Switching to Goddess by Jeri Lyn Studebaker

The author argues that the 6000-year-old switch from guiding mother goddesses to skky/war/father gods must be examined and reversed if humanity is to survive.  

Join us at BookWoman to discuss this book.  

Join Agnes Eva Savich and Allyson Whipple as they read from their hot-off-the press books: free verse from Agnes's first poetry collection and fiction from Allyson's new novella. You can find more info about Agnes on her author blog; http://agnesevasavich.wordpress.com/

Texas Poetry Calendar co-editor Cindy Huyser, another award-winning poet will read old and new favorites and Austin Writergrrl and award-winning playwright Marjorie Brody will entertain with a new short story.

Other Austin Writergrrls will join in the open mic section, following our motto, "Dare to Suck!" as we regale one of the best audiences for 100 miles with our musings.

Come enjoy good literary sisterhood, refreshments and an auditory feast sure to leave to filled with laughter, joy and an all-around good time!

Poetry Open Mac hosted by Deb Akers and featuring Ashley Williams.

Ashley Williams lives in Austin,Texas and is an active member of the Austin Poetry Society and a past member of the Quiet Storm Poets of Huston-Tillotson.  As an avid reader of poetry, her favorite poets include Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton and e.e. cummings. She finds inspiration for her own poetry from myths, bible stories and pop culture and of course, personal experience.

Bring a poem to read!

Rose Twofeathers Hernandez, local Native American artisan and  Master Crystal Healer will be offering a two hour workshop: Healing with Gem Stones and Crystals:  Beginning Your Practice, Enhancing Your Health, Connecting with the Knowledge

The workshop will be held at Book Woman Bookstore, 5501 N Lamar Blvd # A105, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2010 and starts promptly at 7pm.  The workshop will include discussion on using stones for chakra alignment and balancing, the placement of stones, use of practical tools, and in depth use of quartz crystals in advanced techniques.  Handouts, some stones, and demonstrations will be included in the workshop. Donation of $45 is suggested for each participant.   The intention of this workshop is to share basic principles and to encourage the practice of the healing art to everyone or anyone who wishes to learn.  You are encouraged to bring your own stones. 

Pre-registration is required by calling (512)577-7595. Register before Jan. 1st for a reduced fee of $38.00

Rose has been a Master Healer and practitioner for over 23 years and is a Keeper of the Rock for her Mayan clan.

Based on 3 years of research and verified by a team of financial experts,Investing: Starting from Scratch uses simple analogies to explain thecomplex subject of investing and retirement planning. 78 million BabyBoomers will begin turning 65 in 2011. Many of them will not have savedenough to retire because they don't know how to invest their money. Thenumber one reason they give for procrastinating is that investing isjust too complicated. Not anymore!

Janet Holt is a gerontologist and a licensed professional counselor specializing inthe challenges of retirement. She regularly speaks to groups andteaches classes on financial literacy. She writes a monthly column forthe Lake Chapala Review and in addition, offers a continuing educationseminar for counselors about the special challenges faced by boomers.For a current list of workshops and seminars, visit www.janetholt.com.

Quilting is a craft, rich with tradition and homespun, practical applications.  But it’s also an art--which, withneedle, thread, fabric, and an idea, can give us a new way of looking at, and wrapping ourselves in, the world.  This book profiles twenty American practitioners of that art, quilters whose fascinating, innovative work takes the craft one step further and makes it into something new.  These remarkable quilters describe their inspiration and methods and show us several examples of their best work.  Among them are Jeanne Williamson, a celebrated mixed-media journal quilter; Pam Rubert, whose large-scale quilts showcase her humor; Loretta Bennett, the youngest of the beloved Gee's Bend quilters; Boo Davis, a
hip crafter who pieces together quilts with heavy-metal themes; Susan Else, who constructs whimsical quilted sculptures; Ai Kijima, a Brooklyn-based artist influenced by Japanese anime; and Jane Burch Cochran, whose folk-art quilts feature thousands of beads and buttons.

Spike Gillespie is a journalist, documentary filmmaker, and quilt lover living in Austin, TX.  She is the critically acclaimed author of four books, including Quilty as Charged:  Undercover in a Material World, and countless magazine articles in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Real Simple, GQ, Esquire, Elle, Smithsonian, National Geographic Traveler, and other publications. Her popular blog details her misadventures in quilting. http://thesloppyquilter.blogspot.com

Written with searing honesty and nominated for a Lambda Literary Award, this is
the remarkable story of an extraordinary Scotswoman.

Chris grew up in the impoverished aristocracy of post-war Scotland. The black
sheep of her family, she struggled against the confines of class and
gender, searching for truth in an atmosphere where lies were the norm.
As soon as she was old enough to escape her parents’ stranglehold, she
tried on many different personas, experimenting with drugs, free love,
and anti-establishment politics. Turning to Nature for solace, she
moved to rural California, where she worked as a jill-of-all-trades,
came out as a lesbian, and engaged in healing work centered around her
sexuality. Facing her fears and finding love, she experienced many
varied, riveting, and mind-expanding adventures that brought her to a
place of deep compassion and forgiveness. Eventually, satisfied with
nothing short of absolute freedom, she sold everything and took to the
road. The path she has forged through the jungle of life is an
inspiration to anyone who is looking for the true meaning of love in
our changing world.

Mikaya Heart is the author of a book on lesbianism, a book on orgasm, and a book on
shamanism, as well as a variety of articles. She utilizes shamanic
methods to help people access the vastness of being, and is always
deeply delighted when her clients perceive their own magnificence.
Since kitesurfing is her greatest passion, she has become the woman who
follows the wind, making her home wherever she finds joy.

Ann Daly, PhD, will launch her new audiobook, Do-Over! How Women Are Reinventing Their Lives, on Thursday, February 4, 2010, at BookWoman bookstore, 5501 N Lamar, Austin, Texas.

“People ask me how I could possibly give up a tenured university position, but it had become more of a job prison than job security. I wanted to use my women’s studies research to help women more directly, as a life coach.”

Do-Over! is part memoir, part self-help, and part girl talk. It features 13 personal essays about all kinds of women who are reaching for something more. You’ll hear ALL about the rocket-scientist-turned-entrepreneur, the restless retiree, and the author’s own mom.

Do-Over! includes a series of four free companion workbooks to help listeners create their own personalized reinvention roadmaps: Motherhood, Career, Transition, and Prime Time.
 

ANN DALY PhD (www.anndaly.com) is an expert on women’s changing lives. Before reinventing herself as a life coach, she was a journalist and then a women’s studies professor at The University of Texas at Austin. She is a guest columnist for More magazine online and the “Transitions” coaching columnist for Your Austin Lifestyle magazine. Her other books include Clarity: How to Accomplish What Matters Most and A Year of Clarity: The Monthly Guide for Women. She has been featured in Forbes Woman and the Austin American-Statesman and on Oprah & Friends’ “Peter Walsh Show.”
 

Note: This event is NOT held at BookWoman

 
Ten terrific authors of lesbian fiction will be guests of the Sapphic Reading Group at a mega book signing on February 6th.  

Texas authors include:  Brenda Adcock, Natty Burns, Peggy Herring, Erin O'
Reilly, Stacia Seaman, Kelly Sinclair & Carsen Taite.  Out-of-state
authors are:  Mavis Applewater (Massachusetts), CJ Harte (Wyoming)
& Clara Nipper (Oklahoma).

LesFic fans will have the opportunity to meet the authors, ask questions, and
have their favorite books autographed.  There will be a raffle plus a wonderful variety of books for sale from BookWoman and Regal Crest.  

Admission to the event is free.  Come celebrate lesbian fiction with us and welcome the talented women who tell our stories!

Kathleen  Alcalá and Dolores Sloan are members of the Society for Crypto Judaic Studies, where Kathleen is President and Dolores is Chair of the SCJS Arts Program Committee. Their work reflects their professional and personal connection in the study of crypto (hidden) Judaism, with Ms. Alcalá exploring her familial and cultural history, and Ms. Sloan presenting the ancestral and historical roots of this fascinating subgroup. They are visiting Austin for an SCJS Board meeting.

The Sephardic Jews of Spain and Portugal: Survival of an Imperiled Culture in the Fifteenth and Sixteenth Centuries by Dolores Sloan traces the history of a people who flourished on the Iberian Peninsula for hundreds of years and experienced a golden age with achievements in science, philosophy, arts and political economy, even as subjects of Muslims and Christians. Dolores Sloan brings a half-century of expertise as writer, journalist, editor, speaker and professor to her diverse publications & presentations. She is an editor of the Journal of Spanish, Portuguese and Italian Crypto Jews, and former editor of HaLapid, journal of the Society for Crypto-Judaic Studies.

The Desert Remembers My Name - On Family and Writing, received the International Latino Book Award and Forward Magazine Award. Kathleen Alcalá is also the author of a short story collection, Mrs. Vargas and the Dead Naturalist, and three novels set in 19th Century Mexico: Spirits of the Ordinary, The Flower in the Skull, and Treasures in Heaven. Her work has been favorably reviewed in The New York Times, and received the Pacific Northwest Booksellers Award, the Governor's Writers Award, the Western States Book Award, and the Washington State Book Award.

Patricia Austin, professional psychic, will be reading Tarot Cards, Palms and sharing other divination tools for BookWoman's clientele as a benefit for BookWoman. Recommended donation is $1 a minute. Pat gives positive and constructive information. Call (472-2785) to get on the list, or take your chances and just drop by!