Set in the surf-soaked culture of late 1960s Santa Monica Bay, “Penina’s Letters” follows Salty Persequi, a young soldier returning to a home that no longer feels like his own. Still carrying the grease of the motor pool and the psychological “sound effects” of combat, Salty arrives in Los Angeles to find his childhood neighborhood bulldozed for airport expansion—a physical manifestation of his own internal displacement.
Reunited with his girlfriend, Penina Seablouse, Salty hopes for a quiet return to his old life. Instead, he is thrust into a chaotic homecoming party at Puck Malone’s surfboard shop, where his private thoughts are turned into a public spectacle. The intense, romantic, and often surreal letters Salty wrote to Penina from the war zone are passed around and read aloud, introducing the rift between his idealized memories and the discord of the present.
Penina and Salty return to Refugio, a fictional beach town on Santa Monica Bay, forty years after the close of “Penina’s Letters.” Married for decades, they come back to a community altered by time, pressure, and quiet need, where questions of belonging and responsibility surface in daily life. As a nearby homeless encampment and a young girl named Waif enter Penina’s orbit, the boundaries between private marriage and public obligation blur. Lyrical but grounded, reflective and quietly comic, this character-driven novel explores marriage, community, and displacement for readers drawn to thoughtful contemporary literary fiction. A lyrical, morally attentive novel of marriage and community, with quiet humor and wry observation.
The front cover photo shows the author’s shadow over a tree hollow holding mushrooms that look like bird eggs. The back cover photo for “Coconut Oil” was taken from the northbound Coast Starlight passing the Point at Refugio Beach, a campground north of Santa Barbara, in the late 70’s.
A Whimsical Journey Through the World of Concrete Poetry!
Meet Scamble and Cramble, two “hep cats” who navigate a world where words don’t just tell a story—they create a visual playground. Scamble is a hep cat with stripes moving in every direction, while the wiry, frazzled Cramble often finds himself sitting in the shape of a literal ampersand.
This delightful collection of “tall tales” uses concrete poetry techniques—standard keyboard symbols and accessible fonts—to bring a cast of unforgettable characters to life:
- Emmet the Ant: Watch him march across the very pages of the book.
- Peepa and Moopa: Two true friends building sandcastles by the surf.
- Frankie and Roxy: Rescued tabby sisters discovering the difference between the “inside” and the “outside.”
- Ms. Dress and Mr. Shorts: Sophisticated cats who enjoy “garage sailing” and tea time.
- Juicy Droolzy: The dog from across the street who is “all over the place.”
From the high-flying adventures of ZZ swinging over the moon to the poignant memories of Oliver the orange tabby, these stories celebrate the curious, playful, and sometimes moody nature of our feline friends. Whether it’s a “Punctuation Parade” or a quiet moment in a “Portrait of Zoe,” this book is a children’s work for readers of all ages who appreciate wit, design, and the magic of a story well-told.
“What a hep cat is and what a hep cat does is the same thing…”
“Experience, though noon auctoritee / Were in this world, is right ynogh for me / To speke of wo that is in marriage…”
Meet Alma Lolloon, a career part-time waitress in Portland, Oregon, a five-time widow, and an aspiring novelist with a “work-in-progress” that is as messy and vibrant as life itself. Saturday mornings, Alma meets with the “knitting ladies” at local coffee shops to read her latest chapters. What follows is a sharp-witted, metafictional journey through the red dust of memory, marriage, and the struggle to find one’s own voice.
“Alma Lolloon” is a satirical deconstruction of the literary world, seen through the eyes of a woman who knows about people from behind a diner counter. As Alma recounts her experience with her five husbands—from a soldier drafted to Vietnam to a corporate executive—she must contend with the biting critiques of her own audience, including the pedantic Hattie, who demands a “traditional plot” where Alma only offers raw experience.
Of interest to fans of experimental fiction, academic satire, and character-driven literary works, “Alma Lolloon” challenges the reader to drop their expectations and pick up the thread of a life lived out of bounds.
Pick up your copy today and join the knitting ladies for a cup of coffee and a story you won’t soon forget.
A surreal, genre-bending odyssey through the red dust of business, minor gods, and the ultimate search for simplicity. Glaucus is a mistake of the gods. Part human, part something else, he has the rare ability to change his size at will—though the cost of energy is high and the results are often random. Working as an in-house Risk Manager for an elite brokerage specializing in extreme and unusual risks, Glaucus finds himself gobsmacked when a massive $300 million transaction is hacked and vanishes into cyberspace. From the rain-slicked streets of Seattle to the sun-drenched vine country of California, “Inventories” follows Glaucus on a picaresque journey to recover the missing file. Along the way, he encounters a cast of eccentric characters. Written in 81 “episodes,” “Inventories” is a philosophical exploration of agency versus accident, the absurdity of modern commerce, and the inventories we take of our own lives when we finally decide to walk away from it all. Perfect for fans of metaphysical fiction, urban surrealism, and literary satire.
101 Variations on a Theme of Exile, Memory, and the Moonlight. What happens when an ancient Chinese poem becomes a lifelong obsession? “Li Po’s Restless Night” presents a series of “improvisations” inspired by the classical Chinese poet Li Po’s famous work. Moving through 101 poetic variations, the work explores a life spent between the rigid world of business and the fluid world of memory. From the barracks of Fort Huachuca to the lonely neon glow of modern motels, these poems navigate the space between who we are and where we call home. Includes an explanatory essay: A moving story of Florence, the student and teacher and friend who translates and introduces the Li Po poem, and a history of reading Li Po translations. “Li Po’s Restless Night” may interest students of classical Chinese literature or travelers looking for a companion on a sleepless night.
SALT-SPRITZED AND WEATHERED, there is a seasoned quality to the writing in “Saltwort,” a sprawling, fifty-year collection (1967–2017) that invites readers to “dance freely” through a landscape where the literal and the figurative merge.
From the surf-washed beaches of 1960s California to the “red dust” of the modern business world, these poems and prose pieces capture the rhythm of a life lived in the key of blues and jazz. The extraordinary is found in the mundane: a plumber’s van with a shelf for books among the tools, the ritual of Army coffee, the “frizzled” harvest of a pumpkin patch, and the quiet vertigo of an urgent care waiting room.
FROM GRITTY REALISM TO SURREAL JAZZ RIFFS, the language of “Saltwort” is deeply attuned to the music of the sentence. Whether riffing on Kafka or baseball, the voice remains unfiltered and honest. The collection features a delightful blend of humor, satire, and irony—including a sestina featuring Charles Bukowski, a form the “brewed bard” likely never used, which transforms into a lyrical, gutter-full beauty. Guided by a foreword from Salvador Persequi (of “Penina’s Letters”), the reader is invited to take shoes off and paddle out into the waves of an observer’s career.
YOU’LL FIND Coastal Reflections: Surfers, “seaweed cabbage,” and the salt air of the West Coast…
Jazz & Blues Rhythms: Writing that moves with the improvisational spirit of a B-flat minor seventh chord…
The Human Condition: Observations and reflections on work, aging, and family.
For readers of Bukowski, Brautigan, the Beats, or the “non-Newtonian” flow of modern verse, “Saltwort” offers a voice that is rhythmic, enduring, and all of a piece.
“Saltwort“
The Coming of the Toads 