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I Will Be Speaking At The Tuolumne Writer's Retreat In Columbia State Historic Park

Many thanks to the Union Democrat. I am speaking on Sunday September 30, 2012 at a lunch from 12:30pm-2:30pm at the Sonora Writers' Group's first Tuolumne Writer's Retreat , which runs from Friday through Sunday, September 28-30, at the Columbia State Historic Park. The retreat includes a ghost walk on Friday, open mic sessions with poems, stories, music and a Native American poetry and drum circle on the Saturday, and "Author's Row" on the Sunday.  Guests include Blanche Abrams and Charity Maness. I will be speaking during the lunch about my career as a writer and my experiences both as a novelist, non-fiction writer and children's author, and as a screenwriter for the major Hollywood studios and independents.  For more information about my career, please visit the Biography page of this blog. Advance registration is required for the workshops and meals. The registration fee is $145, with a 20% discount for students. Please contact Ji

Brilliant Chang, Cocaine and Chinatown Nights

Brilliant Chang. The image below of a woman taking cocaine is, I believe, from the 1910s and is one of the many research pictures I've amassed for my noir novel - a love story and thriller set in 1919 - Chinatown Nights. Although drugs do not play a huge role in the plot, several of the characters in the novel are i nvolved in the world of illegal drugs, illicit drinking clubs and other rather suspect activities - including arms dealing. Woman taking cocaine in the 1910s. Brilliant Chang, a notable Chinese figure in London in the 1910s and 1920s, who is fictionalized as a character in Chinatown Nights , was alleged to be one of London's primary cocaine dealers (cocaine was a popular drug, then as now) and was the subject of a great deal of police attention. Chang was charged in 1924 with possession of a single packet of cocaine (a surprisingly small amount for one of the supposed "drug kingpins" of London - probably planted by the polic

Chinatown Nights Kickstarter Campaign Very Successfully Funded - And Ended

I was thrilled that the Kickstarter campaign for Chinatown Nights ended yesterday, meeting not only its initial target of $2,000, but the new unofficial target I set of $2,500, thanks to a very generous donation yesterday afternoon. Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed. My full thanks, and more details of both the novel and the campaign, are on the Chinatown Nights Facebook Page . Please "Like" it if you visit it! Thank you.

Only 7 Hours To Go To The End Of My Kickstarter Campaign For Chinatown Nights!

Only 7 hours to go to the end of the Kickstarter campaign for my noir novel set in 1919, Chinatown Nights - and it's just $101 short of my new unofficial target of $2,500! The campaign will end at 6:13pm Pacific time today, Thursday August 6, 2012. Please contribute now, if you can. More details, images and extracts from the novel are at its Facebook page: Chinatown Nights. There are also several posts about the book if you scroll down below, including an extract from the end of Chapter Three of the novel. Huge thanks to everyone who has contributed so far! Very best wishes, Alexander

Our Phenomenal First Lady: Michelle Obama At The Democratic National Convention (VIDEO)

We are fortunate indeed to have a First Lady as intelligent, eloquent, committed, compassionate and grounded as Michelle Obama. Here is video of her entire and very wonderful speech at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Tuesday September 4, 2012.