Kirsten Mickelwait's THE ASHTRAYS ARE FULL AND THE GLASSES ARE EMPTY Event

Join us on Monday, June 2 at 7:00 PM when local author Kirsten Mickelwait comes to the store to share her debut novel The Ashtrays Are Full and the Glasses Are Empty. Kirsten will be joined in conversation by Julia Scheeres and will sign copies of her book after the presentation.

Raised in New York's Gilded Age, pampered heiress Sara Wiborg dreams of a more creative life than the rigid future prescribed for her. It's only when she meets Gerald Murphy that she finds a man who shares her creative, aesthetic ideal and, after a friendship of eleven years, they marry despite the strong disapproval of her family.

Against the sizzling Jazz Age backdrop of 1920s Paris and Antibes, Sara's innate style and gift for friendship attract the bohemian elite of the new century-including Hemingway, Fitzgerald, Picasso, and Dorothy Parker. But by the 1930s, her fortune is lost and tragedy strikes-not once, but twice. Sara's strength and resilience allow her to find a new equilibrium over time, long after the parties have ended. A heartbreaking story of love and loss, The Ashtrays Are Full and the Glasses Are Empty follows Sara through her very modern life to reveal how tragedy can be healed by faith, unconditional love, and a creative mind.

"Micklewait provides a jewel box of a book illustrating that none of us invented the fight for a singularly creative life." - Randy Susan Meyers, internationally bestselling author of The Many Mothers of Ivy Puddingstone

KIRSTEN MICKELWAIT had a 40+ year career as a professional copywriter and editor before turning to writing fiction and creative nonfiction. Her memoir, The Ghost Marriage, was published by She Writes Press in 2021, and her historical novel, The Ashtrays are Full and the Glasses are Empty, was published by Koehler Books in May 2025. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she's at work on a new speculative novel.

JULIA SCHEERES worked as a reporter for United Press International, El Financiero de Mexico, and Wired News. Her writing has been featured in the New York Times, O Magazine, Elle, Narrative, Pacific Standard, Newsweek, The Guardian and more. Julia has written three books: A Thousand Lives, Listen Up, and her memoir Jesus Land led to the closure of the abusive reform school that she and her brother David attended as teens and is currently in production for a feature film. She teaches narrative nonfiction and memoir through Stanford Continuing Studies, and lives in the East Bay with her family.

THIS EVENT is free but registration is requested. Registration ends at 6:00 pm on June 2.

BECAUSE SEATING is limited, please register only if you plan to attend.

DUE TO SPACE limitations, we may not be able to accommodate every person at an event, so early registration is encouraged.

WALK-INS will be accommodated only if space allows.

WE ASK that attendees arrive between 6:45 and 7:00 PM for the event.

PLEASE leave your non-support companion animals at home.

OUR shared restrooms are not accessible after 6:30 PM, please plan accordingly.

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