FEED THE BODY AND MIND: LITE BITE and INSPIRING AUTHOR EVENT!

Dear Ladies!!

Let's feed the body and the mind! Please join us for a wonderful evening of food/lite bite and an inspiring author evening!

430pm FOOD: Seasoning Alley: 342 South Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia
6pm AUTHOR TALK: Underdog Books: 312 South Myrtle Avenue, Monrovia

Yes, this is a double header - please come to ONE OR BOTH -- BUT PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHICH ONES YOU WIL ATTEND - food or/and book event.

First, for those who want to eat before this inspiring amazing event, we will start off with food at a lovely casual mediterranean spot which is a few doors down from the bookstore. They have reasonably priced amazing mediterranean food, wine/beer, and a very nice patio (if it is warm we can sit there).

LITE BITE/HAPPY HOUR/MEET AND GREET SOCIAL HOUR:
Please meet at 430 at the Seasoning Alley if you are going to eat with us.

AUTHOR TALK: The main event will begin at 6pm a few doors north at UNDERDOG BOOKSTORE, an amazing little gem of a spot that is a nonprofit bookstore offering diverse literature and community-focused events.

## Underdog's mission: Through diverse books and inclusive events, our bookstore aims to amplify underrepresented voices and provide a safe space to explore, connect, and celebrate the wonder of literacy and learning.

Meet author Avra Wing in conversation with Don Cummings!
Avra Wing's memoir, Stride: How I Walked Away from Trauma Toward Healing, has been praised as "eye opening," and a "standout" that will appeal to anyone "facing new challenges in life."

She is also the author of the novel Angie, I Says, a New York Times notable book, made into the feature film Angie starring Geena Davis and James Gandolfini, as well as the young adult novel After Isaac.

Her poetry has appeared in New Ohio Review, Red Wheelbarrow, Image, and the Santa Fe Literary Review, among other journals, and her collection, Mammoth Life & Accident, will be published in January 2027.

Avra leads a writing workshop at the Center for Independence of the Disabled New York. She has three grown children, and lives in Brooklyn, New York with her husband.

Don Cummings is known for his fearless and humorous writing in books, essays, theatre and film. His love-sex-and-health memoir, Bent But Not Broken, was published by Heliotrope Books.
It received fine praise from Kirkus Reviews. Cummings’ skills as a writer are apparent from the beginning. "His prose is effortlessly clever, finding the entertaining medium between lyricism and sass." He has had short stories published in Rain Taxi, Epiphany, and Cagibi. He often performs his personal essays at venues such as Comedy Central’s Sit ‘n Spin, HBO Workspace, Largo, Brooklyn Reading Works, Tell It!, Personal Space and True Story.

SIDENOTE: Ladies - If you could so kindly donate to my meetup fees of one dollar (or more if you feel generous) to help me defray the costs of running the group on the meetup platform.