September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury: Ms. Shinobu Sakamoto of Minamata, Japan speaks at the Minamata Convention Conference,

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September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury: Ms. Shinobu Sakamoto of Minamata, Japan speaks at the Minamata Convention Conference,

Born in Minamata, japan in 1956, Ms. Shinobu Sakamoto is a survivor congenitally afflicted with Minamata Disease. As early as age 15 she became an eloquent spokesperson and advocate for environmental justice, ending mercury pollution and protection of the rights and care of those with Minamata disease, severe human mercury poisoning. Minamata disease was initially recognized in the  late 1950s, at Minamata Japan,  and has the distinction of being among the first industrial toxin identified illnesses.  Ms. Sakamoto has travelled from Japan to address the international community this week at the United Nations Environmental Program sponsored first conference of the parties signatory to the Minamata Convention on Mercury. The convention (treaty) has gone "into force" this past August  2017. 

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September Williams' Chasing Mercury: Audiobook Coming Soon: Shifting Possibilities

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September Williams' Chasing Mercury: Audiobook Coming Soon: Shifting Possibilities

There is something inherently exhausting about compacting 3 years of work into 12 hours of audio recording -- I guess it's what makes diamonds. I had a great 4 days with  Greg,  a super sound engineer at Command Productions in Sausalito, recording the audiobook edition for Chasing Mercury. It's off to the distributors and hopefully it will be available by the end of this week or next...
 

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September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury goes to Geneva for COP1 Minamata Convention on Mercury

September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury goes to Geneva for COP1 Minamata Convention on Mercury

Big news! I’m going to Geneva with Chasing Mercury next week.  I'll be covering the 1st Conference of the Parties Signatory to the Minamata Convention on Mercury since the treaty went into force, August 16, 2017. The primary themes of Chasing Mercury were inspired by the signing of the Minamata Convention by a UNESCO initiative in 2013 at the Kumamoto Prefecture of Japan, nearly sixty years after the toxic effects of the persistent organic pollutant methyl mercury was found to cause Minamata disease— and forty-five years after a ballerina named Sicily met a powwow dancer whistleblower journalist name Forest.  

 

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September Williams Author Sees Chasing Mercury Rising.

September Williams Author Sees Chasing Mercury Rising.

I woke up this morning to find Chasing Mercury, my romantic suspense, saga, and my now owning its  significant part memoir, being in the top 100 best sellers in two amazon categories #12 in Kindle Memoirs and Biographies> Environmentalists & Naturalists. https://www.amazon.com/gp/bestsellers/digital-text/10332450011/ref=pd_zg_hrsr_kstore_1_5_last  and #46 in the same categories of books. It changes every hour but has been inthe same grouping most of the past two days. Go figure...

 

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September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury Paco the Dreamer

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September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury Paco the Dreamer

 From  Chasing Mercury, Chapter 17, San francisco Bay 1969-1972

“Paco often traveled through the back alleys of Venice, as he had that night, to reach our house. He tried the back door. Locked, as it should have been, he started to knock. That was when he heard the sound of our front windows shattering. Kicking the door open, he had a line of sight through the living room to the front yard. Two unfamiliar shadows held cigarette lighters. Whoosh, whoosh—Molotov cocktails, gasoline soaked cloth wicks in Coke bottles, flew through the already broken glass. 

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September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury- Blood River, Summer 1965-1968 vs Watts Community Health Center 2017.

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September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury- Blood River, Summer 1965-1968 vs Watts Community Health Center 2017.

“HOT ENOUGH TO BLISTER THE skin, the Santa Ana Winds ravaged Los Angeles. Sirens raced down Manchester to the hospital on the other side of the cul-de-sac. They were loud and frequent, stopping us from opening the windows to let even the hot breeze blow through. From the ranch house picture window we could see black clouds from fires burning eight miles south. Newscasters called it a riot. Later, the people who lived in that part of the city, and history, would call it The Watts Uprisings.

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September Wiliams Author of Chasing Mercury will be at 9/15/2017 opening of CINE+MAAS SF LATINO FILM FESTIVAL

September Wiliams Author of Chasing Mercury will be at 9/15/2017 opening of CINE+MAAS SF LATINO FILM FESTIVAL

As many of you know I am a member of that National Writers Union and the International Federation of Journalist.  I review films for their bioethics content and publish on www.bioethicsscreenreflections.com which is picked up by a number of Bioethics on line publications. I don't see my hat a s a novelist being different from that as a journalist ( After all Chasing Mercury is about a Powwow dancer whistle blowing journalist. Journalism keeps me in contact with stories film or otherwise.)

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September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury and Toxic Water Minamata Japan Children's book

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September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury and Toxic Water Minamata Japan Children's book

Today I found a box at my front door. At first I thought it was expresso pods. When I opened it two gorgeous hard covered books were in it. Toxic Water, Minamata Japan - a book offered by Bearport Publishing for children's school libraries , and for which it was my honor to consult, is out and ready to be purchased by a school library near you! Let them know it exist. This is a book that is a part of Bearport's environmental disaster series helping the next generations understand what has happened in the past. 

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Copy of September Williams Author Chasing Mercury excerpt from Chapter 7, The River Spree, August 1973 

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Copy of September Williams Author Chasing Mercury excerpt from Chapter 7, The River Spree, August 1973 

“The horse is out of her control. ‘Thirty-five miles per hour’ wind on her cheek tells her. Sicily panics. They head straight for the river. Feeling she is about to tumble, she chooses to guide the fall. Slipping one foot out of the stirrup, she swings a leg over the saddle while holding tight to the reins, stealing herself for a hell of a tumble...

 

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September Williams author of Chasing Mercury in Good Company with the Audacity of Love

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So today Sarah Kornfeld wrote a beautiful review of Chasing Mercury on Amazon. It was all beautiful but what mad me so happy was that the chick put me and bell hooks in the same paragraphs - whether it's appropriate or not -- it sure made me smile! She is so very dramatic! Go to Amazon and read the whole thing -- and write one yourself -- or at least see if any of the others help you wanna read Chasing Mercury -- I'm amazed ant the time and thought people put into reviews -- It's really a kind thing to do - to honor someones hard work. At $2.99 a copy I don't expect to get rich but the idea that someone think I can make people think, love and resist evil and indifference -- that makes me very happy. 

September Williams Author oF Chasing Mercury Lake Zurich and Limmat River

The on going story of the waterways of Chasing Mercury.“The Restaurant Lindenhofkeller, established in 1860, is above the Limmat River. Waiting to be seated, Forest points out the river’s course. “It begins at the outfall of Lake Zürich,” he says, extending a long bronze index finger into the magnificent view beyond the city. “From Zürich, it flows northwesterly…”
Sicily aims her camera toward the snaking stream. CLICK, CLICK. She captures six shots, surreptitiously including Forest” Excerpt From: September Williams. “Chasing Mercury.” 

September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury explores the art of Sto Len

In my on going devotion to see works of art as inspiration for my writing, I've recently visited and met Stol Len at his San Francisco exhibition. Sto Len is an environmental artist among other things. In the “Waste” print series. Utilizes a completely natural, if damaged, environment to create his work, navigating waterways by rowboat, Sto uses highly polluted areas like the Newtown Creek in NY as his medium by marbling what is floating on top of the water. Capturing both natural substances and a wide array of man-made pollutants, these prints contain the results of industrial pollution. Dumped oil, discarded toxins, litter and sewage overflow mix with algae, sticks, plants, dust, and dirt to create intricate patterns and painterly splashes. July 22 – Aug 31 2017 Opening Saturday July 22 6- 10pm: Runoff – A solo exhibition Parlor, 235 Valencia St, San Francisco, CA 94103

Source: http://stoishere.com

September Williams author of Chasing Mercury and Expanding the Reach with other Art Mediums.

This past Saturday night, being pushed by artist friends, I saw two art shows. One with Marta Johansen's new installation at Ramon's Tailor Shop in down down san Francisco. It was a push to reach out to a new crowed -- the one fond by happenstance at a gallery and talk about Chasing Mercury with them. It turns out that Marta's fluidity of line and Sto Len's polluted with oil laden water cooler canvases are both works of people deeply tied to the environment -- A perfect place for a writer who names her chapters after waterways. Finding kindreds among fields of arts beyond literature is a good way to expand Chasing Mercury's readership

Source: www.martajohansen.com

Copy of Creative Chutzpah of the Hook at the Octopus Literary Salon, Chasing Mercury's 1st Post Publication Reading

Copy of Creative Chutzpah of the Hook at the Octopus Literary Salon, Chasing Mercury's 1st Post Publication Reading

Chasing Mercury's debut reading, post publication, was in 'real good company' last night. James Warner hosted Inside Storytime at the Octopus Literary Lounge in Oakland. I was in love with the Octopus at first sight. A cafe and book shop with carefully curated shelves of the most progressive literature of our times. I was smitten when I saw the whole section of Haruki Murikami --

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September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury Learns of Grassy Narrows First NationVictory

Grassy Narrows First Nation is among the inspirations for one of the fictional locations of Chasing Mercury The Toronto Star Reports:'After decades of unrelenting pressure from Grassy Narrows activists and their supporters, the Ontario government announced last month that they had dedicated $85 million to the remediation of the English-Wabigoon river system, which was contaminated with 9 tonnes of mercury in the 1960s by a paper mill.  This incredible step forward should be cause for celebration, but concerns remain that it can be undone by future governments.  Too safeguard the cleanup commitment and dedicated funding, the Wynne government must put the funds into a trust that is accountable to Grassy Narrows. 

These provisions are consistent with the those of the Minamata Convention  to which Canada is signatory. However, like the convention, this settlement does not include provisions for the sick and other still suffering and in need of long therm  care - so the Grassy Narrows struggle continues. 

Source: http://mailchi.mp/416c48f2db0a/tell-premie...

September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury+ Children's Book Toxic Water: Minamata, Japan

September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury+ Children's Book Toxic Water: Minamata, Japan

It has been my pleasure to work with Bearport Publishing and acclaimed author Meish Goldish as a consulting physician-writer and bioethicist.  Bearport is a School Library Publisher (http://bearportpublishing.com/about)  Its books are compelling and visually compete with the best of the superhero genre for interest.  The publisher currently  has an Ecological Disaster series for use in the Environmental Curriculum for schools.Toxic Water: Minamata, Japan is designed to expose children from Grades 3-5 to new vocabulary and concepts. However, the book is informative and compelling for all children and I dare say adults.

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September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury learns book Giveaways are like Fireworks on the 4th of July.

September Williams Author of Chasing Mercury learns book Giveaways are like Fireworks on the 4th of July.

People who like to read, really like to read or really like to collect books --both are probably true. It gets expensive. I set up a giveaway of free copies of the Chasing Mercury ebook last night on Amazon. (While waiting for Good Reads ebook giveaway program to start.)  I thought the giveaway would last two weeks. Six hours later, when I woke up, 30 free copies were gone!  WHY????

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