Friday, October 24, 2008
*Writer Greg Melville and his college chum, Iggy, drove cross-country in a grease-powered Mercedes. Then Melville wrote about it in Greasy Rider: Two Dudes, a Car Powered by Vegetable Oil, and a Cross-Country Trip in Search of a Greener World. Tonight at 7:00 PM, Melville will be at the U-District UW Bookstore to talk about writing about driving. He’ll also be signing. While not as funny as the title might suggest, this otherwise lightweight travelogue does offer an interesting practicum on alternative fuels.

* The Richard Hugo House’s literary series features authors Aimee Bender and Matt Ruff, and poet Marie Howe presenting new work on the theme “Road Trip.” Laurie Katherine Carlsson will provide the music. Afterwards, it’s party time! Woot. I’ll give an author signed copy of a book of my choice to the person who stands on a table and sings “We Are Family”. Video evidence required. Tickets are $15-$25 through www.brownpapertickets.com. Oh, and the event begins at 7:30 PM.

* Also at 7:30 PM, Elliott Bay Books hosts Northwest poets Michael Daley (To Curve) and Tim McNulty (In Blue Mountain Dusk).

Saturday, October 25, 2008
* Matt Ruff will be back at Richard Hugo House at 11:00 AM to talk about writing and being a writer with The Stranger books editor Paul Constant. Or maybe, Ruff is staying over. Will there be pancakes for breakfast? If Ruff were staying at my house, there would be pancakes. Everybody likes pancakes. Tickets are $5, or free if you were at Friday’s event.

* Author Lynn Maslen Kertell will be at the SPL Ballard Branch from 11:00 – 11:30 AM to sign her new books, My First Bob Books: Alphabet and My First Bob Books: Pre-Reading Skills.

*Local author Theo Pauline Nestor will be at the SPL Ballard Branch at 2:00 PM to discuss her memoir, How to Sleep Alone in a King-size Bed. I’m not sure if that title is hopeful or depressing.

* Also at 2:00 PM, at the SPL Greenwood Branch, local author Robert J. Ray will lead a class in memoir-writing. Ray has written seven novels, created the Weekend Novelist Series, and published a book on small business. He’s also taught writing for the UW’s Distance Learning program.

* Michelle Goodman, author of The Anti 9-to-5 Guide, returns to Elliott Bay Books to promote My So-Called Freelance Life: How to Survive and Thrive as a Creative Professional for Hire at 2:00 PM. Goodman’s advice is practical, usable, and funny. If you want out of the cube-farm, go see Goodman. And buy the book. Actually, buy both books. If you ask nicely, she’ll probably sign them, and when you are finally living that creative freelance lifestyle that you longed for, you can sell them on EBay before you starve to death.

* At 7:30 PM, Elliott Bay Books hosts Alan Cheuse, author of To Catch the Lightning: A Novel of American Dreaming, and NPR commentator. Cheuse’s novel is a fictionalization of photographer Edward S. Curtis’s life and work, and includes photographs by Curtis. Cheuse is a gifted speaker, something that not all writers are, so his talk is sure to be an absolute pleasure.