After I wrote yesterday about Latinos In Lotusland, editor Daniel Olivas shared the backstory of the anthology’s magical cover. He says, “Yes, it is a beautiful cover. Bilingual Press is affiliated with Arizona State University, which has the largest Chicano art collection in the country. So, last year, they flew me out to give a lecture and then I looked at hundreds of paintings to choose a cover. When I saw this one, I fell in love. Maya Gonzalez is the artist (she’s also a children’s book author), based in the Bay Area (ironically, no?)”

Soon-to-be-published Bay Area author Frances Dinkelspiel fact checks the history in James Frey’s new novel, Bright, Shiny Morning. She writes, “While the book tells the story of modern day Los Angeles through fictional characters, Frey interweaves the narrative with bits of Los Angeles history. Problem is, he gets many of these wrong.” [via laobserved]

Congratulations to Julie Ann Shapiro, our latest book lotto winner and a California author herself. We’re sending Julie an autographed first edition of Harry, Revised, courtesy of author Mark Sarvas. San Francisco novelist Andrew Sean Greer has this to say about Harry, “As witty, erudite and outrageous as Waugh, with a flawed hero worthy of Roth.”