In conversation with Jasmin Iolani Hakes, HULA, at Capital Books
Friday, 5/19 at 6:30, I'll be in conversation with Jasmin Iolani Hakes at Capital Books about her WONDERFUL debut novel, [...]
Book release party at Bogle Winery
Tuesday, June 28, 2022, 6:30-8:30 Pacific. You're invited to help me celebrate TOMBOY’s publication day at Bogle Winery with wine and heavy [...]
Tomboy–Chapter One
As a sneak preview of Tomboy, publishing June 28, 2022, enjoy the first chapter here. CHAPTER ONE Monday, June 26, [...]
Start Jane Benjamin’s adventure with Copy Boy–free upload
I loved Mona's cranky, disgruntled humor in Elizabeth Gonzalez James's debut novel, MONA AT SEA. That's why I was so [...]
Mustn’t let adults know
I used to run The Banned Book Club for teenagers. We only read books that had been banned by libraries [...]
Interviews are dangerous
It's like I'm a sophomore. It's fascinating to me how a person can turn sixty and still feel, well, sophomoric. To [...]
The passing of Joan Didion
Sacramento-born author, Joan Didion, who passed away over the holidays, had an outsized effect on me, especially this idea from [...]
Caitlin Rother and Origin Stories
On LitHub's Authors in the Tent, Ona Russell recently interviewed true crime writer, Caitlin Rother. Rother's written 14 books. As a [...]
Grit
My origin story isn’t something that happened to me. It happened to my father. I inherited it. Kelly Blanton was one [...]