The Bay Area is one of the most diverse places in the world, so it stands to reason that if vampires and werewolves roamed the street of Oakland, they would be reflective of that diversity.

Oakland author AJ Harper thinks so, at least, and in his first two novels, "Night Biters" and "Werewolves the Mix Tape," he writes about an Oakland filled with African-American, Latino and Asian vampires and Filipino werewolves.

By all accounts, Thembisa Mshaka is an  entertainment biz industry insider.

Oakland's own pioneering founder of The Punany Poets has written her first full length erotic novel, "The War Between the Tops and Bottoms." A poet, author, entertainer and AIDS awareness activist, Jessica Holter was at the Laurel Book Store Tuesday night to read excerpts from the novel and sign books for her hometown fans.

In a time when words are increasingly going electronic, what does it mean to print a paper book? As a writer, I admit to preferring the weight and texture of a three-dimensional book to an e-book.