If you have trouble steaming up the page, this is the workshop for you. Spend a day with poet, travel writer and novelist Linda Watanabe McFerrin loosening up and learning the techniques for adding spicy, sensual, and sometimes funny sizzle to your work. The class is full of quick free-writes and entertaining exercises that will have you moving from comfort to erogenous zones in no time. Linda’s workshops are a starting point for many successful writers. She’s the founder of Left Coast Writers® and co-editor of the Hot Flashes: Sexy Little Stories and Poems series.

The workshop fee includes, champagne, chocolate, a delicious lunch and a sexy potluck.

Linda is the perfect teacher for this class and topic. She treated us with enormous dignity while maintaining her brilliant sense of irreverence.
– A.B.

Great to get the juices flowing.  Safe, fun, sassy.  I would like to take this class again.
—L.K.

Excellent, quite delicious and informative.
– C.S.

Yummy!
– M.F.

Please join us for the book launch party for An Erotic Alphabet sponsored by Left Coast Writers. Author Laurie McQueen will discuss the joys and perils of writing and editing erotica, and read a few rhymes from An Erotic Alphabet.

Wine will be served, so please bring a designated driver. The party will include a complimentary packet of “Quickies” Chocolate Body Frosting with every purchase of An Erotic Alphabet (just $7.95). This is a one-time-only, perfectly-pre-Valentine’s Day event: together, the book and Quickies will make an unforgettable Valentine’s Day gift for your sweetheart!

Want to really steam up the page? This is the workshop for you. Spend a day with poet, travel writer, novelist and editor, Linda Watanabe McFerrin, loosening up and learning the techniques for sizzle to your work. Spicy, sensual, sometimes funny, the class is full of quick free-writes and entertaining exercises that will have you moving from comfort to erogenous zones in no time. Linda’s workshops are a starting point for many successful writers. They’re exciting, generative and always loads of fun.
She’s the founder of Left Coast Writers® and co-editor of Hot Flashes: sexy little stories and poems.

Linda is the perfect teacher for this class and topic. She treated us with enormous dignity while maintaining her brilliant sense of irreverence.
– A.B.

Great to get the juices flowing. Safe, fun, sassy. I would like to take this class again.
—L.K.

Excellent, quite delicious and informative.
– C.S.

Yummy!
– M.F.

Camille Cusumano delighted Left Coast Writers® the evening of January 5th with her love of tango in words and dance. Cusumano’s latest book from Seal Press (2008) “Tango: An Argentine Love Story” shares her tales of literary adventure and an eventful year and a half in Buenos Aires practicing tango and Zen. One day Camille packed her bags, slit skirts, and tango shoes and moved to Argentina for what she thought would be a two-month trip. It turned into a year and a half love affair, the result of which is a smoothly written memoir that is romantic, redemptive and as captivating as the dance it celebrates. We asked Camille to share some of her favorite tango venues in the Bay Area, in New York and in Buenos Aires. Here are her milonga recommendations:

In SF - La Pista at 768 Brannan (between 6th and 7th streets) - Thurs nites, 9 pm til 12:30 am. web site: http://www.lapistatango.com/

http://www.batango.com/ - is a Web site for SF Bay Area - and of course www.tangomango.org has a lot of info.

In NYC: La Nacional - 239 W. 14th Street (between 7th & 8th aves) - Greenwich Village. Thursday nights - check for classes - milonga starts at 9 pm - goes til after midnight. http://www.tangolanacional.com/main.html

A great web site for New York tango: http://www.newyorktango.com/

Two in Buenos Aires (hard to pick just two)
—the text is pasted from her site post “Tango for armchair travelers” http://www.camillecusumano.com/uncategorized/tango-buenos-aires-for-armchair-observers/

Confiteria La ideal, 384 Suipacha at Corrientes, Mon. (3-10pm), Wed. (3-8 pm), Thurs. (10 pm-3 am), and Fri (3-8 pm) - Climb the marble stairs in this old salon to a spacious hall with dark wood panel, beveled mirrors, ancient chandeliers. This is where Madonna danced tango Evita. For those who don’t care for the late night milongas, La Ideal’s afternoon one is lively and superb. Thurs. evenings features a live orchestra-such as Los Reyes de Tango, Color tango, San Souci, Original Tango, and the Sextet Mayor. Check the schedule while you’re here.

Salon Canning, 1331 Scalabrini Ortiz at Cabrera, Sun. (3pm - 11 pm), Wed. (3pm - 11pm) Tues. (11pm - 4 am) Four Greek columns mark the entrance to Salon Canning, which celebrated its golden anniversary in 2006. The hall is a mandala with lots of air and a high ceiling-a resolute understanding of the value of negative space (at a premium in Buenos Aires). A glitter ball spins and four speaker boxes hang in the cardinal directions. In the hipster Palermo barrio, this warm orange- and gold-painted hall features a beautiful square wooden floor and an enlarged photo mural painting on one wall with some well-known people in it.

For more info about Camille Cusumano: www.camillecusumano.com

Watch San Francisco Bay Area comic/performance artist Samantha Chanse demonstrate: How to Stuff A Christmas Stocking.

– Laurie McQueen