The "Legends of the Plastic Chairs" Official Book Release Party

My official book release party is coming up on Sunday, November 25th. For this momentous occasion, my friends at Dog Ear Publishing have rented the ballroom of the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills. Naturally, all of Hollywood’s elite will be attending, and Sting is slated to perform as a warm-up to my reading.

Bruce Willis has requested to be my date.



Mmm hmmm...



In reality, my official book release party will be considerably less ostentatious than all that. But I don’t mind. From humble beginnings come great artists. The “Legends of the Plastic Chairs” Official Book Release Party will be held proudly on Sunday at the Thai Swan Restaurant in Orange, California. There may not be any celebrities in attendance, but all the important people in my life will be there. And that’s what it’s all about.

The Thai Swan is a bit of a hole in the wall, but not in a bad way. In a good way! It feels authentic. It’s small, immaculate, smartly decorated, and most importantly there is no finer Thai food in all of Southern California. Lucky for me, the owner of the restaurant is dear friend, Aree Shepard.

Aree is from Thailand and learned to prepare all her sumptuous dishes growing up there. Did you know that Thailand has four distinct culinary regions? Because Thailand is bordered by many countries, the cuisine is a blend of Indian, Chinese, and Malaysian influences. I can’t wait for my friends to try Aree’s delicacies at the party. I’m nearly as excited about promoting her food as I am about pimping my book.

I’ve invited another writer to join the celebration with me. His name is Dave Seymer and his book is a teen thriller entitled “One Wicked Summer,” a suspenseful and hilarious story about 12-year-old Jake Andrews and his friends, and the wickedly unbelievable adventures they have one summer vacation. It will be fun having Dave at the party. He and I graduated from college together, both with the dream of writing a book someday. I’m delighted we achieved our dream in the very same year.

I’ve also invited a musician friend whose latest CD will provide the lyrical backdrop for the event. Dwight Mikkelsen primarily writes movie scores, but he also composes and records the most gorgeous contemporary classical music to ever to grace one’s ears. Dwight was actually the person who came up with the title for my book, “Legends of the Plastic Chairs”. You can read that story here.

The guests at my party will include a conglomeration of family, friends, and acquaintances. A sprinkling of my MySpace contacts have committed to making an appearance. I’m looking forward to meeting these particular people in person. I’ve enjoyed getting to know them electronically and I’m impressed with the support they’ve shown. I really appreciate my eclectic little circle of MySpace “friends.”

The party will go from 2 to 5 PM on Sunday, and I expect a turnout of about 60 people. I have another friend who will be photographing the event so I can display photos on my website later on. I don’t expect that this will turn out to be a conventional book release party…but then again how could it? I am not a conventional writer. “Legends of the Plastic Chairs” is not a conventional book. And I do not have conventional friends.

The party is destined to be extraordinary.