Category Archives: San Francisco

Loma Prieta—36th Anniversary

Posted on October 17, 2025 by Gabriella West

Posted in Personal, San Francisco | Tagged Loma Prieta earthquake anniversary, San Francisco | Leave a comment

Life Span by Molly Giles: A Review

Posted on June 20, 2024 by Gabriella West

Molly Giles is best known as a gifted short-story writer, but this late-in-life memoir produces a different kind of sparkle. It’s a more vulnerable tale than her polished fiction, and the flashes of rage and ambivalence that reoccur throughout the … Continue reading →

Posted in creativity and its discontents, Reviews, San Francisco | Tagged abuse, alcoholism, California writers, Creative Writing, dysfunctional parents, Golden Gate Bridge, marriage, memoir, men, Molly Giles, San Francisco State University, short stories, teaching, Woodacre, writing, WTAW Press | Leave a comment

Coming Full Circle

Posted on February 4, 2023 by Gabriella West

As promised, I’m posting a personal essay written in 2021 during lockdown, shortly after I got the vaccine, which seemed so, so significant at the time. I realize that it is about time, hope, and gratitude. [Image is of a … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, LGBT, Personal, San Francisco | Tagged cancer, deaths, essay, graduate students, in transit, lockdown, pandemic, San Francisco, San Francisco State, Time, USF, vaccine, writing group | Leave a comment

A Tenuous Time (Two Unexpected Losses)

Posted on July 25, 2021 by Gabriella West

Seems like a weird time we’re in right now. The delta variant is upon us, and even in San Francisco, cases are rising robustly. I continue to wear my mask and am relieved that so many of my fellow SFers … Continue reading →

Posted in Personal, San Francisco, Writing | Tagged Autism, cancer, Chico, deaths, delta variant, Denise Minor, Facebook, feminist, friendship, loss, obituary, Patrick More, San Francisco State, women's lives, writing group | Leave a comment

Big Fires Everywhere…

Posted on September 9, 2020 by Gabriella West

“Extremely dense & tall smoke plumes from numerous large wildfires, some of which have been generating nocturnal pyrocumulonimbus clouds (fire thunderstorms), are almost completely blocking out the sun across some portions of Northern California this morning.” –Climate Scientist Daniel Swain … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, News, Personal, San Francisco | Tagged air quality, California, climate change, fires, Oregon | Leave a comment

Coronavirus Dispatch #1

Posted on March 19, 2020 by Gabriella West

Here’s how it started, at least the official story, from a site called CIDRAP (Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy) that I just happened upon today on the web: “As suspected, a novel coronavirus has been identified in some … Continue reading →

Posted in Health, News, Personal, San Francisco | Tagged alienation, Bay Area, California, capitalism, coronavirus, COVID-19, crisis, death, empathy, fear, friendship, global pandemic, loss, nature, shelter in place, shortage, society, surreal, tests, Trump Administration, uncertainty | 1 Comment

Review: Between Heaven and Hell by David Talbot

Posted on February 16, 2020 by Gabriella West

Between Heaven and Hell: The Story of My Stroke (Chronicle Prism, 176 pp, $22.95, January 2020) David Talbot—journalist, popular historian, longtime San Francisco resident, and author of Season of the Witch—has written a surprisingly vulnerable, intimate, often funny and engaging … Continue reading →

Posted in creativity and its discontents, Health, Reviews, San Francisco, Writing | Tagged Between Heaven and Hell, David Talbot, Health crises, Hollywood, meaning, memoir, mortality, nonfiction, Salon Magazine, San Francisco, Strokes | Leave a comment

Memorial Day Sale

Posted on May 23, 2018 by Gabriella West

Foggy weather has started early and even the opening of the Salesforce Tower, a big deal in San Francisco, was spoiled by it! The month was made a little more fun by the Royal Wedding, which I enjoyed thoroughly. And … Continue reading →

Posted in LGBT, News, San Francisco, Self-publishing, Writing | Tagged A Knight's Tale: Kenilworth, Amazon, Free, gay historical, Kindle Unlimited, love, memorial day, review, summer | Leave a comment

A Happy Fourth…

Posted on July 4, 2016 by Gabriella West

I wanted to wish everyone out there in the US a happy Fourth of July! The weather is always chilly and foggy here in San Francisco. At night in our neighborhood, the air is filled with the sound of homemade rockets … Continue reading →

Posted in LGBT, News, Personal, San Francisco, Self-publishing, Writing | Tagged Bill Maher, Brexit, clare ashton, connecting the dots, Elsie Street, Fourth of July, Free, Hillary Clinton, Kate Genet, Rainbow Shelf, Shannon Yarbrough, Smashwords Summer/Winter Sale, The Great British Baking Show, The Pull of Yesterday | Leave a comment

Elsie Street Sequel Now on Preorder!

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Gabriella West

I’ve been busy writing this spring. The full-length sequel to Elsie Street, The Pull of Yesterday, is now available for preorder at Amazon, Apple, Barnes & Noble, and Kobo. It will be released on those platforms on June 5. Meanwhile, … Continue reading →