Watch out for these authors!

Today I want to congratulate my friends Brian Eule and Miranda Weiss, two talented non-fiction writers whose books will be available imminently. Brian Eule just received a starred Kirkus review for his book, Match Day, , an in-depth look at the lives of three medical couples. Miranda Weiss is an excellent nature writer whose book, Tide, Feather, Snow,, is an intimate portrait of Alaska. This story of survival and adaptation includes an unforgettable scene about the skinning of a sea otter. The writer Edward Hoagland described her book as "a lovely, feathery book indeed—a labor of love and a pleasure to read." Get these books -- and see Brian and Miranda in person when they head out on the road very soon.

...and this just in from Etude: New Voices in Literary Nonfiction

Here is the latest review, in Etude, the literary nonfiction journal. (thanks to another sharp-eyed reader for emailing me this link today.) Basically they liked it but think my behavior at the time was not very intelligent.. Guilty as charged. In other news, it looks like I'll be adding at least one new event in the spring in addition to the talking about writing/hiking in the woods event in Santa Cruz. I'll post the updates when I get them.

Video of a guy eating a cactus online ...

I just wanted to thank the reader who sent me a video file showing a guy slowly consuming a cactus, bite by agonizing bite (after adding sauce on top of it!) I had a link to that Stupidity.com video on my blog today but felt that it was a little too offensive (and disgusting) for a general audience, so I removed it. However, if you put "cactus eater video'' or 'video of a guy eating a cactus' into any major search engine, you should have no trouble finding it online. I admire the guy's high capacity for pain.

A date for the new Cactus event! (updated.)

I will be leading a writing discussion/walk in the redwoods on Saturday, April 18, in a special event sponsored by Bookshop Santa Cruz. I will post the weblink to the event as soon as we nail down a few more details. Meanwhile, feel free to shoot me an email if you would like to take part, and I'll forward your contact info to Bookshop. This just in: it's likely that we will have the nature hike in Pogonip Meadow in Santa Cruz -- but we need to do a trial run first to pick the best route -- and the latest round of rainstorms and mud is making that rather difficult!

Cactus Eaters and Synchronized Chaos

This just in: an essay about The Cactus Eaters in the online Synchronized Chaos literary magazine.