Blog

Book Signing
November 20, 2014


Larry Pivnick will be at the Barnes and Noble bookstore, Preston and Park in Plano, TX, to sign copies of his new thriller, The Kilgore Curse, on Saturday, November 22, 2014, 4-6 pm. Hope to see you there.






TRAVELOGUE: LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA, to BANDON DUNES, OR.
August 20, 2014


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The temperature has been 70-75/65-70 here in Corona del Mar since we arrived; eat your heart out, Dallas. We've played more golf--Pelican Hill and Coto de Caza were magnificent. We didn't need any Pedialyte to replenish our electrolytes like we usually have to do at home, either. Also we went sailing one day and I foolishly got sunburned like I did when I was a teenager. I forgot to apply the sunblock; now I'm peeling. Hope I don't develop skin cancer; I should know better.

My son-in-law Rob and I went to his local gun range (about 30 miles away; there aren't many of them around) and destroyed a lot of paper targets. We fired his 40 cal, 9mm and 380 semi-automatics and my 380 semi (the one I use for concealed carry), plus his 12 gauge shotgun, which nearly tore off my shoulder and did some serious damage to the targets. Very macho indeed!

It is extremely difficult to obtain a concealed handgun carry permit here in California. There are multiple hoops to jump through and applications to be completed just to buy a gun or to obtain the CHL. They even send police officers to interview your neighbors in order to be sure you're an upstanding citizen. Rob has been at the process for six months already. Seems like the criminals have a much easier time obtaining a gun off the street, and they don't seem to worry about illegally carrying it either.

We left Corona del Mar after saying sad good-byes to the family at Houston's restaurant over an excellent dinner. Then we drove up to Santa Barbara. Actually we stayed at the Hadsten House in Solvang, which looked like a very short distance away on the map, but was 25 miles of difficult winding road away. Solvang is in the middle of the Santa Ynez wine tasting region, so we did tipple a little at Bridlewood and Brander vineyards . . . both excellent. Next time I would stay in Santa Barbara and take day trips out of town to Montecito and Solvang and other towns in the neighborhood (all good wine regions).

We also played golf at the delightful Sandpiper course just outside of Santa Barbara. It's difficult but reasonable and has six holes right along the Pacific Ocean. I'd recommend it without hesitation. Dinner at the Lark restaurant is an upscale, new-wave, hippie experience with great food. We left Solvang but not before a wonderful Danish breakfast at Paula's Pancake House (get the thin Danish pancakes . . . delicious). Everything in Solvang seems to be Danish, in a quaint small-town European way.

Another day of driving what looks like a short distance by Texas standards turned into a lengthy day of driving, but we made it to Yosemite National Park in about five hours. The beauty of Yosemite made it all worthwhile. We toured the Glacier and Mariposa Trails and viewed breathtaking sights like Half Dome, El Capitan, Vernal and Yosemite Falls, and the giant Sequoias of the Mariposa forest.

Then we traveled to Half Moon Bay. Unbelievably, this was another short drive (only 217 miles) that turned into five hours because of traffic and winding roads, especially on the coast. We're staying at the Ritz-Carlton though, a bit of a splurge, but fantastic. Dinner at Flavor restaurant provided excellent seafood the first night.

We played the Ocean Course at the Ritz (US #18; the ocean vistas on the 16th, 17th, and 18th holes make the entire course worthwhile to play, even though the many hikers along the public access walkways can be distracting). We played it well too, despite the fast greens always breaking to the ocean. The only downside is the lack of a driving range, but it didn't seem to make much difference to our games.

If you love sushi, take in the Shiki restaurant in downtown Half Moon Bay where you can have large pieces of delicious fish and a most informative sushi chef, Ben, who just happens to be Chinese.

I had been looking forward to playing Pasatiempo GC (US #11) for a long time. It has been in existence since 1929 when it was designed by the famous Dr. Alistair Mackenzie who also designed Augusta National, Cypress Point, and Royal Melbourne, among others. He is a legend in the golf design community, but for the life of me I can't understand why.

His greens are unnecessarily undulating and punitive. Even good shots roll back off the greens and a putt even slightly past the hole going downhill leaves you off the green again. Besides all that, the fairways are in horrible condition; shots right in the middle of the fairway often land on mud. There is no practice range to speak of and the facilities are antiquated.

To be fair about it though, Linda disagrees with me. Despite the fact that she found the ladies tees far too long for the average female player and there were entirely too many overlong forced carries for her liking, she enjoyed the round and would try it again. Goes to show you: different strokes for different folks!

We left Half Moon Bay for Albion. This one took four and one-half hours not including the time we spent in Healdsburg at the Armida Winery. We've been members of Armida for years; they have an excellent selection of Sauvignon Blancs, Chardonnays, Pinot Noirs, and Zinfandels. We discovered a couple of new ones while tasting there, but more importantly, we bumped into some fellow Texans who recognized our license plate. They were lovely people, Karen Hale and her parents, Joanne and Eric, of San Antonio. When they heard I was the author of The Kilgore Curse, they immediately purchased two signed copies (I just happened to have about three cases of books in the car for emergencies such as this).

We finally made it to the Albion River Inn in time for dinner. The Inn is a tiny gem on the Northern California coast with spectacular views, and dinner there was superb. In the morning, it was on to Trinidad, California, and the Turtle Rocks B and B. This is a wonderful small hotel on the coast near Patrick Point State Park which is well worth visiting for its spectacular views of the ocean and rocky coastline. Dinners at the Larrupin Café and the Moonstone Grill were excellent. Tomorrow we're off to Bandon Dunes in Oregon.

That's it for now.

Larry






THE GREAT WEST COAST ADVENTURE TRAVELOGUE: - DALLAS, TX to LAGUNA NIGUEL, CA
July 18, 2014


Well, Linda and I finally set off on our trip of a lifetime. I have always yearned to see the American West, and my bucket list includes playing at as many of the top 100 golf courses in the country as well. Now that I've retired from medical practice, I have the opportunity to combine that trip with a book signing tour for The Kilgore Curse.

I don't mind driving lengthy distances; Linda—not so much. So we have to take this journey in small doses. Our first stop was Albuquerque, NM. We stopped there briefly, but long enough to play the Paa-Ko-Ridge golf course. The course was difficult but reasonable and a pleasure to play. It got us warmed up nicely.

Next we traveled to Sedona, AZ. There are some excellent Navajo Indian stores in NM and AZ selling all sorts of tribal paraphernalia. And they have lifelike specimens of stuffed buffalo and grizzly bears on display; very impressive even for a cynic like me. We bought dream-catchers for the grandkids before taking the scenic route from Flagstaff—well worth the narrow, winding, arduous drive through the forest because of the magnificent mountains.

In Sedona, we stayed at the Enchantment Resort and Spa, in a room elevated high enough to see those mountains up close and personal. Hard to believe they were created from the scouring effects of ocean currents when the land was underwater for millions of years. And the colors, layered horizontal rings of red, gray, and white make the ranges appear to have been sculpted by a mad artist many millennia ago. In fact, Linda joked that an ancient Indian sculptor probably climbed the mountains and carved the faces and bodies you can definitely make out in the towering columns of rock. It couldn't have happened any other way, right?

The Seven Canyons golf course winds through those mountains. Every hole displays rock formations not to be believed; it's hard to catch your breath and focus on the golf after surveying the scene, wide-eyed, on each new tee box. We played the course twice, naturally better the second time around, and even made a few birdies. Besides the views, the food and service and general ambience at Enchantment are outstanding. I recommend the place to anyone in the area.

Before leaving Sedona, we stopped in at The Well Red Coyote, a top notch bookstore. The owner, Joe Neri, is a most pleasant man, very knowledgeable about the literary trade and also helpful with directions. He promised to recommend The Kilgore Curse to his customers interested in thrillers. Thanks, Joe.

Next up...Laguna Niguel, CA, to spend time in the bosom of our family with our beautiful daughter, Jillian, her husband, Rob, and their two daughters who live nearby in Corona del Mar. We are looking forward to enjoying the sights that California has to offer, along with plenty of golf, before continuing on to Oregon and Utah with book events scheduled along the way.

Meanwhile the temperature for today is 72; hope y'all don't blister in Dallas. Keep checking the website; I'll be in touch.

Larry






Treachery, Murder, and Revenge in Texas
May 1, 2014


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At a chance encounter at his wife's gravesite, attorney Frank McNamara meets the survivors of a Latino family who claim that his great-grandfather stole their land and murdered their relatives to cover up the theft. He learns that in 1948, the Cortez and Kilgore families had co-existed peacefully in a Dallas neighborhood until a mysterious family feud erupted, resulting in the slaughter of six people.

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© 2014 LARRY PIVNICK