Southern Sonoma Country Life

Are You Ready for an Unforgettable Virtual Roadtrip From the Sonoma Coast Ranchlands Into the Emerald Triangle? Order Your Copy of Big Green Country Today!

Rain is falling heavily over our beloved Sonoma County and neighboring regions. It's colder than usual for this time of year and nights close in early. Perfect timing for a gripping and gritty new novel. 

Big Green Country is published and I have copies. Please do order directly from me for now if you're in the U.S. It is available online, but prices seem to fluctuate on Amazon and my price of $19.99 beats the big mega beast at the current time. I'm also offering bulk discounts for holiday gifts and happy to ship for free in the States. Go to the homepage of this blog, scroll down to the right to find my PayPal store. 

The Kindle price does not fluctuate, so if you're a tablet reader, head to Amazon for the e-book. 

I can't wait to see books in our favorite North Bay bookstores. If you'd like to support a local author and an indie bookstore this Cyber Monday, stop into Copperfields or Book Passage, or Reader's Bookstore in Sonoma, Point Reyes Books . . . and ask to special order a copy. They are available for distribution by Ingram. Hopefully our local bookstores will decide to stock a few more for the holiday season. 

Also, I will have more details to post tomorrow on my first meet and greet with books at the former Seed Bank in downtown Petaluma this Saturday, December 7th during the annual Merchants' Holiday Open House event. Pick up copies from me during the day. 

 

Windrush Farm Holiday Art Faire — Saturday & Sunday Nov 30th and Dec 1st 10 am to 3 pm

Raymond Briggs "The Snowman" Featuring Steven Harrison, Tenor from The Metropolitan Opera of NYC, Hotel Petaluma Dec 19, 20 & 21 — Presented by Petaluma Shakespeare Company

This December, Petaluma Shakespeare Company presents a Christmas musical animated story time, The Snowman, by Raymond Briggs, a classic, heartwarming experience that brings more than a snowman to life for the whole family. Guaranteed to spread Christmas cheer and childlike wonder. Performed at the Hotel Petaluma in the main ballroom and featuring Steven Harrison, tenor from The Metropolitan Opera of NYC.

I remember when Raymond Briggs' The Snowman movie took Britain by holiday snow storm in 1985. Fifteen-year-old Welsh choirboy Aled Jones' angelic rendition of "Walking in the Air" topped the UK charts that Christmas. I was in my late teens and still living in England. 

When I became a mom to my own three sons here in Northern California, I made it our tradition to watch The Snowman every Christmas Eve. I wanted my boys to feel the magic and simplicity and joy of the message of The Snowman. 

And so I'm really excited to attend the first of three shows produced by the wonderful Kristina Wenz and Petaluma Shakespeare Company, this holiday season, right here in the heart of Petaluma in the lovely main ballroom of the Petaluma Hotel. Won't you join me?

 

• Thursday, December 19th @ 8pm
• Friday, December 20th@ 7pm
• Saturday, December 21st @ 7pm
• $10/General Admission
• Tickets at http://www.brownpapertickets.com

 

The Cardinal Club — A Daughter's Journey to Acceptance — A New Memoir by Southern Sonoma County Author Suzanne Maggio

I'm inordinately proud of my dear friend Suzanne Maggio as she celebrates her debut book launch this week. Her first book, The Cardinal's Club, A Daughter's Journey to Acceptance — published by Adelaide Books, is an extraordinarily vivid and riveting memoir, a story that will make you laugh and cry.

After Suzanne's demanding and self-absorbed mother developed dementia, the author was compelled to apply the wisdom she'd acquired from decades of experience as a family therapist to her own family. 

As one of Suzanne's early readers, I loved her beautifully detailed, tender, compassionate re-examination of a complex mother/daughter relationship. The Cardinal Club is written with graceful prose and kindness — a guidebook to rethinking self-worth through our reactions to loss and grief.

I especially enjoyed Suzanne's nostalgic and moving depiction of her New Jersey Italian/American childhood in the 1960s and 70s as well as her evocative family trips to Italy. Her attention to detail as a memoir writer is remarkable. 

After a 30 year career as a licensed clinical social worker, Suzanne now trains the new generation of helpers as a university lecturer in  Psychology, Counseling and Social Work here in Sonoma County. The granddaughter of Italian immigrants, she grew up understanding the importance of family and the pleasures of gathering around a dining room table laden with good company and delicious food. 

"I have long been fascinated with the human condition, the ability we have to face enormous struggles and come through them, often the stronger for it," says Suzanne. "I have seen it over and over again in the people I've worked with. Resilience humbles me. We are stronger than we know."

Click here to purchase The Cardinal's Club, A Daughter's Journey to Acceptance by Suzanne Maggio, now available on Amazon.com and other major online retailers. 

Hopefully our local bookstores will be on board in ordering copies in support of local authors such as Suzanne who have moved small mountains in getting important new stories into print.

Click here for Suzanne's website. 

photo: Sara Rosalsky

Cover Reveal for "Big Green Country" — A Novel by Frances Rivetti — Available Very Soon (Late Nov 2019)

It's with great excitement and some nail-biting that I'm finally able to announce that after three-and-a-half long years of work my debut novel "Big Green Country"  is available to pre-order on Amazon and will be in print in time for Christmas. An e-book will also be available in the coming weeks. 

I've just decided to add an option to buy directly from me as author/publisher via PayPal as soon as the book is uploaded and ready for print. I will add that button to buy here on my blog site and will share via an updated post and social media. 

Big Green Country is a gripping and unforgettable family suspense story lifting the veil from the shrouded secrecy surrounding the ugly underbelly of Northern California's complex cannabis culture.

Culling from my research as an independent journalist at home at the gateway to the region's infamous Redwood Curtain, I have painted a gritty, graphic fictional portrait of the contemporary Green-Rush from one women-driven family's unique perspective — the lure, the benefits, the potential for boom and bust, but most importantly, its impact on the human condition and the real and present danger posed to young women attracted by large cash earnings.

Big Green Country is a controversial crisis of rural poverty, environmental issues, immigration, addiction, a broken health care system, alternative medicine and the stark reality of human trafficking within the region known as the Emerald Triangle.

This book is suitable for readers 18 and over due to its graphic content.

I'm also delighted to unveil a brand new FrancesRivetti.com website for my books, indie published under Fog Valley Press. 

Please take a few minutes to explore my new site, produced by the wonderful and talented Dana Weitzenberg of Southern Sonoma County-based Lobstervine Web Design & Development. Do sign up for my book release newsletter. I promise not to send too many mailchimp e-missives, only when there's book news to report such as launch events, readings and signings which I will be planning in the New Year. 

I'll be working on getting Big Green Country into physical bookstores as soon as possible, it may take a couple of weeks from the first orders for print books to arrive, so please be patient. The good news is I am printing with IngramSpark and as Ingram Content Book Group is the world's biggest book distributor, book stores should have no problem ordering copies. 

If you do purchase hard copies before Christmas and I hope so, I encourage you to bring them for me to sign at one of my launch events after the holidays. 

 

 

 

Petaluma to the Playa Exhibit, Petaluma Arts Center — Artists Who Create For and Document Burning Man November 23rd 2019 through January 18th, 2020

If you've never been to Burning Man and wish you had — or not, now's your chance to experience a selection of the art and originality of this unique annual gathering of creative, free thinking souls, many of whom are home-based in the Petaluma Area. Petaluma Arts Center hosts Petaluma to The Playa, November 23rd 2019 through January 18th, 2020 featuring work of artists who document for and create Burning Man. 

Exhibition Opening Day — November 23rd, 2019

Hat Making Workshop:  12pm - 4pm Click here to register. 
Bliss Studio Tour 4pm - 6pm
Mutant bicycle decorating and community parade 12pm - 4pm 

See PAC for more info.

Home for the Holidays — Fabulous Women Festival of Trees, Petaluma Hotel, Friday, Dec 6th 6-9pm, Saturday, Dec 7th, 3-9pm

Petaluma Heritage Homes 2019 Lighted Holiday Parlor Tour — Sunday Dec 8th 5pm to 8pm

Heritage Homes & Landmarks, a committee of the Petaluma Museum Association, is pleased to announce an evening house tour on December 8th of three vintage homes decorated for the the holidays. The tour also features a stop at the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum at 20 Fourth Street, where refreshments will be served. Proceeds from ticket sales directly benefit the programs of the Petaluma Museum Association.

The houses on this year’s tour were built circa 1870 through 1910 and feature the superb craftsmanship we associate with Victorian architecture. What was once termed a “parlor” in days of yore now translates into a living and/or family room, now lavishly trimmed with ornamented trees, garlands and festive lighting for the occasion. Each house’s dining room and kitchen will also be available for viewing. Docents will add commentary about architecture and house histories.

This year’s tour houses are conveniently located within a ten-square-block area of Petaluma, south of the historic downtown area, enabling many tour-goers to walk from house to house. Another option is to drive from one location to the other.

Tour details: Sunday, December 8, 2019, 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $20 for adults and teens, $10 for children 12 and under. Advance tickets may be purchased online at petalumamuseum.com. Actual tickets may be picked up at the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum, 20 Fourth Street, beginning November 21.

 

Kick off the "Haunting Season" with a Double Shot of Haunting — Petaluma Shakespeare Company Presents Macbeth — Oct 10-12 at The Phoenix Theater & October 13 at Foundry Wharf

Kick off the "haunting season" with a double shot of haunting!   It is well know that Shakespeare's MACBETH has had strange hauntings and happenings whenever it is played. And it is also well known in this neck of the woods that The Phoenix Theater in Petaluma has its own reputation in that department. Who knows what will happen when we bring the two elements together and so close to All Hallows Eve. Join in and find out! Petaluma Shakespeare Company’s upcoming production of Macbeth promises to be special theatrical event for the Petaluma and greater Sonoma County communities.  As a “pocket production” this play features a small cast of five super talented and versatile actors who will play all the roles while retaining the original text. Edited and directed by accomplished director and Shakespeare scholar, Dr. John Langdon, most recently returned to Petaluma from his former post as the DR Elite Scholar to the Shakespeare Institute of the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom based in Shakespeare’s hometown of Stratford upon Avon, his Macbeth promises to engage the audience in new and exciting ways.  Be prepared to laugh, gasp, and weep as you watch the rise of tyrant who, although he had never initially thought of being king, once shown the crown by agents of fate, seizes and holds his throne in the very bloodiest of ways. Be ready to confront the witches and spirits of ancient Scotland, and, of course, the murderous tyrant himself — Macbeth!   Tickets available now! The Phoenix Theater, 201 Washington Street, Petaluma CA 94952 The Foundry Wharf, (a free show, but donations will be appreciated!) 2nd and H Street, Petaluma CA 94952 TICKETS

October Update on My Upcoming Novel — Big Green Country

It's been a while since I've posted regularly on Southern Sonoma Country Life. I haven't forgotten about you, or all of the great things I like to write about and share from this wonderful corner of the world. I've been busier than ever finishing up my fictional debut. 

Things are gearing up with readying my manuscript to put my first novel into print, hopefully before the end of this year and ideally in time for the holidays. 

There's so much to do to make that happen. In the meantime, I've been snapping photos that remind me of the places in the story of Big Green Country, whenever I'm out and about in Northern California. It will be fun to share pictures every so often, seeing as there typically are no photos in a novel and I am so used to capturing images for my writing.  

This first picture wasn't intended to be of my and Rosie's shadow, but it's the first one I'm posting here as I took it back on one of my early location scouting roadtrips up in Humboldt County where much of the action takes place. 

This picture of one of the historical dairy ranches out at Point Reyes reminds me of how I see the fictional old McCleery dairy ranch further up on the Sonoma Coast and where the story starts and ends. 

Big Green Country is very much a road trip suspense story. Expect to be swept through the Russian River and up into the Emerald Triangle beyond the Redwood Curtain during rainy season. I can't wait for winter readings during stormy evenings. 

I'll keep you posted when I have a better idea as to when the book will be ready to roll!