Is the first lady trying to overthrow the president? Award-winning writer Kathleen Antrim's fictional response to this shocking premise is at the heart of her chillingly convincing political thriller, CAPITAL OFFENSE.

 

Tenacity pays off for self-publisher - By Lynn Carey

I'M USUALLY WARY when a self-published book comes across my desk, begging to be considered for the Times Book Club. Anyone with enough money can get his or her book published. And if it wasn't good enough to get published by an established publishing house, why would we consider it for the Book Club?

So, when "Capital Offense" by Pleasanton's Kathleen Antrim arrived on my desk, I told her published "no."

Usually at this point, authors go away quietly. But Antrim showed up at a Times Book Club discussion and introduced herself (and told the club about her book). Then she invited me to join her for a panel discussion at Bay Books on Wednesday night, along with winery owner Carolyn Wente, the Taylor Family Foundation's Elaine Taylor and Times metro columnist Karen Hershenson.

I was flattered to be included. I thought I should at least look at Antrim's book.

I found it difficult to put down "Capital Offense." It's a beach book, but Antrim takes on the weighty issue of the power of the first lady and fictionalizes it with assassins, bad guys and romance.

The book is better than some "big houses" authors I've read. So I decided to take Antrim to breakfast to find out why she self-published.

(Note to all self-publishing authors: This one breakfast does not a precedent set.)

Antrim is a lot of fun. She was in a warm-up suit accessorized with diamond rings (she loves jewelry and, in fact, designs it when she's not writing books) and loves "Survivor," shopping and lipstick.

And she self-published because she got tired of waiting for her publisher (and she did have one, from a very big house) to get off the stick.

"I'm used to taking the bull by the horns," she said. "I knew I was going to run up against a stigma, if the book had no official stamp from New York. But, that's kind of who I am."

Antrim wrote and illustrated her first book when she was 7; in fact, writing was her life until a creative writing teacher announced that he was going to throw up on Antrim's paper. Traumatized, she stopped writing for 12 years. That gave her time to get married, have two daughters, and serve on lots of charitable boards before dabbling again in writing. It was her interest in politics that prompted her to write "Capital Offense."

Thanks to relentless self-promotion, Antrim's book is getting read. Towne Center Books in Pleasanton sold 125 copies in three weeks. Bookpeople was the first to climb on board as an official distributor, followed by Ingram. And Costco has just ordered 3,000 copies in hardcover.

"At first, I thought I heard wrong," Antrim says. "I thought they meant maybe 30, or 300." She's about to go on a 27-store Costco tour.

Also, she now has an agent who is publishing "capital Offense" with the big publishing houses in New York (two have already approached Antrim).

"I feel like Cinderella, who put on a glass slipper," Antrim says, grinning.

Antrim will be reading from "Capital Offense" at 7 p.m. Wednesday at Bay Books, 1669 Willow Pass Road, Concord (925-671-2245). Afterward she'll be joined by Wente, Taylor, Hershenson and me for a panel discussion on powerful women. Come keep us company!

I hope you've all finished reading the current Times Book Club selection, "Peace Like a River," by Leif Enger. We'll be writing about it next week.

Lynn Carey runs the Times Book Club. She can be reached at 925-943-8112 or at lcarey@cctimes.com.