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Nothing Human is Alien to Us: What does a 9-11 Hero, George W. Bush, Aliens, and Spirituality and Yoga have to do with one another?  Everything.  Readings by a memoirist, a novelist, a sci-fi writer, and the editor of Lalitamba.

K.J. Fraser, a first time novelist, psychiatrist, and person of faith (and humor), reads from A Journey, a Reckoning and a Miracle, her creative response to despair over the Iraq War and the 2004 election. Sharon Watts, a visual artist, reads from the non-fiction Miss You, Pat: Collected Memories of NY’s Bravest of the Brave, Captain Patrick J. Brown. Carol Emshwiller, award winning science fiction writer, reads from one of her latest short stories, “The Lovely Ugly.” The readers will be introduced by Swamini Sri Lalitamba Devi, editor and publisher of “Lalitamba,” and author of the Mantra and the Goddess (TBR in 2010).

Readers:

Kathryn J. Fraser was born in Melbourne, Australia and as a toddler immigrated with her family to the United States, eventually settling in Tennessee. An honors graduate of Dartmouth Medical School, she is currently an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine in Albuquerque. Fraser is a long-term yoga practitioner and member of the First Unitarian Church. This, her first novel, was a Finalist in the New Mexico Book Awards. Website: www.jrmstory.com.

Sharon Wattsis an illustrator for various children’s books and fashion clients, a mixed-media artist, and the author of a book about a very spiritual and heroic man, the legendary firefighter Pat “Paddy” Brown. Captain Patrick J. Brown had an uncanny ability to be exactly where he was needed at exactly the right time. He died on September 11, 2001, surrounded by scores of burn victims he was trying to evacuate from the WTC’s North Tower. Outside the FDNY, the many people whose lives he touched insist that he was inspired when it came to knowing their hurt, and how to heal it. To deal with her loss, his close friend and former fiancée, Sharon Watts, began collecting stories about Pat, carefully stitching them together with her own personal narrative. The result is an intimate and moving literary experience, as well as a riveting introduction to a highly complex man whose legacy—encapsulated in Miss You, Pat-- is destined to live on. Learn more at: www.missyoupat.org.  Sharon is also a yoga practitioner and has held several book events with yoga studios Pat had trained with, and book profit proceeds benefit “Bent On Learning”, which teaches yoga and meditation to NYC public school children who need to reduce stress in their lives.

Carol Emshwiller is the author of 6 novels, one of which won the Philip K. Dick Award ... The Mount.  She will be reading from her short story “The Ugly Lovely.” Emshwiller grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and France. She lives in New York City in the winter and the Sierras in the summer. Emshwiller has written a sci-fi novel, The Secret City, Tachyon Publications (2007), a short story collection, I Live With You, Tachyon Publications, and Report to the Men’s Club, a book of short stories available from Small Beer Press.  Emshwiller has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant, two New York State Foundation for the Arts grants, and two World Fantasy awards. Carol Emshwiller’s short stories have appeared in many literary magazines and science fiction magazines including TriQuarterly, Transatlantic Review, New Directions, Orbit, Epoch, F&SF, Century, and Crank. Contact:htt://www.sfwa.org/members/emshwiller/index.html

Moderator:

A mystic, a yogini, and a beloved spiritual teacher, Swamini Sri Lalitambika Devi serves through Lalitamba Mandiram, a temple in New York City. Her humanitarian projects have touched the hearts of thousands.  Swamini Sri inspires seekers in spiritual centers of various faiths, as well as in hospitals, homeless shelters, prisons, universities, and at the United Nations. She is the Director of the Meditation Program for the Addiction Institute of New York’s Detoxification Unit, and a consultant to Mount Sinai Hospital’s Department of Psychiatric Rehabilitation. She is also a representative to the United Nations for the United Religions Initiative and Chair of Women Rising, a working group of the UN-CSVGC. She is the author of Mantra and the Goddess, forthcoming in July 2010. Swamini is also the editor of a literary journal called Lalitamba (P. O. Box 131, Planetarium Station, New York, NY, 10024). Visit:  www.lalitamba.org. Available through: Baker & Taylor, Eileen Rieger at (908) 541-7466, or New Leaf Distribution, (800) 326-2665. The latest volume is Number 3.

Proceeds support charity projects for global harmony. Copies of the journal are also donated to hospitals, shelters, and prisons. Please contact Lalitamba Mandiram, if your organization would like to receive copies. PH: (212) 873-0140, lalitamba1000@yahoo.com.

*Books will be provided for sale by Mobile Libris,
917-539-4679, mobilelibris@earthlink.net