Mary Alice Stephens & Kim Culbertson Share Their New Books at Sausalito Books by the Bay
Kim Culbertson, author of Other People’s Kids and Mary Stephens, author of Uncorked: A Memoir of Letting Go and Starting Over chat about risking change for love, both themes in their new books, as well as discuss their time together in the Dominican MFA program at Sausalito Books by the Bay on September 17th at 6pm.
Books will be available to purchase at the event.
For more information, please visit Sausalito Books by the Bay’s events page here.
About Other People’s Kids:
Sometimes, life doesn’t follow a lesson plan…
After being attacked by a disgruntled parent in the parking lot of the private San Francisco Bay Area high school where she has taught English for the past twelve years, traumatized Chelsea Garden flees to her hometown of Imperial Flats in the Northern California foothills. When Chelsea meets beleaguered principal of Imperial Flats High School, Nora Delgado, the two realize they might have found each other at an essential crossroads. To complicate matters, her former classmate and messy first love, Evan Dawkins, has also recently joined the faculty at IFHS to teach music. And he wasn’t expecting Chelsea to walk back into his life. Other People’s Kids follows three educators: one at the beginning of his career, one in the middle of hers, and one on her way out. A story about teaching, hometowns, and risking change in midlife.
About Kim Culbertson:
Kim Culbertson is the award-winning author of five YA novels with Sourcebooks and Scholastic as well as the author of the Heinemann teaching guide 100-Word Stories: A Short Form for Expansive Writing. Other People’s Kids is her first novel for adults. She lives in Northern California where she has been teaching high school since 1997.
About Uncorked: A Memoir of Letting Go and Starting Over:
With a glorious bang, alcohol freed Mary Stephens from her lonely, self-critical teenage shell and fueled Fun Mary. For three decades, booze had been her best friend, the reliable spark igniting good times and (she thought) good friendships. But Fun Mary had a dark side: debilitating hangovers, blackouts, and perilous behavior. Not even a three-story fall that left her in a body cast could stop her from drinking. But finally, after putting her young son in danger and her marriage in jeopardy, Fun Mary had to go.
Now sober at age 45, everything Mary once cherished becomes a trigger—date nights with her husband, friendships centered around wine, and a father who expresses his love through alcohol. This new Sober Mary is lonely and vulnerable—feelings she drank to escape. Now what? Told with heart and humor, Uncorked: A Memoir of Letting Go and Starting Over is the inspiring and relatable story of a woman’s pursuit of a better life through sobriety.
About Mary Alice Stephens:
Mary Alice Stephens is a creative nonfiction storyteller. As a television writer-producer for HGTV, Food Network, and other media outlets, she has shared others’ stories on everything from outdoor adventures to home improvement. In her debut book, Uncorked, Mary shares her own powerful story of alcoholism, recovery, and starting life anew at 45. She earned her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing from Dominican University of California and resides in Northern California.
