Mendocino historian Malcolm Macdonald discusses his recent book, The Mendocino Outlaws, and local poet Joycelyn Trigg reads from her poetry collection Vital Records.

The Mendocino Outlaws chronicles a gang of outlaws who murdered and terrorized Mendocino coastal residents in 1879 and 1880, and the heroic locals, including Doc Standley, who pursued them and brought them to trial.

Vital Records melds the two worlds of the South and the Northern Pacific Coast. It explores family dynamics, tragedy, and the combination of two cultures.

Internationally known author Jean Hegland from Season 2, reading from her book Still Time. Still Time is a book about a man and his family coming to terms with dementia and the end of life. And Fort Bragg fiduciary Maggie Watson from Season 4, about her end-of-life planning workbook, A Graceful Farewell.

Lori Pappas and Blake More, two rebels with something to say. Pappas reads from her inspirational memoir, The Magic of Yes, about childhood trauma, being an entrepreneur, and starting an NGO in Ethiopia. It's a book about finding the wise woman within you. More explores the human condition with her poetry collection, Dystopia Unplugged, a collection of searing poems and imagery that capture the pandemic and the division of our times.

Michelle Blackwell interviews Alyssa Ballard about her long-running video series on TikTok and YouTube, and her recent feature at the Mendocino Film Festival. Frei Barty, the Mendocino County Youth Poet Laureate, will share some of his recent work. And Maggie Watson will talk about the workbook she published that helps people prepare for the end-of-life. Upwelling brings the richness of local literature to the airwaves.

Two local authors David Holper and Maureen Eppstein tackle difficult subjects. David Holper’s Church of the Very Last Chance combines political satire and magical realism. It follows the rise of a middle-class Russian student from lost soul to international religious leader. Maureen Eppstein’s most recent poetry collection, Daughter is memoir through poetry. The three poems she’ll read are about the difficult and painful loss of a stillborn daughter. Maureen grieves on the page, and we grieve with her.

Phillip Zwerling’s Hollywood tell-all, In Search of the Thin Man, explores the lives and work of William Powell, Myrna Loy, and Dashiell Hammett as well as the censorship and politics of old Hollywood. Zwerling writes about how fascism in Germany infiltrated Hollywood in the 1930s. Mendocino County’s first poet laureate Devereaux Baker. Reads three new poems including the award-winning poem The War Tunnel, which explores the loss of those whose every possession is obliterated in war and was partly inspired by the Middle East conflict.

Emily Lloyd-Jones talks about her two recent releases Unspoken Magic for middle-grade readers and The Wild Huntress for young-adult readers. Ginny Rorby discusses her recent novel Girl Under Glass for young-adult readers.

Unspoken Magic is the second title in a delightful middle-grade series set in the magical town of Aldermere. We first met our main characters, Fin, Eddie, and Cedar in Unseen Magic. The town of Aldermere, nestled in the redwood forest, relies on tourists to keep its economy going, but it also has a secret. And that secret is in danger of discovery from some zealous podcasters. The three kids led by Fin, happen across a lost “baby” magical creature the day after the podcasters come to town. They try to both hide the magic and to find the baby’s family so it can go home. The podcasters have other plans.

The Wild Huntress is the third book set in the Welsh mythological universe. We revisit the character Blodeuyn who played a bit part in book two. Here her backstory comes alive and pushes her to find a cure for her mother’s memory sickness. In The Wild Huntress she calls herself Branwen, because if the monsters know her real name it gives them power. We also meet two princes from rival nations. The three of them join together to attempt the impossible without understanding the cost of the prize they seek.

Ginny Rorby's Girl Under Glass is the culmination of fifty years of rumination and is written for young adult and adult readers. It chronicles the life of a teenage girl living with her alcoholic mother in Fort Bragg, California. Kelsey gets herself into trouble on more than one occasion. Through a court-ordered work program, she meets Hobby a retired botanist who is trying to recreate Cleve Baxter’s experiments on plant communication. Hobby and Kelsey’s relationship starts out rocky. Over time Kelsey’s hard outer shell shows some cracks as the two bond and she finds her worth. Like all of Ginny’s books, the story has twists and turns, mysteries, adventures, lies, and tragedies that tug at the heartstrings.

A twin sister disappears and resurfaces after fifteen years. As this mystery unravels, we get to know the family, their traumas, and their relationships. Lisa Manterfield reads from her novel, All Our Lies Are True, and talks about her publishing experience. Kailyn McCord will read from her recently published essays and talk about life and birth on the rural Mendocino coast.