My Literary Tea Is Open to All, NOT a Private Event!

Borders tells me my literary tea on Saturday, October 16 in Montclair is most emphatically not a private event. Anyone who would like to come and meet me and discuss my books over complimentary refreshments is welcome. The more the merrier! So come on over. See you there.

A Couple of Gigs

And the autumnal book season begins, at least for me . . . I'll be doing an event (reading and talk, about both my short story collections) on Saturday, September 25th at 4 pm at the Borders in Pasadena (475 S. Lake Ave., 626-304-9773, and whaddya know, also a wi-fi hotspot) and doing a literary tea, centered more on my Shakespeare book, on Saturday, October 16th at 11 am at the Borders in Montclair (5055 S Montclair Plaza Lane, in a big mall, 909-625-0424). I believe the tea is a private event, but if you're interested, call the store - I don't think it would be difficult to ask to attend.

If you're in Southern California, stop by and say hi!

And Another One About How It Ain't Over Until the Fat Lady Sings

From Publishers Marketplace Email Newsletter, Publishers Lunch Deluxe:

Story Writer From 60s Finally Sees Second Collection Published

Julian Mazor's second short story collection FRIEND OF MANKIND was published recently by Paul Dry Books in Philadelphia - only 36 years after "his first, heralded collection, WASHINGTON AND BALTIMORE," the Inquirer writes.

Mazor says that by the late 60s his style of story writing fell out of favor in the politically charged environment. "I became more and more unknown," he comments. "Times changed."

The Inquirer says that "FRIEND OF MANKIND picks up where Mazor's previous collection left off, displaying his craft and sensitivity as an observer of place and human behavior. These are stories that reward slow, careful reading."

Here's the Inquirer piece: Philadelphia Inquirer | 08/11/2004 | Writer who honed craft, not his profile, is back

A Nice Success Story for Us Writers Over 21

Take heart if things are taking you longer than you want them to. The New York Times Magazine ran a story August 1 about Susanna Clarke, author of the forthcoming Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. This book has more buzz on it than a hive of bumblebees, is being published by Bloomsbury (Harry Potter's British publisher), and is widely being called "Harry Potter for adults." It is, as you can imagine, expected to do extremely well, Da Vinci code/Harry Potter well.

Susanna Clarke is in her mid-forties, and it took her ten years to write the book, mostly in the mornings before going to her job as a cookbook editor. Her own story is full of simple, step-by-step, one-thing-leading-to-another tales of meeting the right person, which led to her meeting the next right person, which led to her doing the next right thing, etc. And, of course, of her working hard to make her writing the best it could be.

And she's got lots of gray hair! I feel positively inspired by her myself.

I May Soon Be Teaching Teenagers

Am exploring the possibility of a once-a-week creative writing workshop, probably six to eight weeks, for teens, here in the LA area - will post details when I have them. Could be very fun. I've taught teens before, at Newcomer High School in San Francisco on a volunteer writing teacher program called Project ThinkWrite, and liked it a lot. So much energy, so many ideas . . . wish me luck!