Alta Article: Tin Can Mailman
For Alta Magazine, I wrote an ode to my favorite childhood bookstore, Tin Can Mailman in Arcata, California. I also wrote a round-up of North Coast Bookstores.
Category Articles
Mental Floss: Mary Astor’s Purple Diary, Old Hollywood’s Most Infamous Sex Scandal
For Mental Floss, I wrote 10 Juicy Facts About Mary Astor’s Purple Diary, Old Hollywood’s Most Infamous Sex Scandal. This scandal was a huge inspiration for my novel, Right Back Where We Started From. Poor Mary Astor was done dirty.
Alta Live: Why Mark Twain Canceled Bret Harte
I was invited by Alta Magazine to discuss my article When Mark Twain Canceled Bret Harte on Alta Live. I was joined by Russell Jeung, professor of Asian American studies and one of Time Magazine’s 100 Most Influential People of…
Article: Make It Rain
For Alta Magazine I wrote about cloud seeding. Did you know we already have the ability to increase precipitation in clouds? And that we’ve been doing it since the 1950s? And that the technology was invented by Kurt Vonnegut’s brother?…
USA Today Article: Is It Finally Time To Turn Against Workaholism?
For USA Today, I wrote an article about the consequences of hustle culture and its roots in the California Gold Rush. Excerpt: Whether it’s called hustle culture or toxic productivity, workaholism is now mainstream. For the past few years, the…
Article: Mary Astor’s Purple Diary, Old Hollywood’s Most Infamous Sex Scandal
For Mental Floss, I wrote about a juicy 1930s Hollywood scandal involving Mary Astor’s Purple Diaries. It’s one of the first Hollywood sex scandals–plus it inspired part of my novel, Right Back Where We Started From, which starts in 1930s…
Article: Greedy Women In LitHub
I have a new article on LitHub, On the 19th-Century Food Writer Who Embraced Gluttony As a Virtue. It’s about how I read The Diary of a Greedy Woman by Elizabeth Robins Pennell, which I loved… until I didn’t.
Article: Lost Beneath Lake Berryessa
Check out my Alta article about the town of Monticello in Napa, which was turned into a lake and reservoir in the 1950s. Dorothea Lange documented the human and environmental toll that went into creating Lake Berryessa. Excerpt: Goat Island…
Story On Front Page Of The Washington Post!
Last week, the Kincade Fire tore through Sonoma County, where I live, and 200,000 people were evacuated. My town of Petaluma became the first stop for evacuees. I interviewed some of the evacuees for The Washington Post. Hearing their stories…
I Was On A Podcast About Jack London
Speaking of Alta, I was also on their podcast talking about my article on Jack London. Listen here! (The above picture makes me laugh.)
Article: Drowning of a Town
I got my new copy of Alta and am thrilled with the layout of my article on Dorothea Lange. In the 1950s, Monticello in Napa was turned into a lake and reservoir. Lange, who took iconic photos of the Dust…
Washington Post Article: Summer In Antarctica
For The Washington Post’s KidsPost section, I wrote about summer in Antarctica, lost penguins, and mummified seals. Excerpt: Bergstrom frequently sees mummified seals in the valleys, as the cold, dry atmosphere preserves their bodies. Carbon dating reveals that some of…