Sharon Farsijani Launches Desert35 Fragrances
Desert35 along with her memoir Shaming My Red Lips that inspired all the scents and in Desert 35's "create your custom scent" lines.
Steve Alten Teases Seventh ‘Meg’ Franchise Novel, ‘Meg: Purgatory’!
Ahead of the release of The Meg in August, author Steve Alten is soon unleashing the sixth book in his mega shark series that inspired the Jon Turteltaub-directed film. It’s titled Meg: Generations, and pre-orders for that novel are ending today, May 31 at midnight; Generations is being sold exclusively through Alten’s website.
Pre-ordered books will be shipped in June, along with the eBook launch.
But Meg: Generations won’t be the final chapter in the saga, as previously suggested. Alten has revealed over on Facebook that a seventh book is rumbling around in his head!
“As I worked on [Generations], my imagination sparked an amazing alternative ending that will lead to a 7th novel called MEG: PURGATORY,” Alten announced.
In the meantime, Meg: Generations “picks up after MEG: Nightstalkers with David Taylor in the Salish sea attempting to locate and rescue any surviving Megalodon pups before a local fisherman slaughters them. Meanwhile, Jonas is coerced into joining an expedition into the Panthalassa sea in search of a prehistoric predatory species possessing liver enzymes that can cure cancer.”
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The Meg TV Movie Trailer... Your Next Guilty Pleasure!
After a deep-sea submersible is attacked by a massive shark, expert diver Jason Taylor teams up with an oceanographer and his daughter to rescue the crew trapped at the bottom of a Pacific trench. Taylor faces off against the perils of the ocean and the prehistoric 75-foot-long Megalodon, which was believed long-extinct. In a twist of fate, Taylor encountered the shark once before and must face his fears to stop the terrifying creature. "The Meg," rated PG-13 is in theaters August 10, 2018.
6 indie bookstores you’ll love, all thriving in Pittsburgh
Every independent bookshop, like a good novel, has its own story to tell.
As we explored six of Pittsburgh’s best, we set out to solve a mystery: How have these unique businesses, some nearly a century old and others much newer, escaped the fate of chain stores such as Waldenbooks and Borders?
A few years ago, independent bookstores nationwide were in peril. But instead of becoming anachronistic outposts of literacy, independent bookshops are now thriving.
According to the American Booksellers Association, approximately 570 independent bookstores have opened in the U.S. since 2009, bringing the total number of shops to a little over 2,200.
Mystery Lovers Bookshop
Oakmont Opened: 1990
When Natalie Sacco and her husband Trevor Thomas bought Mystery Lovers Bookshop three years ago, they knew there was a tradition to uphold. The cozy shop in Oakmont’s business district has been the pulse of Western Pennsylvania’s mystery community for 28 years. Any attempts to deviate from the mystery genre would not only devastate devoted readers, but also be economically foolish.
“Mystery Lovers has been able to weather all those storms because of that niche,” Sacco says. “The store has always held on to this very core customer base. You have these mystery fans who want to talk to people. They want to talk about mysteries and get recommendations.” Since it opened in 1990, Mystery Lovers has known how to pick winners: They’ve hosted numerous unknown writers who went on to huge careers, including Laura Lippman, Dennis Lehane, Lisa Scottoline, Craig Johnson, and Ian Rankin.
It’s a great place to meet authors one-on-one. At the ongoing event series, Coffee & Crime, you won’t find “an author standing up there lecturing from a podium,” Sacco says. “They’re sitting down, at eye level with the audience,” as people drink coffee and dive deep into conversation about sleuths and villains.
Sacco credits Mary Alice Gorman and Richard Goldman, who owned Mystery Lovers from its opening until 2012, for creating a strong foundation and a loyal customer base. “They kept it going for 22 years,” Sacco says. “They continue to support us and be good advocates in the community. We’ve gotten a lot of goodwill from authors who know them and want to come to the store because they knew Richard and Mary Alice.”
“I think people want conversation, they want a human connection,” says Susan Hans O’Connor, owner of Sewickley’s Penguin Bookshop. “They want to talk about ideas; they want to talk about books they’ve already read or that they haven’t read that they should read.”
Stephanie Flom, executive director of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures, agrees that conversation and that the sharing of ideas are key.
“Independent bookstores are essential to the health of our community,” Flom says. “We say that the mission of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures is to create community, stimulate public discourse and inspire creativity and a passion for the literary arts. Isn’t that what happens in indie bookstores every day?”
Ready to go exploring? Here’s a guide to some of Pittsburgh’s coolest literary hangouts. Read more!
As we explored six of Pittsburgh’s best, we set out to solve a mystery: How have these unique businesses, some nearly a century old and others much newer, escaped the fate of chain stores such as Waldenbooks and Borders?
A few years ago, independent bookstores nationwide were in peril. But instead of becoming anachronistic outposts of literacy, independent bookshops are now thriving.
According to the American Booksellers Association, approximately 570 independent bookstores have opened in the U.S. since 2009, bringing the total number of shops to a little over 2,200.
 | |||
| Author Dennis Palumbo visits Oakmont. Image courtesy of Mystery Lovers Bookshop. |
Mystery Lovers Bookshop
Oakmont Opened: 1990
When Natalie Sacco and her husband Trevor Thomas bought Mystery Lovers Bookshop three years ago, they knew there was a tradition to uphold. The cozy shop in Oakmont’s business district has been the pulse of Western Pennsylvania’s mystery community for 28 years. Any attempts to deviate from the mystery genre would not only devastate devoted readers, but also be economically foolish.
“Mystery Lovers has been able to weather all those storms because of that niche,” Sacco says. “The store has always held on to this very core customer base. You have these mystery fans who want to talk to people. They want to talk about mysteries and get recommendations.” Since it opened in 1990, Mystery Lovers has known how to pick winners: They’ve hosted numerous unknown writers who went on to huge careers, including Laura Lippman, Dennis Lehane, Lisa Scottoline, Craig Johnson, and Ian Rankin.
It’s a great place to meet authors one-on-one. At the ongoing event series, Coffee & Crime, you won’t find “an author standing up there lecturing from a podium,” Sacco says. “They’re sitting down, at eye level with the audience,” as people drink coffee and dive deep into conversation about sleuths and villains.
Sacco credits Mary Alice Gorman and Richard Goldman, who owned Mystery Lovers from its opening until 2012, for creating a strong foundation and a loyal customer base. “They kept it going for 22 years,” Sacco says. “They continue to support us and be good advocates in the community. We’ve gotten a lot of goodwill from authors who know them and want to come to the store because they knew Richard and Mary Alice.”
“I think people want conversation, they want a human connection,” says Susan Hans O’Connor, owner of Sewickley’s Penguin Bookshop. “They want to talk about ideas; they want to talk about books they’ve already read or that they haven’t read that they should read.”
Stephanie Flom, executive director of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures, agrees that conversation and that the sharing of ideas are key.
“Independent bookstores are essential to the health of our community,” Flom says. “We say that the mission of Pittsburgh Arts & Lectures is to create community, stimulate public discourse and inspire creativity and a passion for the literary arts. Isn’t that what happens in indie bookstores every day?”
Ready to go exploring? Here’s a guide to some of Pittsburgh’s coolest literary hangouts. Read more!
Film Courage: A Good Story Is Unforgettable by Dr. Ken Atchity
Nancy Nigrosh: An agent's perspective on diversity in Hollywood
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| Female directors are finding more opportunity in Hollywood, including on TV's "Jessica Jones." Zetna Fuentes, left, Mairzee Almas, Millicent Shelton, Liz Friedlander (seated), Rosemary Rodriguez, Jet Wilkinson. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times) |
Regarding "Things Are Getting Better for Women Behind the Camera in TV" [March 11]: Kudos to the current crop of prominent showrunners on their commitment "to break old habits" of gender-based bias by influencing their TV studio employers to hire more diverse directors. However, given my 23 years as a literary and talent agent, I was struck by the reference to industry gatekeepers as "typically agents with a tried-and-true Rolodex." Hardly. In my experience, agents have always pushed back on the institutionalized mind-set to exclude women and minority clients.
Without the agent perspective on how hard won the recently open climate truly is, the story is incomplete.
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Steve Alten's MEG Comics!
With
a major motion picture coming out this Summer! The best way to prepare
yourself, is to make sure you pickup your copies of Steve Alten's The
"MEG" comics.
The comics are currently available for order via comic book stores (www.comicshoplocator.com).
Issue #1 Rough Layouts
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