Women driving the 10 Freeway through Montclair are getting a post-Halloween treat: eye candy.
An electronic advertising sign outside Montclair Place mall features a buff, shirtless man, stroking his darkly bearded chin and wearing only a Santa hat. This promotes a risque event at the mall Friday and Saturday night: "Hunky Santa."
The same ab-tastic image greets shoppers from standup displays in the mall's walkways. Those two days from 4 to 9 p.m. on the upper level near Victoria's Secret, according to the display, people can pose for a digital photo with "Hunky Santa" for $10.
"Get ready to jingle those bells!" the text reads. "Hunky Santa is coming to town and he's bringing the heat. Stop by and see if you've been naughty or nice -- trust me, this is one holiday snack you won't want to miss."
Is this a shopping mall or Chippendales? (Also, who is the "me" in "trust me"?)
If you prefer your Santas fully clothed and grandfatherly, with a belly that jiggles like a bowlful of jelly rather than taut in a six-pack, don't fret. That Santa will arrive at the mall Friday from 5 to 7 p.m. in what is billed as, whew, a "family event."
Yes, Hunky Santa and Chunky Santa will overlap.
Next week will offer two opportunities to hear me speak, and at opposite ends of our coverage area, Redlands and Claremont. At both I'll be the solo attraction, reading from my new collection "Waving at Strangers," talking about local journalism and taking your questions. (Unlike "Hunky Santa," I will keep my shirt on.)
From 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Tuesday (Nov. 12), come see me at the Redlands Forum. I will be onstage in the plush auditorium at Esri Conference Center, 380 New York St., for this lauded speaker series, courtesy of Esri and the University of Redlands Town and Gown.
I'm not worthy! (Also: Fill some of their, gulp, 365 seats, please!)
Or, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Thursday (Nov. 14), come see me at the Garner House's Ginger Elliott Center in Claremont's Memorial Park, 840 N. Indian Hill Blvd. This appearance is courtesy of Claremont Heritage, which has billed me as "the ever-popular David Allen."
Luckily this is a far smaller room, with folding chairs, and thus less pressure. Still, don't get complacent. If four people show up, next time I will be, sadly, "the once-popular David Allen."
Admission to either engagement is free. Thank heaven for small mercies.
At each stop I'll have copies of "Waving at Strangers" and my four earlier books for sale. I'm not so worried about Claremont, since I live there, but from Redlands, I'll need gas money home.
L.A. writer Steph Cha spoke Oct. 29 in the Athenaeum speaker series at Claremont McKenna College, telling us how her fascination with Raymond Chandler's mystery novels inspired her to use crime fiction to write about the Korean American experience.
Cha made a few observations about the field.
Traditional mystery stories are inherently conservative, she said, because at the end, "order is restored." Serial killer podcasts are popular because they seem detached from everyday life. By contrast, she said, "Most crime is done by ordinary people."
I was there with two mystery reader friends, Hugh McBride and Doug Evans. While the questions from the college students in the audience tended toward the cerebral, Evans, whose college days at the University of Redlands are three decades in the past, went to the microphone with a more straightforward query.
Asked Evans: "Will there be any more Juniper Song books?" Song was the amateur sleuth featured in three Cha novels, published from 2013 to 2015.
"Probably not," Cha admitted. But she disclosed: "I am doing a TV adaptation for it. It's been fun hanging out with her and putting her in a different time period."
With desert noir crime fiction as one focus, the second annual Twentynine Palms Book Festival takes place Friday and Saturday (Nov. 8 and 9), expanding to two days this time with live talks, readings, book signings, a young readers' zone and more at the Community Center, 6547 Freedom Way. See 29pbf.com for details. Last year's one-day festival proved that literary events, like plant life, can bloom in unexpected places. As a sidebar event is titled: "Never Underestimate the Desert."