Writer to Focus on Suspenseful Life Now

Los Alamitos suspense author Martin J. Smith says he’s throwing away his alarm clock and switching to decaf coffee.

For three years, Smith has been rising at 4 a.m. to work a couple of hours on his novels before heading to Newport Beach for his job as editor of Orange Coast magazine.

But Smith, whose first novel, “Time Release,” was published in March, has announced his intention to step down as editor in December after 3 1/2 years with the 38,000-circulation monthly magazine.

Smith, 41, says his decision was driven as much by his desire to have more time to write as the need to spend more time with his children, now ages 5 and 8.

Smith’s second suspense thriller, “Shadow Image,” will be released by the Berkley Publishing Group in June. He’s now working on his third.

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Robyn Runyan of Laguna Hills spent 10 years working on her first novel, a story that spans the past 100 years and six generations of Californians.

But the small Newport Beach publishing house she was working with suspended operation after the owner-publisher died. Runyan, a retired Pasadena elementary-school teacher, was left with 500 copies of “You Can Come Back” and no marketing and distribution plan.

Until she finds a distributor, her novel is being sold exclusively at Borders Books and Music in Mission Viejo. It’s also available by calling Runyan at (714) 830-6562.

Runyan, who was born in Covina 82 years ago, says “You Can Come Back” (Brownell and Carroll; $10) focuses on three intermingled families in the San Gabriel Valley.

The main character is an elementary-school teacher.

“It sounds like me, doesn’t it?” she says with a laugh. “Well, we write from life experiences, don’t we? And we take off from there. But it isn’t a biography at all. It’s a novel.”

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Col. David H. Hackworth will discuss his book “Hazardous Duty” and military reform at 7 p.m. Monday at the Newport Beach Central Library, 1000 Avocado Ave.

An informal reception and book signing will follow Hackworth’s talk, the latest in the Manuscript Lecture Series sponsored by the Newport Beach Public Library Foundation.

The cost is $6 for foundation members, students and seniors; $8 for nonmembers. Further information is available by calling (714) 717-3890.

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Jonathan L. Kirsch, author of “The Harlot by the Side of the Road,” R.A. Forster, author of “Character Witness,” Noah Ben Shea, author of “Jacob’s Ladder,” and Janet Hadda, author of “Isaac Bashevis Singer: A Life.” will discuss their books at the eighth annual Book and Author Lunch sponsored by the Laguna Hills chapter of the Brandeis University National Women’s Committee at 11:45 a.m. Wednesday at the Irvine Marriott, 18000 Von Karman Ave.

Cost: $40. For reservations, call (714) 951-4584.

Also this week

* Poet and author Maya Angelou will discuss her new book “Even the Stars Look Lonesome” during the 9:30 and 11 a.m. services today at the Crystal Cathedral, 14121 Lewis St., Garden Grove. Angelou will sign copies of her book after the services.

* Poet Eloise Klein Healy, author of “Artemis in Echo Park,” will read at 5 p.m. today at the Fact Gallery, 30812 S. Coast Highway, Laguna Beach. Sign-ups for the open reading begin at 4:45 p.m.

* Denise Fleming, author of “Time to Sleep,” will sign at 2 p.m. today at Whale of a Tale Children’s Bookstore, 4187 Campus Drive, Irvine. Also at Whale of a Tale: Pamela Edwards and Henry Cole, authors of “Dinorella,” will sign at 4 p.m. Tuesday.

* The husband-and-wife team of Judith Sherven and James Sniechowski, authors of “The New Intimacy: Discovering the Magic at the Heart of Your Differences,” will speak and sign at 7 p.m. Monday at Borders Books and Music, 429 Associated Road, Brea.

* Jeanne M. Dams, author of “Holy Terror in the Hebrides,” will speak and sign at 7 p.m. Monday at Coffee, Tea & Mystery, 13232 Springdale St., Westminster.

* Poet T.S. Kerrigan will read at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the Gypsy Den Cafe and Reading Room, in the Lab mall, 2930 Bristol St., Costa Mesa.

* Heike Hendler, author of “Stories of True Love,” will speak at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Great Expectations, 18818 Teller Ave., Irvine. Hendler also will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday at Barnes & Noble in the Huntington Beach Mall, 7777 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach.

* Poet Charles H. Webb, a professor of English at Cal State Long Beach whose poems have appeared in American Poetry Review and Paris Review, will read at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Crown Valley Library, 30341 Crown Valley Parkway, Laguna Niguel.

* James Sallis, author of “Eye of the Cricket,” will speak and sign at 7 p.m. Thursday at Coffee, Tea & Mystery, 13232 Springdale St., Westminster.

* Maxine O’Callaghan, author of “Down for the Count,” will sign at 1 p.m. Saturday at Book Carnival, 348 S. Tustin Ave., Orange.

* Bruce Alexander, author of “Person or Persons Unknown,” will speak and sign at 3 p.m. Saturday at Coffee, Tea & Mystery, 13232 Springdale St., Westminster.

* David Burton, author of “Man Made for Murder,” will sign at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Mystery Ink/Upchurch-Brown Booksellers, 384 Forest Ave., Laguna Beach.

Send information about book-related events at least 10 days before event to: Dennis McLellan, O.C. Books & Authors, Life & Style, The Times, 1375 Sunflower Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92626.