An old friend comes to town to read from her new book at a local bookstore, but you're too busy with life to make it to the reading. You feel terrible about it (I know you do because you sent me that kind email with such a heartfelt apology). The good news is that there are many other things you can do to support your crazy writer friends, some of them from the comfort of home. I recommend the following five, in no particular order: 1) Write a review on Amazon. It doesn't have to be long, and it doesn't even have to be positive. Just be honest and be yourself. Say what you liked and didn't like. When it comes to online book reviews, silence is more deadly than a bad review. Bonus points if you also post the review on Goodreads. 2) Give a copy to a friend. Movies are advertised on billboards and TV, but people learn about books by word of mouth. If you liked the book, pass it on. 3) Get your book group to read it. Many authors are willing to join the book group discussions and answer questions either live or via Skype or FaceTime. 4) Throw a literary party. Bring together a group of friends and invite the author to read and talk about her book. Your friends will be impressed that you have an honest-to-goodness writer friend, and your author friend will be deeply grateful. 5) Ask your local library to buy the book. Your library's website probably has a form to submit a request. Or just ask your favorite librarian. Come watch genuine Hollywood actors read my work on stage, Sunday March 8 at 7 pm, part of the New Short Fiction Series, at the Federal Bar in North Hollywood. Ticket info here.
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I don't often have an excuse to wear my jersey for the Greek national football team, but today as I headed to the LA Central Library downtown for a marathon public reading of Homer's great epic poem, The Odyssey, I was definitely in the tank for Team Ελλάδα. This fantastic event was just one in a series of Odyssey-related activities around LA this October organized by the Library Foundation of Los Angeles. The Odyssey Project has included lectures, shadow puppet shows, readings by living poets and a modern Greek-style vase by Peter Shire that's traveling the County. It was jointly sponsored by the library, the Library Foundation and an organization called Readers of Homer. They organize these giant participatory readings of The Iliad and The Odyssey all across the country. Turns out, they're onto something. More than 200 people signed up to participate in LA. The reading ran from 10 a.m. until 5:30 (or so) p.m., with people coming and going throughout the day to read their assigned segment, or just sit in the audience and listen. The room was ringed with white curtains and the lights turned down low. Images of old maps, roiling seas and ships were projected onto the walls, changing from time to time to match the story. A low, droning, haunting music played in the background. The text appeared in superscript above the readers' heads. I was reader #80. Backstage in the green room I ran into David Kipen of Libros Schmibros, who launched The Big Read when he was at the National Endowment for the Arts. He was reader #77, and we giddily whispered to each other about how exciting this event was. While reading his section, he briefly donned a glittery gorgon hat. Reader #79 read her lines in Spanish, and played a recording of a song as part of her segment. Reader #81 read her first few lines in ancient Greek. That's the kind of enthusiasm I'm talking about. As I rehearsed my own lines and listened to others reading theirs, it was the emotions that really struck me. In the brief 33 lines I read on stage, Odysseus was, by turns, bombastic, sarcastic, arrogant and brave. I've read The Odyssey at least twice before, but never really felt the story or the character of Odysseus quite so clearly. That's what public engagement in the arts is all about, and we literary people know how to do it right. Photos by Melissa Wall
Just before the big launch party for Love Songs of the Revolution, I was interviewed by Chris Burnett on the show Indymedia On Air on KPFK radio in Los Angeles. It was a sweet to be back in the studio where I used to be one of the hosts.
If you didn't get a chance to listen in live, here's a recording of the interview, which runs about 12 minutes total. We talked about the book, my publisher (Chicago Center for Literature and Photography) and current trends in the book publishing industry, and we give a shoutout or two to awesome indie bookstore Skylight Books. I also read an excerpt from the beginning of the book. The new-and-improved Brand Library in Glendale really is all that. The 5,000 square foot mansion - named Miradero when it was built in the early 1900s - has been part of the city's library system since 1925. Over the years, many of the original interior features had been covered over by cheap architectural treatments, and bookcases full of books and audiovisual materials in a rather hodgepodge layout. The Brand Library is known for its music and art collection, including books, sheet music, CDs and videos. The renovations have made quite a difference. Drop ceilings have been removed. Original murals have been recreated. Window frames have been restored. Where the space was once dim and a bit dingy with fluorescent lighting, it's now bright and airy. The front rooms are filled with comfortable chairs and tables that I'm going to check out next time I need a quiet place to write. The floors are covered by what look like early 20th century-style rugs. Be sure to take a look at the small, framed recreation of what the original walls looked like in the front room. Library materials and the check-out desk have been moved to the back of the building, where they connect with the art galleries. The only sad note was that the front doors to Miradero are no longer the main entrance to the building. It's worth walking around to the front for a look at those doors, the historical marker, and the palm-lined view down to Grandview Avenue. (That's where I took my newest author photo.) Today, you enter through these modern glass doors on the side: If you think the Jewel City is only about the Boulevard of Cars, the Americana or great Middle Eastern food (and it is all those things too), visit the Brand Library too. Just be sure to save one of those comfy chairs for me.
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AuthorLooking for your next book to read? I can recommend all these great indie press books. Archives
May 2018
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