Hirahara’s first mystery, Summer of the Big Bachi, was published by Bantam Dell in 2004, and it won nationwide acclaim, including spots on Publishers Weekly Best Books of 2004 and Chicago Tribune‘s Ten Best Mysteries & Thrillers in 2004. A year later came Gasa-Gasa Girl, a Southern California bestseller. In 2006 she and Mas Arai returned with Snakeskin Shamisen, which won the Edgar for Best Paperback Original. Most recently, St. Martin’s published the fourth in the series, Blood Hina.

We at Prospect Park are honored that Hirahara has chosen to work with a Southern California publisher, since it’s the home turf of both her protagonist and herself. We believe that she is just hitting her stride as an author, and Strawberry Yellow will be her most engaging, masterfully written novel yet. Look for it, and for many author events, in the spring of 2013.

Rothman is winding up her spring publication tour with three events in California: Pleasanton, San Francisco, and Thousand Oaks. In early summer she’ll be back on the east coast for a private event for a wealth-management firm in Connecticut. And in August, she’ll be in the Hamptons as an invited author at the gala East Hampton Library Author’s Night.

For more information about the satiric guidebook and author J.D. Rothman, go to the book’s home page.

Please click on this link to learn all about our fall titles.

Here’s a link to J.D.’s events calendar, and here’s everything you need to know about the book.

To whet your whistle, here’s a short book trailer:

Click on the Neurotic Parent Guide’s website to find out all about the book, the author, the events, the early reviews, and more.

Amelia Saltsman in her Santa Monica kitchen; photo courtesy of the Los Angeles Times

Kudos to Prospect Park author Amelia Saltsman, who—along with her kitchen—was the subject of a big feature in the Los Angeles Times recently. You can read all about her kitchen, her family, and her approach to cooking right here on latimes.com. Here’s where you can check out her bestselling Santa Monica Farmers’ Market Cookbook. Amelia is also a valued member of the EAT: Los Angeles team.

Publisher Colleen Dunn Bates and books at Prospect Park's 5th birthday party. Photo by Wendy Werris; courtesy of Publishers Weekly.

To celebrate five years of working with great people to produce quality books and online magazines, Prospect Park threw a party on Sunday, November 13th. About 100 people descended on the hidden Glassell Park kitchen and courtyard of caterer Jennie Cook. Writers, designers, editors, sales reps, photographers, journalists, artists and other assorted smart and interesting folks ran into old friends, made new ones, enjoyed the joyous string-band music of Triple Chicken Foot, had a drink or two, and went to town on Cook’s spinach croquettes, charcuterie, date and blue cheese fritters, and chocolate fountain—with an extra treat of Christine Moore’s legendary caramels and marshmallows.

The photo at right was Publishers Weekly’s photo of the day on November 14th. Below are a few photos taken by party guest Petrea Burchard, the photographer/writer of Pasadena Daily Photo. Alas, neither light nor cameras cooperated, so these are the only photos we’ve got. But trust us: What a lot of great-looking people were there!

Everyone picked a book to take home as a party favor.

Hungry folks hovered in the kitchen.

Coming up shortly: The Spa Less Traveled: Discovering Ethnic Los Angeles, One Massage at a Time, which will be sold for all e-book platforms this fall.

Dolan’s novel, her first, has been a mainstay on the SCIBA and Los Angeles Times bestseller lists since its publication in November 2010.

This marks the fourth  nomination in five years for tiny Prospect Park Media of Pasadena, publisher of the bestselling Hometown Pasadena, Celebrating with Julienne and EAT: Los Angeles. Upcoming Prospect Park books include The Spa Less Traveled: Discovering Ethnic Los Angeles One Massage at a Time, and The Neurotic Parent’s Guide to College Admissions: Strategies for Helicoptering, Hot-housing & Micromanaging.

For more information or to arrange an interview with author Lian Dolan or publisher Colleen Dunn Bates, please contact Caroline Purvis, marketing director, Prospect Park Media, 626.793.9796, www.prospectparkmedia.com.

Prospect Park and its trade distributor, SCB Distributors, is distributing the book. Book retailers can contact SCB here; consumers who’d like to buy the book directly from us can click here.

The book arrived April 15th and was feted at a party at Julienne in San Marino, California on April 19th, hosted by Sue’s daughter and Julienne owner Julie Campoy, who is currently undergoing treatment for breast cancer. (And the publisher, Colleen Dunn Bates, recently completed treatment.) So the entire team is vested in doing its part to improve cancer treatment and help nurses in their mission.