Official release of the Audiobook version of Finding George Washington. We chose this date because it was George’s 290th birthday (and a good excuse for a party). It’s 2/22/22, a lucky date for sure.
Video: Official Audiobook Release on Washington’s Birthday Read More »
Now On Sale!
Audiobook version of Finding George Washington, narrated by David Boyll.
Audiobook Now On Sale—‘Finding George Washington: A Time Travel Tale’ Read More »
Exciting news:
Finding George Washington: A Time Travel Tale, my debut novel, is now available as an audiobook!
‘Finding George Washington’—Recording the Audiobook Read More »
Launching my debut novel, Finding George Washington: A Time Travel Tale!
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, my book launch and all promotional events for Finding George took place online. I was quite pleased that over 80 people showed up for this launch.
November 23, 2020
Book Launch Video—‘Finding George Washington: A Time Travel Tale’ Read More »
Today we gave away over 300 books from our dusty shelves. Many bags, crammed full of books, all in excellent shape, an alarming number unread and unopened.
It started with a holiday season when our kids were away most of the time, coupled with a desire to reduce dust and sneezing, amplified by a dread of our kids someday discovering that our vast collections were both voluminous and virginal.
The latter dread, which is not uncommon for retired folks, is a byproduct of having lived in the same house for 32 years. Without regular purges of stuff, every closet, shelf, or cabinet would be stuffed. That’s why they call it stuff.
On Discarding Books Read More »
(Loosely inspired by a tall and nearly true tale)
Jake rushed through the door, sweaty and disheveled, to find Al playing solitaire in the main lodge.
“Al! I just had a moose encounter,” said Jake. “Up on Bacon Ridge. It was pretty great, dude. Wait’ll I tell the guys at home about this.”
“Was it sweet and chocolatey?”
“No, dipshit! Not that kind of moose, with a U! Moose with two O’s, like Bullwinkle. Huge, with antlers. I just saw one.”
“Tell me.”
About two years ago, I went to a storytelling event at The Marsh in Berkeley and watched six people tell six very different stories. Some personal, some historical, all about 10-15 minutes long.
My first reaction: I can do that.
Little did I know.
A Writer’s Debut As a Storyteller Read More »
Radio host Lilycat interviewed me recently about my writing on FCC Free Radio.
The show ran live on September 18, broadcast from their studios in the Civic Center/UN Plaza District in downtown San Francisco. For two hours, we talked, she played music, and I read three stories from my book, Showdown at Shinagawa: Tales of Filming from Bombay to Brazil.
Once a month, she hosts authors like myself from Left Coast Writers.
Listen to My Interview on FCC Free Radio Read More »
Whenever my dad wanted to speak metaphorically about Podunks — places that were remote and sparsely populated — he often cited Broken Elbow, Indiana, and Frozen Dog, Iowa. I always assumed they were real places, and recently I dug around to find out how they got their colorful names. Internet research truly is the best!
Bronze Certificate, Funny Travel Category, 9th Annual Solas Awards for Travel Writing from Travelers Tales, March 2015. It’s not easy being a mileage whore. Sometimes you have to do things that don’t seem to make sense. United Airlines operates a major hub in San Francisco, and I’ve whored for their miles for years now. On
Good Night, Irene: Confessions of a Mileage Whore Read More »
I just found an online page which appears, at first, to be a review of my book, SHOWDOWN at SHINAGAWA. Then I read the page all the way through. I know these are English words, but … is this English? My favorites are learning that “SHOWDOWN at SHINAGAWA … lets you cook flavorful and tasty food without
New Book Review? Is This English? Read More »
My book SHOWDOWN at SHINAGAWA tells true stories from my long career as a director of photography, working on film and digital cinema shoots across the U.S. and all around the world: Japan, India, China, Uganda, the Philippines, New Zealand, France, Singapore, England, Taiwan, Mexico, and Brazil. The book has recently been honored as a Commended Winner in
New Award & Reviews for SHOWDOWN at SHINAGAWA Read More »
Bill Zarchy’s new book, SHOWDOWN at SHINAGAWA, is now on sale at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle e-book versions.
SHOWDOWN AT SHINAGAWA: Tales of Filming from Bombay to Brazil tells true stories from Zarchy’s long career as a director of photography, working on film and digital cinema shoots across the U.S. and all around the world — Japan, India, China, Uganda, the Philippines, New Zealand, France, Singapore, England, Taiwan, Mexico, and Brazil.
SHOWDOWN at SHINAGAWA Now Available in Paperback and Kindle e-Book Read More »
A new profile on Dan Pinkham I wrote for Varney’s Place, the blog of The Kenwood Group:
“In college, I supported myself with a commissioned sales job at a prominent Westwood Village camera store. One day I sold a super-8 camera to Johnny Carson and had the pleasure of teaching him how to use it! That was a mind-blowing moment for a film school student, to be sure.”
Daniel Pinkham: The Unpredictable-ness of What’s Coming Next Read More »
Predicting the future is a tricky business. It’s difficult to know what’s going to happen, and you never know whom you might inspire.
Jim Samalis, who joined Kenwood as Executive Creative Director on April 1, was reminded recently of a visionary film he made years ago, and was rewarded by seeing the fruit of some seeds he helped to sow.
The story starts seven years ago.
On Predicting the Future: Roku’s Reward and Augmented Reality Read More »
Recently completed pieces for The Kenwood Group, for their Varney’s Place blog:
Giants Stadium: In the Shadow of Kenwood
Starting Friday afternoon and 81 times in the next six months, the neighborhood around Kenwood will be transformed. Thousands of people of all ages wearing Halloween colors and panda and giraffe hats will flood the streets around our office, their shirts bearing an odd collection of names which are common nouns like Posey, Pagan, Panda, Pence, Belt, Huff, Bonds, Snow, Mays, the Beard, and the Freak, as well as unique three-syllable names like Bumgarner, Vogelsong, Marichal, Scutaro, McCovey, and Lincecum.
Writing Projects for Varney’s Place Read More »
The Facebook Page for Roving Camera: Bill Zarchy’s Blog passed 2500 Likes earlier today. It’s been my pleasure to write for you on a crazy array of subjects for more than two-and-a-half years, and I humbly appreciate your support, enthusiasm, and suggestions.
I’ll be publishing two books of my stories this summer and have more surprises in the works, so stay tuned!
Roving Camera’s 2500th Facebook Like Read More »
Wearing my writer’s hat, I’ve recently cranked out two articles for The Kenwood Group about some of their projects, published on their Varney’s Place blog.
Into the Storm: Producing a Movie Marathon in the Face of a Hurricane
Imagine planning a live event long in advance, only to have the storm of the century threaten to shut you down.
Writing Projects: Hurricane Sandy / Trip to Taipei Read More »
Imagine deciding to write a biography on someone you had met twice, a contemporary who worked in the same industry and lived in the same state, only to learn, several months into your research, that your subject has declined your request for an interview and asked his close associates and family to do the same.
This is the backstory for Steven Spielberg: A Biography by Joseph McBride. Undeterred by Spielberg’s lack of cooperation, McBride soldiered on. No slacker, over the next three years he interviewed 327 other people for this book, including many of Spielberg’s cohorts and relatives.
The result is a marvelous work, an unauthorized biography overflowing with McBride’s voluminous research, crisp critical thinking, and an easy, engaging writing style that refreshes like a clear mountain stream.
Studying Spielberg: McBride’s Biography is Memorable … and Unauthorized Read More »
I’m very excited about the publication of the third volume in our new e-Book series!
No Definite Plans: Eleven Stories of Laughter, Love, Travel, is now available on Amazon’s Kindle Store and Barnes and Noble’s Nook Book Store. This new offering is by Townsend 11 (my writing collective), edited by Larry Habegger. I contributed a story (“Chartres: Ecstasy at the Altar,” about my family’s odd visit to a venerable landmark), as well as one of the two cover photos.
In this third book, No Definite Plans, you can learn how to hold it while rafting the Amazon, have an animated dream, witness a unique spectacle in a French cathedral, visit a women’s only sanctum in Morocco, and head for home in the Midwest. You will contemplate an emperor’s curiosity, discover the unexpected aftermath of adventure, and confront the inevitability of aging. And, in our first fiction offerings, you’ll meet unforgettable characters in China and India and ponder the generation gap in modern language.
Townsend 11 has published Volume 2 of our new e-book series—No Set Boundaries: Eleven Stories of Life, Travel, Misadventure.
For several years now, I’ve belonged to this collective of eleven writers (including one who lives in Barcelona). We meet monthly in a converted brick warehouse on Townsend Street in San Francisco.
In our second book, No Set Boundaries: Eleven Stories of Life, Travel, Misadventure, you can witness a Catalan ritual in Barcelona, shop the Italian way, freeze on an English beach, deal with prejudice in Ethiopia, backpack down a frightening road in Cambodia, rest in a California garden, and glide along on a French canal. You’ll learn about a bent zucchini that’s not a vegetable, try to help lost travelers, break a leg on a mountain trail, and dash through an ancient city in India.
Townsend 11 Publishes Volume 2: No Set Boundaries Read More »
I’ve been a filmmaker and writer for most of my life, but I’ve never written a film. There was no screenplay writing class at Stanford when I was in film school there, for some reason, and I never caught the bug.
Now, however, Julian Hoxter, my colleague in the Cinema Department at San Francisco State University, has published a wonderful book called Write What You Don’t Know: An Accessible Manual for Screenwriters. I can feel my life starting to change.
Write What You Don’t Know Read More »
News from Townsend 11, the writing collective I’ve belonged to for years, here in San Francisco:
First: Volume 1 of our new book series, No Fixed Destination: Eleven Stories of Life, Love, Travel, was originally published in July as a Kindle book. But now we have made it available at most e-book stores.
Next: Volume 2 of the series, No Set Boundaries: Eleven Stories of Life, Misadventure, will be published in a few days on the Kindle Store, and through other e-Book outlets a few weeks later.
Townsend 11: Volume 1 Now in More Stores, Volume 2 Due Out Soon Read More »
For the past few weeks, I’ve been working with other authors in my writing group, passing through final stages of publication for our first e-Book … Drumroll !! …
Available NOW at Amazon’s Kindle Store:
No Fixed Destination: Eleven Stories of Life, Love, Travel
This collection of 11 personal essays, memoirs, and true stories from Townsend 11, a group of award-winning writers, takes readers on emotional journeys and adventures from California to Croatia to China and back, Ethiopia to Egypt, England to New England, and Hawaii to Hot Springs, Arkansas.
My Writing Group Has Published a Book of Stories—No Fixed Destination, by Townsend 11 Read More »
