-ANNOUNCEMENT-
On March 2nd we (Loyd Auerbach and Richard L. Wren) will be hosting the "FIRST ANNUAL EAST BAY AREA LOCAL AUTHORS BOOK FAIRE" at The Oak Room of Grace Presbyterian Church, 2100 Tice Valley Boulevard, Walnut Creek, California. It will be BY LOCAL AUTHORS FOR LOCAL AUTHORS” and will be free to the (book-buying) public. Cost per author will be a share of hall rental (approx. $25-$35 per author, on the lower side as we get more people signed up), plus we're asking an additional $10.00 above that for publicity and snacks. Each author will have a large table space to display and sell their books, and will also have time on the room's platform stage for a brief reading, remarks, and/or Q & A session. We expect a maximum of 15 authors and already have about 7 signed up. We expect the event will last from late morning to late afternoon. Exact timing TBD.
We have someone who will publicize the event and expect newspaper, radio and TV coverage along with promotion in Rossmoor. We are also seeking promotion by independent book stores, and already have promotional support by book stores such as A GREAT GOOD PLACE FOR BOOKS in Montclair. The venue itself ( a separate hall at Grace Presbyterian Church complex) will promote to their large community, as will HCH Institute in Lafayette, where Loyd teaches.
Contact: Loyd Auerbach: (925) 518-4071
Richard Wren, Author
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​Finding it's never too late to start a new career, Richard Wren reinvented himself in his 80s as a novelist. CASEY'S SLIP (2011) published at age 85 and JOSHUA'S REVENGE at age 86. And he has great practical info for folks who want to write a novel and get published.

Poor Richard Publishers take pleasure in announcing the release of JOSHUA'S REVENGE. Richard L Wren's newest mystery novel is now available on AMAZON and will be available in book stores by July.
Below is what the OAKLAND TRIBUNE says about JOSHUA'S REVENGE.     "Richard L. Wren masterfully merges disparate worlds -- first in “Casey’s Slip,” where he forged a bond between a sailor and a surly biker. And now he’s done it again in “Joshua’s Revenge,” throwing a charming, talented Yosemite park ranger in the middle of a Chinese drug ring. His characters are always vivid and vocal, and his plots have more crags and crevices than the backside of Half Dome. Fun to read." -- ANGELA HILL, OAKLAND TRIBUNE.
Richard Wren

When:  Saturday 6/16/12, 10:00 AM to 1:30 PM.
Where: TERZETTO CUISINE RESTAURANT, 1419 Moraga Way, Moraga, CA.
What: Introducing my newest mystery novel, JOSHUA'S REVENGE.   PLUS, an open invitation to discuss my author's guide, KISS. (Keep It Simple & Successful)
Richard Wren
Author

On Saturday May 19th, I’ve been invited to speak and chat at A GREAT GOOD PLACE FOR BOOKS, about my new booklet KISS. The book store is advertising it as for authors, prospective authors, wanna-be authors and fledgling authors. The booklet has been acclaimed so relevant by a professor at John F Kennedy University (Pleasant Hill, CA.) that he is adding it to his “required reading” list for his “Media & Publishing” graduate level course.
I will also be introducing my soon to be released next novel, “JOSHUA’S REVENGE,” at the event.  Poor Richard Publishers is announcing that the release date for JOSHUA’S REVENGE,” Is scheduled for June 1st. 2012. The booklet has been selling very well on the internet and I’m fielding many calls from prospective authors about my experiences and success.  If you think you may someday want to write or have a friend that does, come on over.  Refreshments will be served.
A GREAT GOOD PLACE FOR BOOKS. 6120 LA SALLE AVE. OAKLAND, CA. 7:00 TO 9:00 PM.  (510) 893-1051 (IN THE HEART OF MONTCLAIR VILLAGE)
Richard Wren,
Author

​Give 'Em Hill: Never too old to start living the dreamBy Angela Hill Oakland Tribune
Sunday April 29, 2012
Richard Wren is living the dream.
My dream.
Not the one where I'm in a really cramped elevator and the buttons don't work and the elevator misses my floor and just keeps going up and up and finally opens onto a super high rooftop and there's no railing around the edge and I freak out and wake up half dangling off the side of the bed, which surely doesn't mean anything at all.
No, I'm talking about the more pleasant dream of writing mystery novels, starting my own publishing company, making my own deadlines, occasionally sipping iced tea in the backyard and maybe building a planter or two for strawberries in the spring.
Richard, who resides in a lovely home in the Oakland foothills with his even lovelier high school-sweetheart wife, Betty (they both went to Oakland Tech), has not only accomplished all of the above, but is also one of those annoying people who has developed a happy regimen of writing at least three pages a day without fail, immersing himself in a world of characters, counterplots and copyrights and pounding out a book in a matter of months -- all while I toil away with barely two synapses to rub together, trapped by daily deadlines, constantly on the verge of bypassing them because the buttons on my keyboard don't work and ...
Anyway, Richard published his first book last fall, an Oakland-based mystery called "Casey's Slip" (available on Amazon in hard copy and e-book form). In addition, he already has a second novel in the bag ("Joshua's Revenge," to be released in June), plus a booklet on writing books, plus a third mystery in the works, plus a slick website, plus dozens of ideas "circling around" in his head at any given moment.
Left to his own literary devices, he can turn a phrase on a dime into a 400-page novel.
The plot thickens
Oh, and he's 86. Did I mention he's 86? Well, he's 86, and this is a brand new career for him after more than six decades in the insurance business specializing in estate-tax planning. He'd always wanted to write, always had a rambunctious imagination, coming up with fantastic bedtime stories when his four daughters were small -- things like how a wee hamburger yearned to be a beefy New York steak (maybe he could publish a children's book and call it Casey's Slab!). But he never took pen to paper back then.
Now with fingertips to keyboard, he has completely reinvented himself (he even pitched the headline for this column: "Old Fart Gets New Start") and is working toward his very own dream.
"My dream is to be known in Topeka," he said chuckling between sips of iced tea in his backyard, winking a sea-blue eye and showing off his new strawberry planter. "Or it could be Cleveland. That's good too," he said. "The point is just to have a legacy, a little bit of a reputation as a writer out there in the world."
So far, he's becoming well known locally through networking and book signings. But the day is young and so is Richard's spirit, so anything can happen.
Just as it does in his books.
Art imitates life?
"Casey's Slip" is about a happy-go-lucky guy who delivers sailboats up and down the coast, docks one day in Oakland's Fifth Avenue Marina and soon finds himself knee-deep in the midst of murder charges, biker gangs and turmoil.
Now they say you should write what you know and, surprisingly, Richard knows about all of these things. (Some, like the murder charges, only vicariously through a son-in-law police detective -- whew!) But he certainly knows Oakland firsthand, having lived here since age 3. Plus he and Betty are seasoned sailors, having owned four boats over the years.
And a good friend of his is a Hell's Angel.
That one requires some explanation.
Turns out Richard and Betty always kept their boats at that Fifth Avenue Marina, which if you don't know, is filled with, oh, let's say, free spirits -- it's a little bit artist colony, a little bit ThunderDome. At the time, there were a couple of Hell's Angels on live-aboards, and "for some reason, nobody ever stole anything around there, so it was a good place to keep your boat," Richard said. One of those gentlemen became a lifelong pal and is the basis for a character in the book. "Fortunately, he got a kick out of it," Richard said.
Well, if Richard can churn out the books, then maybe I can too.
Yes, I will get right on it.
Not today or the next because, well, I have to go to the store and then, let's see, wash my hair and then I'll probably have to go to the store again and ...
But at least I can dream.
 

SATURDAY, MAY 19, 2012I will be at "A Great Good Place for Books" in Montclair at 7:00 P.M. until about 9:30. Primarily the subject will be about my experiences in writing, editing, proof-reading, self publishing and marketing my books and the resulting "How To" booklet. We will be welcoming any "budding" author, along with anyone interested in writing to come and visit. I will also sign copies of Casey's Slip and take advance orders for JOSHUA'S REVENGE, due to be released in June, 2012.
A Great Good Place for Books
6120 LaSalle Avenue,
Oakland, California.
(510) 339-8210
SATURDAY, JUNE 16, 2012I will be at TERZETTO CUISINE CAFE, in Moraga from 10:00 A.M. to about 2:30 in the afternoon. Subject will be the same as on May 19th. (Terzetto's is a great destination for breakfast,lunch or dinner, if you're so inclined.)
Richard Wren
Author