ELLROY WUZ HERE…Adding to the county’s celeb-gliteratti list is New York Times bestselling author James Ellroy, who recently moved to Carmel with his wife, writer Helen Knode. Ellroy is best known for L.A. Confidential, which was made into a Hollywood blockbuster, and The Cold Six Thousand (not yet made into a Hollywood blockbuster), but he’s penned 14 mystery novels in the past two decades. Knode is a former film critic for the LA Weekly, who has just published The Ticket Out, a Hollywood potboiler and her first novel. Ellroy and Knode will read from their recent work Friday, April 16 at Morgan’s Coffee and Tea in Monterey, a free event beginning at 7pm, and they promise “candid and uncensored Q & A” afterwards. (Wonder if we can get Brad and Jennifer to do the same?)

TRUNK SHOW…Artist and gallery owner Dan Koffman will be on the streets of downtown Monterey this Saturday (Old Monterey Plein Air Art Festival day) creating art with Lisa, his 17-year-old African elephant friend. Lisa, who now lives at Wild Things in Salinas, and Koffman, who is a Wild Thing in his own right, have already collaborated on 20 paintings—Lisa holding her brush in her trunk, while Koffman does it the old-fashioned way. All proceeds from the sale of “LisaKoff’s” original paintings and limited edition prints will go to the Elephants of Africa Rescue Society; anyone who donates $10 to EARS will also get a copy of Koffman’s book, The Man and the Elephant, in which he chronicles his peace efforts with Lisa. Stop by downtown Monterey Saturday and see ‘em paint—all for a great cause.

JOHNNY’S WORKOUT…Monterey trainer Johnny Aliotti will be signing copies of his new book, Johnny’s Simple Dumbbell Workout, Monday, April 19 at Monterey Joe’s Restaurant (2149 N. Fremont St., Monterey) from 5-8pm. Now in his 50s, Aliotti is still a competitive bodybuilder, and while he can’t promise the same results to people who use his book, it is nevertheless an easy-to-use guide to working out with dumbbells for those who want to do it on their own. Aliotti includes some favorite healthy recipes at the end, and this pithy advice: “Don’t eat fried foods.” Yeah, like that’ll happen. No-host bar at the signing, with Happy Hour prices, and a portion of proceeds from book sales will go to a local prostate cancer support group.