Reading List

Author Talk

We sat down with Mill Valley’s Paul Scheuring, creator of Fox’s Prison Break, to discuss his new book, The Far Shore.

MM: This is your first novel. What made you want to test-drive a new

forum? PS: In a lot of ways, I’ve always been a novelist. But shortly after college a friend approached me to co-write a screenplay with him. So began a few decades of work as a screenwriter, and it wasn’t until a couple of years ago that I really had to reconcile the fact that I hadn’t yet written a published novel. I felt in a lot of ways that I’d strayed from my original path, and so in a fit of nostalgia, passion and idealism, I banged out The Far Shore. It felt great. Like coming home to a long-dormant creative muscle in the heart.

MM: What is the main difference between book writing and screen-

writing? PS: Filmmaking, and thus screenwriting, is by its nature a collaborative endeavor. Executives have an ungodly amount of notes, not to mention producers, actors and directors — everyone’s backseat-driving you. Writing the novel was a more autonomous act: you are indeed in a box and battle through your days with only your own inner voice as compass, which can be unsettling for some, but for me is profoundly liberating. If you want to write because there’s a burning need to express an idea in a pure, unadulterated form, write a book. You won’t get paid as much as you would writing for Hollywood, but you’ll have the fulfillment of creating a work that is largely of you, for you and might contribute something to the world.

MM: Would you classify The Far

Shore as a thriller? PS: The Far Shore is hard to classify in terms of genre. On one level it’s a mystery: what happened to Lily’s grandfather? Can she locate his old bones, and for it be rewarded the $16 million she’s due as his sole heir? But what it really becomes is a spiritual exploration of both Lily, who’s cast into places wholly unfamiliar and occasionally harrowing to her, and her grandfather, who, having witnessed the hells of war, set out to find if there was spiritual liberation from the pains of life. It runs from the battlefields of World War II to the Buddhist monasteries of

Myanmar. CALIN VAN PARIS

Local Page Turners

The Far Shore by Paul Scheuring (Mill Valley), One Light Road Inc., $18.99. Stuck in a dead-end job, single and discontented, Lily receives a most unexpected visitor: an heir finder, who informs her she is the sole beneficiary to an unclaimed fortune: $16 million, to be exact. The Far Shore follows Lily as she embarks on a global odyssey — from the shores of South Carolina to the deepest jungles of Myanmar — in a quest for answers. Author Paul Scheuring brings the same excitement that he kicked up as the showrunner for Fox’s Prison Break and the director of A Man Apart to this riveting debut novel. Appearing at Book Passage Sausalito April 29, 4 p.m.

Hallelujah Anyway: Rediscovering

Mercy by Anne Lamott (Fairfax), Riverhead Books, $20. Anne Lamott’s latest venture is an engaging and approachable follow-up to the New York Times best-selling Help, Thanks, Wow and Stitches. With Hallelujah, Lamott once again ventures to explore where and how we should approach the search for meaning in life. Full of her trademark honesty, humor and forthrightness, this work is classic Lamott — profound and caring, funny and wise and further proof that the author truly speaks to the better parts of our natures. Appearing at Dominican University April 17, 7 p.m.

Ganja Yoga by Dee Dussault (San Francisco), HarperOne, $19.99. Yogis have been using cannabis to enhance spiritual practice for millennia. Dee Dussault is the first yoga instructor to bring cannabis-enhanced yoga classes to North America. Ganja Yoga is a groundbreaking guide to finding balance in our lives using the ancient method of mixing cannabis with spiritual practice. Appearing at Book Passage San Francisco April 22, 1 p.m.

Cut by Amy Peele (San Francisco), She Writes Press, $16.95. In Cut, a well-respected nurse and her best friend unearth the corrupt side of organ transplants in a wild roller coaster ride through the lifestyles of the rich and famous. Author Amy Peele is the ideal writer for the job, having spent 35 years in the organ transplantation field in both Illinois and California. This novel is a thoroughly researched journey into medicine’s darker underbelly. Appearing at Book Passage Corte Madera April 22, 7 p.m.

Reviews by Book Passage Marketing Manager Zack Ruskin.