"IF THERE'S SOMETHING YOU'D LIKE TO TRY"

As promised, I have an announcement. (Ahem)

I think that wonderful things happen when you bring people together that have common interests. Or, slightly compatible interests. Since my first novel came out, I've traveled a lot and gone to many places and met a lot of people. I have gone to Atlanta and enjoyed meeting and talking and brainstorming with writers and publishers at Darren Wang's Decatur Book Festival. Then, I went to Omaha and enjoyed meeting and talking and brainstorming with writers and publishers at Timothy Schaffert's (Downtown) Omaha Lit Fest (Something is going on with that usually-beautiful site, but I'm sure it'll be back up shortly). Then, I went to New Orleans, and did the same at Paul J. Willis' Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. Then, I went back to Omaha and did it all again.

Somewhere, during all of that, I realized that these three festivals were more than something I enjoyed attending. There was something about the execution of these three festivals that I wanted to bring to Chicago. And, as I had this stuff all in my head in New Orleans last spring, I was standing outside watching a "Stellaaaa!"-shouting contest with Paul Willis and he turned to me suddenly and said, "Do you have any interest in curating a festival? You should. You'd be great." Two months later, I was sitting having fancy cocktails with Timothy Schaffert and I started to pick his brain, and, well...

Introducing Pilcrow Lit Fest. Brought to you by me.

There is a whole sea of things to say about it all coming together, filled with really helpful people that I brought in to help like Mommas Boy Design (to make things look beautiful as they come into being), like online/social/media shaker Leah Jones (to do all that stuff I just said), like Adam Deutsch of Ninth Letter (to organize his head off) and A Moveable Bit (to document the crap out of everything and then some). Just for starters.

It's going to be held May 22nd-25th all around the intersection of Belmont and Sheffield here in Chicago. You know, near where The Fixx is, where I host those readings every month. It all starts with the regularly scheduled Fixx reading on May 22nd, with very special guests Jami Attenberg and Katie Schwartz. And possibly another special guest, too. The rest of the weekend is a series of panel discussions, readings, lots of authors (local and from far away), a cocktail party or three, workshops, and ends on Sunday morning with an author brunch.

And, it's going to be really fun.

There is a blog, too.

You can be friends with us on Facebook.

So, that is the first of the big seven announcements of 2008. The Big Seven. Six to go.