Fresh ‘Slices of Orange’ Squeezes Imaginations

All 12 of the authors of “Slices of Orange,” an anthology of short fiction set in Orange County, will be on hand for a book signing from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at Brentano’s in South Coast Plaza, Costa Mesa.

All of the previously unpublished authors are winners of a county-wide short-fiction contest sponsored by Fullerton-based Lightning Publications.

“Slices of Orange” offers a diversity of subjects. Included are nostalgia pieces, humor, horror and love stories. The book was edited by Nancy Brooks Rayl, a professor of creative writing at Cypress College.

The authors are: Lou Ayala of Garden Grove, Jim Coffin of Anaheim Hills, Betty M. Farrell of Laguna Hills, Randy D. Freeman of Brea, Barbara Fryer of Huntington Beach, Sharon Gagon of Garden Grove, Mark Higgins of Irvine, Marjory Hill of Laguna Beach, Robert Livingston of Laguna Hills, Greta Macias of Seal Beach, Rod Vickery of Mission Viejo and Esme Williams of Laguna Niguel.

Lightning Publications, launched in 1992 by Fullerton printer Lee Roy Thompson, has become Orange County’s most prolific small publishing house focusing on the work of local authors and poets. In addition to poet Lee Mallory’s recently published collection “Full Moon, Empty Hands,” Lightning’s list of books includes poet Catherine Spears’ “California Equinox,” John C. Harrell’s “Kuang Ping Poems,” a collection called “Five Orange County Poets” and Harrell’s “Twenty Years.”

Lightning also has published an economics book, a biography and a novel: Kenton S. White’s “Winning the Peace,” Carmelino John Rapisardi’s “Then, Now and Forever” and Paul Majkut’s “Asterion, the Minotaur.”

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More Signings. George Takei (“To the Stars: The Autobiography of George Takei, Star Trek’s Mr. Sulu”) will sign at noon today at the UC Irvine campus bookstore. . . . Robert Stephens Challman (“Sunsets in a Sandcastle”) will read and sign at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Upchurch-Brown Booksellers, 384 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach. Also at Upchurch-Brown: Judith Handlesman (“Gardens From Garbage”) will sign at 2 p.m. Saturday, and Theodore Taylor (“The Cay”) will sign at 2 p.m. Sunday. . . . Richard Jones (“A Perfect Time”) and Jack Grapes (“Time, Coffee, and the Eyes of Deer”) will sign at 7 p.m. Friday at the REAL Bookstore, 17350 E. 17th St., Tustin. . . . Kathryn Cocquyt (“Celtic Heart”) will sign from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Waldenbooks in the Mall of Orange. . . Susan Moss (“Keep Your Breasts”) will sign from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Waldenbooks in the Huntington Center, Huntington Beach. . . . Poet Catherine Spear (“California Equinox”) will read and sign from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Waldenbooks in the Brea Mall. . . . Marianne Sullivan (“Kennedy Ripples: A True Love Story”) will sign from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Mystery Ink, 332 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach. . . . Dean Chadwin (“Rocking the Pond”) will sign from 1 to 3 p.m. Saturday at Waldenbooks in the Buena Park Shopping Center. . . . James Chapin (“A Change of Heart”) will sign from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at Waldenbooks in the Westminster Mall. . . . Karen Kay and Barbara Benedict (“Lakota Surrender”) will sign from 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday at Waldenbooks in the Mall of Orange. . . . Marilyn Carlson Webber (“A Rustle of Angels”) will sign from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at Coffee Tea & Mystery, 13232 Springdale St., Westminster. . . . Gary Wiles and Dolores Brown (“Ponder the Path”) will sign--dressed in pre-1840s garb--from 4 to 6 p.m. Sunday at Bookstar, 3005 El Camino Real, Tustin.

Discussion. Local-history authors Phil Brigandi, Stephen Gould, Teresa Hampson, Diann Marsh, Joe Osterman, Doris Walker, John Westcott and Bob Ziebell will discuss their latest work and answer questions. Orange County Historical Society, 7:30 p.m., Room 4, Education Center, Bowers Museum of Cultural Art, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana. Public invited. Free. Information: (714) 871-2935.

Readings. Christopher Strople will read at 8 p.m. Friday at Upchurch-Brown Booksellers, 384 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach. . . . Victor Infante and Elmo Martin will read at 8 p.m. Monday at E.D.B.D., 1509 N. El Camino Real, San Clemente.