Mother, Daughter to Share Ways With Words

Carolyn See, author of “Dreaming Hard: Hard Luck and Good Times in America,” and her daughter, Lisa See, author of “On Gold Mountain: The One Hundred Year Odyssey of My Chinese-American Family,” will speak at UC Irvine Extension’s fifth annual Creative Writing Conference Oct. 2-4.

The conference will begin the evening of Oct. 2 with a staged reading of Lucille de View’s “A Summer With Hemingway’s Twin,” winner of the 1997 National Play Award of the National Repertory Theatre Foundation, at the Newport Beach Central Library.

“Developing Your Voice” is the main conference topic Oct. 3; “Marketing Your Voice” is the main topic Oct. 4. Participants will be able to choose workshops in nonfiction, fiction, screenwriting and electronic media. The weekend conference will be held on the UCI campus.

Among the sessions: “Voices from the Heart: Two Generations of California Women Authors” with Carolyn and Lisa See; “The Making of Miss Evers’ Boys: From Concept to Screen” with the HBO award-winning film’s co-producers, Kern Konwiser and Kip Konwiser; “Building a Nonfiction Book: Draft by Draft” with Gwyneth Kerr Erwin; “Women’s Salon: The Feminine Voice in Literature” with Susan Spano, Judith Hanelsman and Ann Linthorst; and “Selling Fiction in a Competitive Market” moderated by Thomas Curwen, deputy editor of the Los Angeles Times Book Review.

Cost: $275 for the entire conference; $175 for a single day (includes continental breakfast, lunch and parking.) For more information, call (949) 824-5414.

This Week

* Rep. John R. Kasich (R-Ohio), chairman of the House Budget Committee and author of “Courage Is Contagious,” will speak at 10:30 a.m. Monday at the Richard Nixon Library & Birthplace, 18001 Yorba Linda Blvd., Yorba Linda. Cost: $8. A public book signing will follow at 11:30 a.m. and a lunch ($45) at 12:30 p.m. For ticket information, call (714) 993-5075.

* Kinky Friedman, author of “Blast From the Past,” will sign at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday at Book Carnival, 348 S. Tustin Ave., Orange.

* Robert T. Roth, author of “The Natural Law Party: A Reason to Vote,” will speak and sign at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Borders Books and Music, 25222 El Paseo, Mission Viejo.

* Mystery writers Sophie Dunbar, author of “Behind Eclaire’s Doors,” and Philip Reed, author of “Low Rider,” will speak at the Friends of the Library annual membership luncheon program at 11:30 a.m. Friday at Huntington Beach Library, 7111 Talbert Ave., Huntington Beach. Cost: $12. For reservations, call (714) 842-4481, Ext. 7.

* Sandy Anderson, author of “The Work at Home Balancing Act,” will speak and sign at 2 p.m. Saturday at Borders Books and Music, 429 Associated Road, Brea.

* R. Gregory Alonzo, author of “Say Yes to Success,” will sign at 2 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble in the Marketplace, 13712 Jamboree Road, Irvine.

* Bill Frash, author of “Is the Red Witch Dead?” will sign at 2 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble in Fashion Island, 953 Newport Center Drive, Newport Beach.

* Laurel Dodd, author of “This Body,” will speak and sign at 4 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble in the Huntington Beach Mall, 7777 Edinger Ave., Huntington Beach.

* A group of local poets who meet on the last Saturday of each month will read at 7 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble in the Huntington Beach Mall, 7777 Edinger Ave., Huntington 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.