Date: January 19th 2013
Time: 11:00 am-1:00 pm
Place: Bank of Books, 748 E. Main Street, Ventura, CA 93001 Contact Phone (805) 643-3154
11-1 Leonie F. Mateer- The Caboodles Blueprint
1-3 Melinda Palacio – How Fire is a Story and Ocotillo Dreams
Author Bios and book synopsis
Leonie F. Mateer -
Leonie Mateer was born in New Zealand where she was a professional puppeteer, model agency owner and regular television talk show panelist. She relocated to the USA in her mid 30s with her two teen daughters when she created Caboodles cosmetics organizers. Ms. Mateer was also a co-founder and President of Sassaby Inc. and Owner of She-Designs LLC a product development and marketing company. She is now retired and lives in Ventura, California. This is her first book.
Synopsis: Taking a vision and turning it into a multi million dollar business is what I have been doing for over 25 years. When I had my first idea I searched for this book. It didn t exist. I wanted to read a book from someone who had actually taken a product to market. I wanted to know where to start and what to do. I wanted a simple guideline to follow a blueprint. This is my blueprint.
Armed with only her vision, her high school education, and a tenacity to succeed, Leonie Mateer took her idea of converting a fishing tackle box into a cosmetic organizer box and took the retail industry by storm.
Her ability to concretize her visions into branded products has earned her awards such as Who s Who of American Inventors and Who s Who in leading American Executives. Her reputation in the product development, marketing and sales has been recognized throughout the retail industry.
An easy and informative read, Leonie Mateer has the ability to laugh at her own mistakes while keeping completely focused on her proven, step by step guide of taking an idea through all the development stages to its final resting place on 30,000 store shelves.
Melinda Palacio grew up in South-Central Los Angeles. She holds two degrees in Comparative Literature—a B.A. from UC Berkeley and a Master’s from University of California, Santa Cruz. She writes a column for “La Bloga.” She is a 2007 PEN Center USA Emerging Voices Fellow and a 2009 poetry alum of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers. Her poetry chapbook Folsom Lockdown (Kulupi Press 2009) is the Sense of Place winner. In 2011, Melinda published her debut novel, Ocotillo Dreams (Bilingual Review Press). How Fire Is A Story, Waiting is her first full-length poetry book.
Book synopsis:
How Fire is a Story: Melinda Palacio’s newest poetry collection creates images that are at once heartbreaking and humorous. She tackles elemental subjects of family and childhood with the same depth and grace as that of myth making and death. As the only child of a mother who died too young, she infuses her words with longing and life, and celebrates the women who came before her. Each poem offers up the truth in a fearless and unsentimental voice. Palacio’s lyrical language punctuates an unexpected pause to subjects such as domestic violence and her childhood in South Central Los Angeles. How Fire Is A Story, Waiting is divided into four sections: Fire, Air, Water, and Earth. In each section Palacio tempers heartbreak, violence, and disappointment with the antidote of humor, beauty, and an appreciation for life.
Ocotillo Dreams: Set in Chandler, Arizona, during the city's infamous 1997 migrant sweeps, this riveting tale brings to life the social issues that arise from border policy and economic inequity. Palacio skillfully weaves a story of politics, intrigue, love, and trust in a community that is suspicious of others, an attitude she experienced firsthand after moving to Chandler in the late 1990s. "The neighbors suspected that the house I bought was a way-station for undocumented immigrants," she recalls. Thus, the seeds for Ocotillo Dreams were sown. In it, we meet Isola, a young woman who inherits a Chandler home and relocates there temporarily. There she learns that her mother had lived a secret life of helping the undocumented workers. Isola must confront her own confusion and sense of loyalty in a strange and unwelcoming environment. As she gets to know her mother from clues left behind, she grapples with issues of identity and belonging that lead her on a journey toward purpose in life and reconnection with her roots.
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