Next Meeting: Thursday, 13 May at 6:30 p.m.
online in the PFL Slack workspace
4 Feb meeting notes; 11 Feb reading list
4 FEBRUARY MEETING NOTES
Four people attended: Casey (a chapter from Nouveau Trashy Vampire Romance), Donna R., Lance (a chapter from Engaño), and Rosie.
NEWS & NOTES
Please put in your bids to read in the #feb11-meeting Slack channel by 8:00 p.m. on Friday, 5 February. The reading submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 8 February. The next meeting will start on Thursday, 11 February, at 6:30 p.m.
Rosie has hung out her shingle as an editor! It’s still a work in progress, but you can get more details here. A website will appear forthwith. Good luck!
The Valentine’s Day romance edition of LIT UP! will happen on 23 February at 6:30 p.m. Check the LIT UP! Facebook page for details as they appear.
11 FEBRUARY READING LIST
Glenda (1/21)
Donna R. (2/4)
Rosie (2/4)
Casey (2/4)
Lance (2/4)
Leighanne (10/15)
Joanne (10/1)
Lisa W. (7/23)
Sherry C. (7/23)
Leslie P. (7/23)
Marianna (3/26/20)
Burt (3/26/20)
Dennis P. (3/5/20)
PJ (2/27/20)
Maddie (2/27/20)
28 Jan meeting notes; 4 Feb reading list
28 JANUARY MEETING NOTES
A cozy three people attended: Casey, Donna R., and Lance (two chapters from Engaño, formerly DAA #2). Glenda and Rosie submitted critiques but couldn’t attend.
NEWS & NOTES
Please put in your bids to read in the #feb04-meeting Slack channel by 8:00 p.m. on Friday, 29 January. The reading submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 1 February. The next meeting will start on Thursday, 4 February, at 6:30 p.m.
The next LIT UP! will happen on 23 February. Check the LIT UP! Facebook page for details as they appear.
4 FEBRUARY READING LIST
Glenda (1/21)
Donna R. (1/28)
Rosie (1/21)
Casey (1/28)
Lance (1/28)
Leighanne (10/15)
Joanne (10/1)
Lisa W. (7/23)
Sherry C. (7/23)
Leslie P. (7/23)
Marianna (3/26/20)
Burt (3/26/20)
Dennis P. (3/5/20)
PJ (2/27/20)
Maddie (2/27/20)
21 Jan meeting notes; 28 Jan reading list
21 JANUARY MEETING NOTES
Five people attended: Casey (a chapter from Nouveau Trashy Vampire Romance), Donna R., Glenda, Lance, and Rosie (rebooted prologue and first chapter from Well of the Moon).
NEWS & NOTES
Please put in your bids to read in the #jan28-meeting Slack channel by 8:00 p.m. on Friday, 22 January. The reading submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 25 January. The next meeting will start on Thursday, 28 January, at 6:30 p.m.
Former PFL member Dana Swift’s debut novel Cast in Firelight released on 19 January. Congratulations, Dana!
The next LIT UP! will happen on 23 February. Check the LIT UP! Facebook page for details as they appear.
28 JANUARY READING LIST
Glenda (1/21)
Donna R. (1/21)
Lance (1/21)
Rosie (1/21)
Casey (1/21)
Leighanne (10/15)
Joanne (10/1)
Lisa W. (7/23)
Sherry C. (7/23)
Leslie P. (7/23)
Marianna (3/26)
Burt (3/26)
Dennis P. (3/5)
PJ (2/27)
Maddie (2/27)
14 Jan meeting notes; 21 Jan reading list
14 JANUARY MEETING NOTES
Five people attended: Casey, Donna R., Glenda, Lance (a chapter from DeWitt Agency Adventure #2), and Rosie.
NEWS & NOTES
Please put in your bids to read in the #jan21-meeting Slack channel by 8:00 p.m. on Friday, 15 January. The reading submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 18 January. The next meeting will start on Thursday, 21 January, at 6:30 p.m.
Episode 8 of Casey & Marianna’s Deep State Dossier podcast just dropped.
A recording of the 10 Jan LIT UP! Orange County and the Muzeo Museum & Cultural Center is now up on the Muzeo Facebook page. Christopher Reich, Matt Coyle, and Nick Petrie headlined, with Maddie as ringleader.
14 JANUARY READING LIST
Glenda (1/14)
Rosie (1/14)
Donna R. (1/14)
Casey (1/14)
Lance (1/14)
Leighanne (10/15)
Joanne (10/1)
Lisa W. (7/23)
Sherry C. (7/23)
Leslie P. (7/23)
Marianna (3/26)
Burt (3/26)
Dennis P. (3/5)
PJ (2/27)
Maddie (2/27)
7 Jan meeting notes; 14 Jan reading list
7 JANUARY MEETING NOTES
Four people attended the first meeting of 2021: Casey (a chapter from Nouveau Trashy Vampire Romance), Donna R., Lance (two chapters from DeWitt Agency Adventure #2), and Rosie.
NEWS & NOTES
Please put in your bids to read in the #jan14-meeting Slack channel by 8:00 p.m. on Friday, 8 January. The reading submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 11 January. The next meeting will start on Thursday, 14 January, at 6:30 p.m.
Casey & Marianna’s Deep State Dossier podcast now has over 1000 downloads. Congratulations on the milestone!
LIT UP! Orange County and the Muzeo Museum & Cultural Center in Anaheim present Christopher Reich, Matt Coyle, and Nick Petrie in conversation with Madeline Margarita on Sunday, 10 January, at 1:00 p.m. PST. To pre-register for this free event, please visit the Muzeo website.
14 JANUARY READING LIST
Glenda (12/3)
Rosie (1/7)
Donna R. (1/7)
Casey (1/7)
Lance (1/7)
Leighanne (10/15)
Joanne (10/1)
Lisa W. (7/23)
Sherry C. (7/23)
Leslie P. (7/23)
Marianna (3/26)
Burt (3/26)
Dennis P. (3/5)
PJ (2/27)
Maddie (2/27)
3 Dec meeting notes; 7 Jan reading list
3 DECEMBER MEETING NOTES
Five people attended the final meeting of 2020: Casey, Donna R. (the final chapter of Running with Hounds…and an English Degree) (congratulations, Donna!), Glenda, Lance (the first chapter of the Zrada sequel, currently named DeWitt Agency Adventure #2), and Rosie.
NEWS & NOTES
Please put in your bids to read in the #jan07-meeting Slack channel by 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, 30 December. The reading submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 4 January. The first meeting of 2021 will start on Thursday, 7 January, at 6:30 p.m.
LIT UP! will happen on Tuesday, 15 December. The featured authors will probably be Steve Jackson, Sharmyn McGraw, and Lance. Check the LIT UP! Facebook page for more details.
There will be no PFL holiday party this year (sniff).
7 JANUARY READING LIST
Glenda (12/3)
Rosie (12/3)
Casey (12/3)
Lance (12/3)
Donna R. (12/3)
Leighanne (10/15)
Joanne (10/1)
Lisa W. (7/23)
Sherry C. (7/23)
Leslie P. (7/23)
Marianna (3/26)
Burt (3/26)
Dennis P. (3/5)
PJ (2/27)
Maddie (2/27)
The Lamia, Steve G. Jackson, horror
Evil is preying. With the highest possible stakes, amidst a horrific and suspenseful race against time, a reluctant psychiatrist fights a demon, a global pandemic risk, and his own troubled past in a fight for his daughter’s soul.
On a remote boulder on a beach in Costa Rica, an unorthodox family vacation turns into a fight to stop a global pandemic. Emerging from the jungle treetops during a thunderstorm, a vampire bat attacks teenager Taylor. When her mother drowns in the turbulent ocean during the storm, Taylor blames her father, Richard Morgan, when his medical training can’t save his ex-wife.
The leader of a Costa Rican task force, a transplant from the nearby indigenous Bribri tribe in the Talamancan mountains, is determined to stop the spread of a deadly global pandemic originating from a Bribri demon. She tries to kill Taylor on the spot, but Morgan overcomes the task force and the family escapes home to Salem, Oregon.
But Taylor starts to change, and Morgan is conflicted between the science he relies on as a psychiatrist (and his atheist girlfriend) and the religion he abandoned. Linda, who lost her daughter to the pandemic, arrives to convince Morgan the inexplicable is real, and he eventually has no choice but to accept that his daughter is possessed by an evil that is transforming her into a vampire. Morgan and Linda take Taylor to the Bribri village in a desperate attempt to get help from the Bribri shaman to perform an exorcism to rid Taylor of the demon. If this last-ditch attempt fails, he knows he’ll have to destroy his own daughter to save her soul, and the world.
The Lamia is the ultimate battle between good and evil, offered from a master storyteller.
Available soon for Kindle
Trade paperback available at Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound
Award-winning novelist and playwright Steven G. Jackson holds a Master’s Degree in Professional Writing from USC and lives with his family and his yellow lab “Bear” in Southern California. He also serves as Vice President of the Southern California Writers Association. He is the author of the highly-acclaimed thriller The Zeus Payload.
19 Nov meeting notes; 3 Dec reading list
19 NOVEMBER MEETING NOTES
Five people attended: Casey, Donna R. (the penultimate chapter of Running with Hounds…and an English Degree), Glenda, Lance, and Rosie.
NEWS & NOTES
Please put in your bids to read in the #dec03-meeting Slack channel by 11:59 p.m. on Wednesday, 25 November. The reading submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Monday, 30 November. The last meeting of 2020 will start on Thursday, 3 December, at 6:30 p.m.
Joe Ide will be the featured guest at the virtual SCWA meeting on Saturday, 21 November, at 10 a.m.
There will be no PFL holiday party this year (sniff). We’ll resume on 7 Jan 2021.
3 DECEMBER READING LIST
Glenda (11/19)
Lance (11/19)
Rosie (11/19)
Casey (11/19)
Donna R. (11/19)
Leighanne (10/15)
Joanne (10/1)
Lisa W. (7/23)
Sherry C. (7/23)
Leslie P. (7/23)
Marianna (3/26)
Burt (3/26)
Dennis P. (3/5)
PJ (2/27)
Maddie (2/27)
Zrada, Lance Charnes, action/adventure
Two priceless paintings. Two million euros. A civil war. What could go wrong?
The DeWitt Agency assigned disgraced ex-cop Carson a simple job: carry two briefcases of cash to swap for two artworks stolen from a German museum. Except nothing’s simple in the Donbass, the breakaway Ukrainian region overrun by militias, warlords, and bandits.
After a brutal zrada – betrayal – Carson finds herself alone and hunted forty miles behind the front lines with half the money, one of the paintings, and a huge target hung on her back. The militia behind the exchange thinks she blew up their deal and wants the money and her hide. Her co-workers were in on the double-cross. And the Agency can’t send help into the hottest war in Europe.
Carson’s never been one to wait to be rescued. She hires Galina – a tough local with a harrowing past and a taste for revenge – to help her cut through every checkpoint, freelance army, crooked cop, and firefight between her and the West. But the road to safety is long and poorly paved. A vengeful militia commander, a Russian special-forces operator with an agenda, and her own ex-colleagues have Carson in their crosshairs.
Carson’s life is now worth less than a suitcase of money or paint on a plank…but if they want to take it from her, she’s going to make them pay.
Available for Kindle on Amazon
Available in ePub on Kobo | Apple Books
Trade paperback available at Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Indiebound
Lance Charnes has been an Air Force intelligence officer, information technology manager, computer-game artist, set designer, and Jeopardy! contestant, and is now an emergency management specialist. He’s had training in architectural rendering, terrorist incident response, and maritime archaeology, but not all at the same time. His Facebook author page features spies, archaeology, and art crime.
Zrada may be the first book in a projected DeWitt Agency Adventures series.
12 Nov meeting notes; 19 Nov reading list
12 NOVEMBER MEETING NOTES
Five people attended: Casey (a chapter from Nouveau Trashy Vampire Romance), Donna R. (a chapter from Running with Hounds…and an English Degree), Glenda, Lance, and Rosie.
NEWS & NOTES
Please put in your bids to read in the #nov19-meeting Slack channel by 8 p.m. Friday night. The reading submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Monday. The next meeting will start on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
The last two meetings of 2020 are 19 Nov and 3 Dec. There will be no holiday party (sniff). We’ll resume on 7 Jan 2021.
19 NOVEMBER READING LIST
Glenda (11/12)
Joanne (10/1)
Leighanne (10/15)
Lance (11/12)
Rosie (11/12)
Casey (11/12)
Donna R. (11/12)
Lisa W. (7/23)
Sherry C. (7/23)
Leslie P. (7/23)
Marianna (3/26)
Burt (3/26)
Dennis P. (3/5)
PJ (2/27)
Maddie (2/27)
5 Nov meeting notes; 12 Nov reading list
5 NOVEMBER MEETING NOTES
Five people attended: Casey, Donna R. (a reworked chapter from Running with Hounds…and an English Degree), Glenda, Lance, and Rosie (the first two chapters of The Bear and the Rising Sun). Leighanne put in a last-minute guest appearance as a ghost.
NEWS & NOTES
Please put in your bids to read in the #nov12-meeting Slack channel by 8 p.m. Friday night. The reading submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Monday. The next meeting will start on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
The end-of-year meeting schedule looks like this: 12 Nov, 19 Nov, and 3 Dec. There will be no holiday party (sniff).
A reminder: the first three episodes of Deep State Dossier-Season One are now live. RadioJuice Media’s (Casey and Marianna’s production company) ten-episode scripted drama is what happens when Pulp Fiction and The X-Files have a baby. The episodes average 17 minutes each. If you decide to listen to them and don’t hate them, please rate and review! Find them on Apple Podcasts and Radiojuice Media.
12 NOVEMBER READING LIST
Glenda (11/5)
Joanne (10/1)
Leighanne (10/15)
Lance (11/5)
Casey (11/5)
Rosie (11/5)
Donna R. (11/5)
Lisa W. (7/23)
Sherry C. (7/23)
Leslie P. (7/23)
Marianna (3/26)
Burt (3/26)
Dennis P. (3/5)
PJ (2/27)
Maddie (2/27)
29 Oct meeting notes; 5 Nov reading list
29 OCTOBER MEETING NOTES
Four people attended: Casey (a chapter from Nouveau Trashy Vampire Romance), Donna R. (a reworked chapter from Running with Hounds…and an English Degree), Lance, and Rosie.
NEWS & NOTES
Please put in your bids to read in the #nov05-meeting Slack channel by 8 p.m. Friday night. The reading submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Monday. The next meeting will start on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
The 18 October LIT UP at Muzeo, featuring authors Ona Russell, Tanya Hutchison, and Quan Huynh, is now replaying on the Facebook Live page.
The 27 October LIT UP with Joe Ide and Jonathan Maberry is playing on the LITUPOC Facebook page.
The first three episodes of Deep State Dossier-Season One are now live. RadioJuice Media’s (Casey and Marianna’s production company) ten-episode scripted drama is what happens when Pulp Fiction and The X-Files have a baby. The episodes average 17 minutes each. If you decide to listen to them and don’t hate them, please rate and review! Find them on Apple Podcasts and Radiojuice Media.
Lance will be appearing with Doug Lyle at a virtual Book Carnival event on 4 November at 6 p.m. Go to the Book Carnival events page to get your Zoom link (when it’s up).
5 NOVEMBER READING LIST
Glenda (10/15)
Joanne (10/1)
Leighanne (10/15)
Rosie (10/29)
Lance (10/29)
Casey (10/29)
Donna R. (10/29)
Lisa W. (7/23)
Sherry C. (7/23)
Leslie P. (7/23)
Marianna (3/26)
Burt (3/26)
Dennis P. (3/5)
PJ (2/27)
Maddie (2/27)
15 Oct meeting notes; 22 Oct reading list
15 OCTOBER MEETING NOTES
Six people attended: Casey (a chapter from Nouveau Trashy Vampire Romance), Donna R., Glenda, Lance, Leighanne, and Rosie (the final chapter and epilogue from The Lion and the Eagle) (congrats on finishing!).
NEWS & NOTES
Please put in your bids to read in the #oct22-meeting Slack channel by 8 p.m. Friday night. The reading submission deadline is 11:59 p.m. on Monday. The next meeting will start on Thursday at 6:30 p.m.
LIT UP! OC and Muzeo present authors Ona Russell, Tanya Hutchison, and Quan Huynh in conversation with PFL’s own Maddie on Sunday, 18 October, at 1 p.m. Look for the registration link at https://muzeo.org/ or RSVP in the comments section of the Lit Up OC Facebook event to receive your link.
P.J. will appear on a Book Carnival virtual author’s event on Wednesday, 21 October, at 6 p.m. Go to the Book Carnival events page to get your Zoom link.
The next standalone LIT UP! is happening at 6:30 p.m. on 27 October on Facebook Live. Jonathan Maberry and Joe Ide are the featured authors. As always, be sure to check the LIT UP Facebook page for upcoming programs and more details on the authors.
22 OCTOBER READING LIST
Glenda (10/15)
Joanne (10/1)
Leighanne (10/15)
Rosie (10/15)
Casey (10/15)
Lance (10/15)
Donna R. (10/15)
Lisa W. (7/23)
Sherry C. (7/23)
Leslie P. (7/23)
Marianna (3/26)
Burt (3/26)
Dennis P. (3/5)
PJ (2/27)
Maddie (2/27)
Shadows, Burt Golden, mystery/suspense
Sergeant Joe Donahue returns to his hometown from Afghanistan as a hero with the Medal of Honor. But he is not the macho guy who turned down an offer from the NFL to go to war four years earlier. War took away his identity, leaving him with a strong sense of guilt and a great fear of intimacy. Donahue drinks heavily to numb the effects of PTSD that he brought home. Adding to this stress is his estrangement from his father.
Seeking stability, Donahue accepts a job with well-known Whiting Development, whose president believes that Donahue can bring legitimacy to their real estate deals as a “show horse.” Donahue does his best to present a picture of normalcy at work, while alcohol and the ghosts of war refuse to let go of him. He is overpaid and materially spoiled at Whiting so he won’t quit when he finds out the company’s true business. However, Donahue soon learns that he has sold out to the devil, that murder solves all company problems, and that his life is in danger.
Available for Kindle on Amazon
Trade paperback available at Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Burt Golden, M.S., has written the Amazon mystery bestseller, Madness of March. This is his fifth novel. Earlier in his life, Golden coached a college basketball team that went to the NCAA tournament. He also was president of a West Coast outplacement company. Recently, Golden was inducted into the Roosevelt (Los Angeles) High School Hall of Fame, whose 46 members include two Ninth Circuit court judges, a Heisman Trophy winner, the owner of an NBA team, and a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient.
Dead is Not Enough, Burt Golden, crime/detective
Tony Bravo is the main guy in Dead is Not Enough, the second neo-noir mystery in the Tony Bravo series. A P.I. in the afternoon and a reluctant real estate agent in the morning, Bravo decides what is right and what is wrong in the dark world, and he doesn’t like to explain it to anybody. He likes women, but he usually ends up with the wacky ones who single him out for help. You might not relate to the cynic in him, yet you cannot deny he’s real.
In Dead is Not Enough, Bravo’s life is on the line when he takes on two high-stakes cases: a serial murder rampage that threatens an entire region, and a death threat to a superior court judge, who he has met on an online dating site. During the investigations, Bravo is knocked off-balance when he has to protect his fourteen-year-old daughter from his druggie ex-wife.
Available for Kindle on Amazon
Trade paperback available at Amazon | Barnes & Noble
Burt Golden, M.S., has written the Amazon mystery best seller, Madness of March. This is his fourth novel. Earlier in his life, Golden coached a college basketball team that went to the NCAA tournament. He also was president of a West Coast outplacement company. Recently, Golden was inducted into the Roosevelt (Los Angeles) High School Hall of Fame, whose 46 members include two Ninth Circuit court judges, a Heisman Trophy winner, the owner of an NBA team, and a Congressional Medal of Honor recipient.
