This monthly salon, hosted by Barbara DeMarco-Barrett, features authors, literary agents, and others involved in the field of writing. Set in the atmospheric Scape Gallery in Corona del Mar, the salon is a mecca for literary devotees who listen to readings, take part in discussions, and attend book signings.

Join the salon on Tuesday, November 15 at 7 pm when authors Merrill Markoe and Karen Karbo visit to discuss their books. They'll also talk about crafting nonfiction, and because they both write and publish fiction as well, they'll talk about how one genre feeds another, and the differences in writing each.

Emmy Award-winning writer Merrill Markoe lives in Los Angeles, California, the garden spot of America, with four dogs and a man. She has worked as a writer in pretty much every writing arena except instructional manuals, because she doesn't know that much about how things work. Merrill returns to the Salon to talk about her brand new book of essays, Cool, Calm and Contentious. In addition, she has written three other books of humorous essays, and the novels Nose Down, Eyes Up; Walking in Circles Before Lying Down; and It's My F---ing Birthday.

She has also co-written (with Andy Prieboy) the novel The Psycho Ex Game. A lot of additional information about her work history -- including a long bio, goofy videos, etc. -- can be found at merrillmarkoe.com. She is also on Facebook under her own name and at Twitter (@merrillmarkoe). Here's a funny book promo that Merrill created.

Karen Karbo's first novel, Trespassers Welcome Here, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, and a Village Voice Top Ten Book of the Year. Her other two adult novels, The Diamond Lane and Motherhood Made a Man Out of Me, were also named New York Times Notable Books. Her 2004 memoir, The Stuff of Life, about the last year she spent with her father before his death, was an New York Times Notable Book, a People Magazine Critics' Choice, a Books for a Better Life Award finalist, and a winner of the Oregon Book Award for Creative Nonfiction. Her short stories, essays, articles and reviews have appeared in Elle, Vogue, Esquire, Outside, The New York Times, salon.com and other magazines. She is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship in Fiction, and a winner of the General Electric Younger Writer Award.

How Georgia Became O'Keeffe is the third and final installment in what she calls her kick ass women trilogy. How to Hepburn published in 2007, was hailed by the Philadelphia Inquirer as "an exuberant celebration of a great original"; The Gospel According to Coco Chanel, published in 2009, was a Bookscan bestseller (and some of you may remember Karen from two summers ago when she visited the Salon to talk about that book). Karen grew up in Los Angeles, and lives in Portland, Oregon, where she continues to kick ass.