a relatively unstable, bohemian mother and I was afraid that for the three months I was intensely working on this book, that my children’s lives were paralleling hers.”
Page is currently pulling together ideas for another book, but is also looking forward to taking some time off to read and sail the family sailboat. “I love books, especially before I start to read them, because I know it could be wonderful to experience that new world,” she said. “That’s the clutter around my house; stacks of books.”
Page said that she believes people will come away from her novel with a hopeful message.
“The central theme here is about being able to move away from grief and reinvent a new, hopeful life,” she said. “I realized that I’m dealing again with two very different women who are able to fill in the gaps for each other to get to a better place in their lives. Sometimes I think I am trying to reconcile two different aspects of my own character through my book characters.”
Jean Reynolds Page will sign “Accidental Happiness” at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 29, at Island Books.
`Terra Nova: Settling the Red Planet,’ by Thelma Ritchie
In addition to these authors, Island author and teacher Thelma Ritchie will sign her book, “Terra Nova: Settling the Red Planet” at Island Books at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 25.
