Loretta Stinson's friend Anja Spence of Miss Zumstein's Cakes and Desserts made a beautiful Ganesh ganache cake for the celebration. Tasted as good as it looks!

So many great people showed up last night for Loretta Stinson’s Little Green book launch party. Even though it was a Sunday night and on the later side with a 9pm start — it was a packed house. Some people in attendance include Debra Gwartney, Eduardo Fernandez, Tony Wolk, Hawthorne Books authors Kassten Alonso and soon to be Hawthorne authors Lidia Yuknavitch and David Rocklin. Here are a few snapshots from the night…

Some songs were sung by Loretta Stinson...

Rhonda Hughes introduced Loretta...

Loretta chatting it up with the lovely Debra Gwartney.

Hawthorne Books author Kassten Alonso with senior editor Adam O'Connor Rodriguez and his wife Sarah Flynn.

Books, books and more books.

Thanks to everyone for coming out!

Hawthorne Books’ author and 2005 Oregon Book Award finalist Kassten Alonso reads from, and talks about, his book Core and in these two videos. Here’s a synopsis of the book from our catalogue:

This intense and compact novel crackles with obsession, betrayal, and madness, and was an Oregon Book Award Finalist for fiction 2005. As the narrator becomes fixated on his best friend’s girlfriend, his precarious hold on sanity rapidly deteriorates into delusion and violence. This story can be read as the classic myth of Hades and Persephone (Core) rewritten for a twenty-first century audience as well as a dark, foreboding tale of unrequited love and loneliness. Alonso skillfully uses language to imitate memory and psychosis, putting the reader squarely inside the narrator’s head. In addition, deliberate misuse of standard punctuation blurs the distinction between the narrator’s internal and external worlds. A sense of alienation and Faulknerian grotesquerie permeate this landscape where desire is borne in the bloom of a daffodil and sanity lies toppled like an applecart in the mud.

Visit this blog for all things Loretta and Little Green...

Little Green is out and about and along with its pub. date on the first of June comes a lot of book events. The latest and greatest is below but please check back here for continual updates. You can also bookmark Loretta’s blog for all sorts of good info. and thoughts.

Loretta Stinson Book Tour
Saturday, 22 May 2010 :: 11.45 – 1.15 pm
Portland State University Ooligan Press | Neuberger Hall, 724 SW Harrison Street, Portland, Oregon 97201. 503.725.9748 :: Loretta Stinson to participate on a panel at the Write to Publish, a conference organized by Ooligan Press.

Thursday, 03 June 2010 :: 6.30 – 8.30 pm
Portland State University | Smith Hall, Room 333, Portland, OR :: Loretta Stinson reads from her debut novel, Little Green.

Thursday, 17 June 2010 :: 7:30pm
Annie Bloom’s Books | 7834 SW Capitol Highway, Portland, OR :: Loretta reads from Little Green.

Thursday, 24 June 2010 :: 7.00 – 9.00 pm
Blackbird Wine Shop | 3519 NE 44th Avenue, Portland, OR 97213. T: (503) 282-1887 :: Loretta Stinson reads from her debut novel, Little Green.

Tuesday, 29 June 2010 :: 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Broadway Books | 1714 NE Broadway, Portland, OR 97232. 503-284-1726 :: Loretta Stinson reads from her debut novel, Little Green.

Wednesday, 14 July 2010 :: 7.30 – 9.00 pm
Powell’s Books | 3747 Hawthorne, Portland, OR 97214. (503) 235-3802 :: Loretta reads from her debut novel, Little Green.

Thursday, 29 July 2010 :: 7.00 – 8.00 pm
Elliott Bay Book Company | 1521 10th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122. (206) 624-6600. :: Loretta Stinson reads from her debut novel, Little Green.

Wednesday, 25 August 2010 :: 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Green Apple Books | 506 Clement Street, San Francisco, CA 94118. (T) 415 387-2272. :: Loretta Stinson reads from her debut novel, Little Green.

Thursday, 26 August 2010 :: 7.00 – 8.30 pm
Book Passage Cafe | 51 Tamal Vista Boulevard, Corte Madera, CA 94925-1145. T: (415) 927-0960 :: Loretta Stinson reads from her debut novel, Little Green.

Frank Meeink's talk last night at Powell's Books downtown PDX...

Frank Meeink of Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead has been in Portland for the past several days doing all sorts of great book events including a book launch party at Mississippi Pizza Pub and a reading last night at Powell’s Books downtown. If you haven’t seen him this time around tonight is his last Portland event — a reading/talk at the Clackamas Town Center Barnes & Noble at 7pm.

Tuesday, June 8 2010 :: 7.00 – 8.00 pm
Barnes & Noble | Clackamas Town Center, 12000 SE 82nd Avenue, Portland, OR 97086. T: (503) 786-3464 :: Frank Meeink, Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead.

On bookshelves nationwide!

Although publication dates are sometimes a bit slippery with books (you’ll often find titles on shelves a week to three weeks before pub. date) it’s still a momentous occasion for the writer and the publisher. Today Loretta Stinson’s Little Green is officially out in the world. We are very happy and so are a lot of you. We know because you’ve told us and so have the reviewers. Here are a few of the reviews rolling in…

Reading Local: Portland
Valet Reader
Brain Candy Book Reviews

A clip from the ForeWord Reviews piece:

Loretta Stinson successfully mixes drama with gritty reality in her first novel, in which she navigates the fraught waters of domestic violence and drug culture with a careful hand and compassionate heart…Her characters are dynamic and utterly real and while we may want to seal our eyes from the images she hands us it’s impossible not to watch, not to hurt for Janie…while her dreams slip further and further from her grasp.–Andie Diehn, ForeWord Reviews

This fine looking fellow, Frank Meeink, will be in PDX June 3-8 for readings and events.

A little more good news…

Since March 30th, Autobiography of a Recovering Skinhead’s Frank Meeink has been on his 20-plus city book tour and this week he lands in Portland. From Ames, Iowa, to Chicago, Phoenix, New York City, Boston, LA, Las Vegas, and more Frank has been zigzagging across the country for book readings and events.

We’re looking forward to spending the better part of a week with him here and since we’re good at sharing we hope you’ll join us. Come one, come all!

Portland calendar:

June 5th, 9pm — Book launch party @ Mississippi Pizza Pub, live music by Nicole Berke, no cover and pizza and beer on us, 3552 N Mississippi Ave., Portland OR.
June 7th, 7:30pm — Reading @ Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside, Portland OR.
June 8th, 7pm — Reading @ Barnes & Noble Clackamas Town Center Mall, 12000 SE 82nd Ave., Portland OR.

Recent coverage:

Huffington Post
Ring of Fire Radio
Utne Reader
Coast to Coast
Fresh Air
Chicago Tribune

You're going to be seeing a lot more of Loretta Stinson's name in upcoming weeks...

It’s been busy at Hawthorne Books this spring and that’s not going to stop this summer. Loretta Stinson’s debut novel Little Green, with an introduction by Robin Givens and accolades from Debra Gwartney, Cheryl Strayed, Gina Oschner and other renowned writers comes out in less than a month — June 1st pub. date — and we’re getting ready for her book tour and all sorts of book events.

For now, we have these local PDX events lined up:

Thursday, 29 July 2010 :: 7.00 pm
Elliott Bay Book Company | 1521 Tenth Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122. (206) 624-6600 :: Loretta reads from Little Green.

Little Green review copies went out early March...

Followed by Little Green postcards earlier this week...

Little Green, a novel by Loretta Stinson
From Hawthorne Books
pub. date June 1, 2010
www.hawthornebooks.com

More than meets the eye...

Kate’s husband, Ed, often complained about the flaps on our original paperback books. He said that he couldn’t use them as bookmarks because they pulled out of the text and with the flap inserted in the book it wouldn’t lay flat. He was right. 

Fast forward to the Netherlands. I had friends living there, and planned to visit them. In my past travels, I have been strictly a Lonely Planet girl, and have bought and used and marked up many of them, so I headed off to Powell’s to buy their Amsterdam guide. While I was at the bookstore, I discovered another guide book that I had to have as well, the DK Eyewitness.

Why? Because I am a sucker for four color, and as guide books go, this one was luxurious, the museum guides in particular were great, and one of the things I never miss when visiting a city are the art museums. As usual, I left the bookstore with more books than I had intended. Off I go to Amsterdam with two guides. 

It wasn’t long before I noticed that the Eyewitness guide had double scored flaps instead of single scored flaps that form a spine allowing the reader to use each front and back flap as a placeholder that doesn’t pull out of the text and allows the book to lay flat. Eureka! We could do that with our books and I could get Ed off our backs. What I mean to say here is that we could offer bookmarks that actually work to our readers.  

Following my vacation, I showed Kate my copy of the Eyewitness book and asked, “Why don’t we do this too?” Great minds and all that and Kate agreed. Did I feel bad appropriating the format from Eyewitness? Not at all. (We can’t get sued for that, can we?) Insinuations aside, since Kate and I launched our original paperbacks with flaps, we noticed a number of like formatted books in the marketplace. Coincidence? You be the judge. At any rate, Hawthorne Books added a second score to their flaps and never looked back. Check your local bookstore and you will find that our books are the only original paperbacks so formatted. So far.

Our books are double scored...

You fold along the second score...

The end result.

Last minute reminder for this fantastic event.

Nearly two months after the catastrophic 7.0M earthquake in Haiti, Mercy Corps is striving to rebuild the country. From securing clean water and sanitation for survivors, to creating jobs clearing debris for locals, Mercy Corps volunteers are doing their part in rebuilding Haiti. Now you can do your part by attending:

Read to Rebuild- A Haiti Benefit Reading

Reading Local: Portland, an online blog for all thing book-related in Portland (we are big fans), has initiated Read to Rebuild, their very first event. Writers’ Dojo has partnered up, opening up their space in St. Johns to host Portland’s literary community. The event will consist of author readings, updates of Haiti from Mercy Corps representatives, music from local musicians Sweeter Than Later, free wine from Cameron Hughes Wine, and a raffle.

Hawthorne Books has donated autographed copies of some of our titles to the raffle. Other raffle donors include Cameron Hughes Wine, Wordstock, Back Fence PDX, Dark Horse Comics, Title Wave Books, Green Bean Books, Second Glance Books, Floating World Comics, Broadway Books, Microcosm Publishing, Annie Bloom’s Books, Random Order Coffeehouse and Bakery, In Other Word’s Women’s Books and Resources, and many more!

Join us on March 16th @ 6:30pm at the Writers’ Dojo in St. Johns. The suggested donation of $10 also includes one free raffle ticket. All proceeds will be given to Mercy Corps, to assist in the relief efforts in Haiti. We look forward to seeing you there!

Soerine is funny too.

See people are smiling and in a few more seconds they will be laughing because Peter H. Fogtdal is about to start his UCLA reading for them. Laughing with Peter of course...

Hawthorne Books’ author Peter H. Fogtdal recently gave a reading of The Tsar’s Dwarf at UCLA’s The Scandinavian Section and even though it was a sunny mid-day event it was a great turnout.

In his words:

2.
When you walk around UCLA’s gorgeous campus, you discover that even the buildings are celebrities. I pass Ronald Reagan Medical Center, Herb Albert’s School of Music, and Cher’s Institute for Plastic Surgery. And I marvel how lucky it is that a small time Scandinavian novelist has been allowed to do a reading for this crowd.

Will Jack Nicholson show up, I ask myself? Or do I have to settle for a drunk Charlie Sheen? In my mind I see the crowded auditorium with paparazzi fighting for a photo of Angelina Jolie and me. I picture gorgeous sophomores dragging me to their dorm rooms – against my will, of course.

But unfortunately, I’m not a star. I’m just another Dane with dandruff, so I’m left to babble at The Scandinavian Institute at Royce Hall. In a small room with squeaky chairs and hoarse Norwegians.

3.
It’s great though.

Thirty people show up. Some of them have to stand in the hall. And hey, most students haven’t even been forced by gun point. However, I don’t count a single celebrity. Their excuses for not coming are so lame. Sandra Bullock said she was practicing her Oscar speech, and Madonna is adopting the country of Malawi. That woman just can’t get enough of anything, can she?

But I’m a humble man. I like people who haven’t been on TV. Unlike everybody else in L.A.

To read more about this and more visit Peter’s blog @ Danish Accent.

Hawthorne Books author Peter H. Fogtdal was born in 1956 in Copenhagen, Denmark and has a degree in playwriting from Cal State Fullerton. He is the author of twelve novels in Danish. Three have been translated into French, two into Portuguese. In 2005 he won The Francophonian Literature Prize (Le Prix Litteraire de la Francophonie) for Le Front Chantilly. The Tsar’s Dwarf is his first novel in English. Peter H. Fogtdal shares his time between Portland, Oregon, and Copenhagen, Denmark.

Robert's not pedestrian even though he likes Converse bookmarks.

Yes, it’s a random topic but one that we here at Hawthorne would like to address in an effort to discuss some of the finer points in life.

Bookmarks are not just the one-click away culled websites that you computer people like to frequently visit while on online sojourns. They are also the things that you place in between the pages of those atavistic bound things that you sometimes buy from us (thank you) in order to help you remember where you left off.

These are some items that we at Hawthorne Books frequently use as bookmarks.

Rhonda: I like to use Broadway Books bookmarks or sometimes if I leave the jacket on in a hardcover then I use that.

Kate: Fred Meyer receipts, and sometimes the corner of the page from the newspaper.

Adam: I dog ear. I admit it.

Liz: Usually whatever is close at hand and that often ends up being envelopes – preferably from opened letters. There have been a couple times that I’ve forgotten to open a letter for a few weeks because it became lodged in a neglected book. 95% of my mail is bills and adverts anyway. Write me?

Robert (one of our fall interns): I bought a pair of Converse a few years back and I use a piece of the cardboard from the tag that I cut off. I also just tear of pieces of paper from random things. I’m not that organized about it.

So the bottom line is sure we’ve all had some nicer bookmarks over the years –- carved wood, laminated photos — and we’re really not sure what happens to them. Maybe it’s kind of like lighters and socks. They go to some special far, far away place. We’ll take the random grab and go bookmarks.

Here’s a very unique bookmark but not very transportable bookmark. Strange but true.

Good stuff on the shelf...

Kate:
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel
Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades by Steve Solomon
You Are Your Child’s First Teacher by Rahima Baldwin Dancy

Rhonda:
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Adam:
The Disappointment Artist essays by Jonathan Lethem. 
The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien
Speedboat by Renata Adler
Change Your Brain, Change Your Life by Dr. Amen
The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Scott Nadelson’s upcoming short story collection, Aftermath

Liz:
Palestine by Joe Sacco
Little Green by Loretta Stinson
Bottomless Belly Button by Dash Shaw
The Sportswriter by Richard Ford
Blink by Malcolm Gladwell
Vij’s: Elegant and Inspired Indian Cuisine by Vikram Vij and Meeru Dhalwala
And more submissions than I care to summarize here.

We always like to keep up with what these folks are reading. Especially since Bookslut managing editor Michael Schaub is now a bona fide PDX’r. Welcome to town Bookslutman.

What are you reading?