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Stars, Secrets & Sunflowers: a Fall Back In Time Dinner Adventure featuring Kristin Harmel, Alka Joshi, Martha Hall Kelly

November 7, 2021 @ 3:00 pm - 5:30 pm PST

$28.00 – $64.00

About the Live, In Person, Event

It’s that time of year again – time to turn your clocks back one hour and gain an extra hour of sleep in anticipation of cooler weather, perfect for curling up with a good book. And what better way to fall back in time, to the mid-1860’s and late-1960’s, than by diving into not one, not two, but three fascinating works of historical fiction.

Please join us as we welcome NYT bestselling authors Kristin Harmel, Alka Joshi, and Martha Hall Kelly at our fun Fall Back In Time Dinner Adventure at Café Coyote, as the authors discuss their respective books, The Forest of Vanishing Stars (an evocative coming-of-age World War II story based partially on incredible true accounts of survival), The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, (henna artist Lakshmi arranges for her protégé to intern at the Jaipur Palace), and Sunflower Sisters (the story of a Union nurse during the Civil War whose calling leads her to cross paths with a young enslaved girl).

Your Adventure includes a signature Cafe Coyote Mexican dinner, chips and salsa, a soft beverage, tax, gratuity, author presentation, book signing, and the opportunity to engage in meaningful and intimate conversation with all three authors. And if you really want the full Stars, Secrets, and Sunflowers experience, make sure to join the VIP Dinner (requires purchase of 3 book discounted bundle), which includes a margarita, and a 30 minute meet and greet with the authors.

PLEASE NOTE: Dinner event begins at 3:45 pm. VIP reception begins at 3:00 pm. Only books purchased below or at the event will be eligible for signing.

 

About the Authors and Books

Kristin Harmel is the New York Times bestselling, USA Today bestselling, and #1 international bestselling author of The Book of Lost Names, The Winemaker’s Wife, and a dozen other novels that have been translated into twenty-nine languages and are sold all over the world.

A former reporter for PEOPLE magazine, Kristin has been writing professionally since the age of 16, when she began her career as a sportswriter, covering Major League Baseball and NHL hockey for a local magazine in Tampa Bay, Florida in the late 1990s. After stints covering health and lifestyle for American Baby, Men’s Health, and Woman’s Day, she became a reporter for PEOPLE magazine while still in college and spent more than a decade working for the publication, covering everything from the Super Bowl to high-profile murders to celebrity interviews. Her favorite stories at PEOPLE, however, were the “Heroes Among Us” features—tales of ordinary people doing extraordinary things.

Her new historical novel, The Forest of Vanishing Stars, based partially on incredible true stories of survival against staggering odds, is an evocative coming-of-age World War II story about a young woman who uses her knowledge of the wilderness to help Jewish refugees escape the Nazis—until a secret from her past threatens everything.

 

Born in Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India, Alka Joshi has lived in the U.S. since the age of nine. She has a BA from Stanford University and an MFA from California College of the Arts. She ran her own advertising and PR agency for 30 years. The Henna Artist was her first novel. Currently, she is working on the third book of the trilogy and a screen adaption of The Henna Artist.

For decades, she wrote advertising commercials and marketing copy. It was her husband who urged her to try fiction. He encouraged her to take evening workshops, which she really enjoyed. When she enrolled in the MFA program in Creative Writing at the age of 51, her instructors were so generous with their praise that she began to feel like a semi-serious writer. It wasn’t until her literary agent notified her that MIRA Books, a division of Harper Collins, had sent a really good contract that she realized she’d become an author!

In Alka’s intriguing new novel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur, henna artist Lakshmi arranges for her protégé, Malik, to intern at the Jaipur Palace in this tale rich in character, atmosphere, and lavish storytelling. While this is a stand alone novel, The Secret Keeper of Jaipur picks up where international bestselling novel The Henna Artist, a Reese Witherspoon and Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick, leaves off.

 

Martha Hall Kelly is the New York Times bestselling author of the 1.5-million-copy bestselling novel Lilac Girls and Lost Roses. A native New Englander, Martha enjoys spending her days filling legal pads with stories and reading World War II books.

Inspired by true accounts, Martha’s new work of historical fiction, Sunflower Sisters, provides a vivid, detailed look at the Civil War experience, from the barbaric and inhumane plantations, to a war-torn New York City, to the horrors of the battlefield. It’s a sweeping story of women caught in a country on the brink of collapse, in a society grappling with nationalism and unthinkable racial cruelty, a story still so relevant today.

Lilac Girls introduced readers to Caroline Ferriday, an American philanthropist who helped young girls released from Ravensbruck concentration camp. Now, in Sunflower Sisters, Kelly tells the story of her ancestor Georgeanna Woolsey, a Union nurse who joins the war effort during the Civil War, and how her calling leads her to cross paths with Jemma, a young enslaved girl who is sold off and conscripted into the army, and Anne-May Wilson, a southern plantation mistress whose husband enlists.

About Café Coyote

For over 30 years Café Coyote has remained one of San Diego’s Landmark Restaurants located in the Heart of Old Town San Diego’s Historic Walking District. A friendly staff, loyal patrons, delicious Mexican Food, and a Festive Atmosphere have contributed to Café Coyote’s being Voted Best Mexican Restaurant 18 Years In A Row!

 

 

 

Details

Date:
November 7, 2021
Time:
3:00 pm - 5:30 pm PST
Cost:
$28.00 – $64.00
Event Categories:
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Event Tags:
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Venue

Cafe Coyote
2461 San Diego Ave
San Diego, CA 92110 United States
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