Peace During an Unpeaceful Time: Workshop & Book Launch

Join us in welcoming Shelley Blanton-Stroud for the release of her lastest novel, An Unlikely Prospect, following a woman fighting to report on the V-J Day Riots in San Francisco. Dorothy Rice of 916Ink will be joining her to host two writer's workshops, all about finding our voice and using it in unprecendeted times.

About the hosts:

Shelley Blanton-Stroud is a recently retired lecturer from California State University Sacramento, a former board member of 916 Ink, and author of the Jane Benjamin historical mystery series featuring a cross-dressing, tomato-picking San Francisco gossip columnist in 1930s and '40s Northern California. Her latest novel, An Unlikely Prospect (She Writes Press, August 2025), follows a widow publisher fighting to report on the little-known 1945 V-J Day San Francisco Peace Riot while finding her voice in a male-dominated field.

Dorothy Rowena Rice is a Sacramento-area writer and Managing Editor of the nonfiction and arts journal Under the Gum Tree. She is a Board Member with the youth literacy nonprofit, 916 Ink, where she worked for several years leading creative writing workshops for young writers. Rice is the author of The Reluctant Artist (Shanti Arts, 2015), Gray Is the New Black (Otis Books, 2019) and editor of the anthology 2020: 43 Stories from a Year Like No Other (Stories on Stage, 2021). Find links to many of her published stories, essays and reviews at www.dorothyriceauthor.com

Host or Publisher A Seat at the Table Books