BOLD is thrilled to host a reading with Adam Strong, author of Bella Vista from Running Wild Press, in conversation with Anne Gudger, author of The Fifth Chamber. Come out and celebrate the release of Adam Strong’s Bella Vista with a bonus reading of favorite lines from various Dangerous Writers in loving tribute to Steve Arndt and Tom Spanbauer.
Bella Vista, in the end, is about fatherhood. About fathers and sons. It’s about one father, Frank Pershall, who went from a dope smoking car aficionado to a businessman. About how this businessman hatched a scheme to pry his son, Jay, away from his Mom, who was developing a habit of drugs and staying out late, and generally being out of it most of the time, and how that father convinced his son to move down to Florida with him. But as soon as they get there, all that high and mighty “I’ ll be a better father to you” breaks down because the first day they arrive at this house, at this vision his father has for life, known as Bella Vista, only then does he choose to turn the care of his son over to his Limo Driver, Cliff. Yes, all of a sudden, Dad has all of this money that he tells his son comes from venture capitalists and this new business he is starting. Cliff drives people around for a living, and it is in this limo that Jay learns to carve out a life for himself away from his father and finally live life on his own terms.
Adam Strong is a High School Digital Arts Teacher, a multimedia artist and a novelist. His novel, Bella Vista, was released on March 3rd. He is the founder of SongbookPDX. He lives in PDX with his wife and children.
Anne Gudger is a Portland writer who loves language and space on the page. She writes about love and loss and how to get from there to here. She’s fascinated by the heart and its metaphorical fifth chamber, which holds more love, which holds shadows. She’s been published in Newsweek, Real Simple Magazine, The Rumpus, Slippery Elm, NAILED Magazine, Entropy, Tupelo Press, Atticus Review, The Timberline Review, Columbia Journal, Sweet Lit, Cutbank, Cutthroat, The Normal School, The Los Angeles Review, and elsewhere. It’s been said that Anne eats books and has since she first decoded words.