The Sex and Money Tour! Authors Rupert Hart and Michael J. Vaughn at Books Inc. Mountain View June 19, 2008

It’s a night for primal urges as local authors Rupert Hart and Michael J. Vaughn bring their “Sex and Money” book release party to Books Inc. in Mt. View, 7 p.m. Thursday, June 19. The money comes courtesy of Hart’s “Recession Storming,” a witty layperson’s guide to small-business survival during economic downturns. The sex arrives in the form of Vaughn’s “Double Blind,” a comic sex mystery that takes place in Palo Alto. The evening will feature a lively presentation and Q&A with Hart, followed by a dramatized reading of excerpts from “Double Blind” with the help of local actors. Admission is free. Books Inc. is at 301 Castro Street, Mountain View. Phone 650/428-1234, or visit online at www.booksinc.net.

MICHAEL J. VAUGHN, a resident of San Jose’s Willow Glen neighborhood, is the author of seven novels, including the operatic novel “Gabriella’s Voice” – for which he was awarded a novelist fellowship from Arts Council Silicon Valley – and the cult favorite “Frosted Glass.” In the past three years, Vaughn has attained a national reputation through his regular contributions to Writer’s Digest magazine. Examples of his work include “Meeting of the Minds,” an exploration of creativity and brain function (Dec. 2007), “Creative Lollygagging,” an essay on idea cultivation (Dec. 2006), and “Anatomy of a Bestseller,” a comparative study of “Bridget Jones’s Diary,” “Life of Pi” and “The Rule of Four” (Feb. 2005). Interview subjects have included bestselling authors David Baldacci, Jayne Anne Krentz, Jude Fisher and Diane Ackerman, plus poet laureate Charles Simic. Vaughn has covered the performing arts for 20 years for several South Bay publications; he is an active drummer, singer and softball player. Home page: geocities.com/michaeljvaughn

DOUBLE BLIND is a darkly humorous novel centering on Hopkins Grinder, a Stanford geneticist who has never loved his wife, but who will do anything to spare his children the agonies of his own divorce-tainted youth. He enlists the help of a “hobbyist seducer” to provide a pleasant distraction for his neglected spouse, but later discovers her on a “hidden camera” porn site. (Note: the content of “Double Blind” is extremely candid, but the reading at Books Inc. will be limited to R-level material).

Location: Books Inc. in Mountain View, 301 Castro Street, Mountain View, CA 94041
650.428.1234

Official Website: http://www.booksinc.net