Russell, Holmes, sail high seas in Laurie King’s entertaining new mystery novel 'Pirate King'

cclaimed Corralitos mystery writer Laurie R. King has shepherded her husband-and-wife detective team through some dark, sobering themes in her last couple of books—religious fanaticism, moral corruption, even human sacrifice. Her latest novel, “Pirate King,” takes another tack entirely. For this 11th outing in her popular mystery series, King places her intrepid heroine, Mary Russell, and her equally redoubtable husband, Sherlock Holmes, smack in the middle of a witty, lighthearted romp of an adventure involving the early days of the silent film industry, Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, and, of course, pirates.

Author Juliet Eilperin takes readers on a global journey into the hidden world of sharks
While interviewing commercial fishermen in New England, she heard the phrase that would become the title of her new book. “They referred to sharks as ‘demon fish,’” says Juliet Eilperin, speaking over the telephone from her office at The Washington Post, where she works as the national environmental reporter. “I thought it was an interesting commentary on how humans view sharks. It tapped into a human’s first reaction—although the book is trying to get beyond that first reaction.”

Eilperin’s book, “Demon Fish: Travels Through the Hidden World of Sharks,” does just that—it takes readers on a journey beyond their assumptions about this predator of the seas, circumnavigating the globe to illuminate humanity’s complex relationship with an animal that is at the same time both feared and revered.

Aspiring authors get the chance to tell their story at ‘Pitchapalooza’
Do you have what it takes to be the next James Durbin of the literary world? In what has been touted as the American Idol for aspiring authors, book doctors Arielle Eckstut and David Henry Sterry are bringing their acclaimed “Pitchapalooza” event to Bookshop Santa Cruz on Thursday, July 28.

The event should go something like this: Twenty-five would-be authors will be picked at random to pitch their story ideas to a panel of publishing industry insiders. Each contestant will have one minute to take to the stage and start talking. Once the idea has been pitched and the minute is up, the judges will critique everything from the idea itself to the writer’s pitching style and the marketability of the potential book. At the end of Pitchapalooza, judges will convene to pick a winner—who will receive a half-hour consultation with Eckstut and Sterry on how to turn his or her idea into a published manuscript.