Portland Literary Events

Wednesday, January 2
Kate Jacobs will read from The Friday Night Knitting Club. Before the reading there will be a “good old-fashioned stich ‘n’ bitch” hosted by Close Knit yarn shop of NE Portland.
Where: Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside
When: 6:00 pm
Cost: Free
For more info: www.powells.com

Wednesday, January 2
J.A. Jance with read from Hand of Evil
Where: Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills
When: 7:00 pm
Cost: Free
For more info: www.powells.com

Thursday, January 3
The Basil Hallward Gallery hosts the book release party for Autumn de Wilde’s Elliot Smith
Where: Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside
When: 6:30 pm
Cost: Free
For more info: www.powells.com

Friday, January 4
Iron Kissed, Patricia Briggs’s third volume in her Mercy Thompson series
Where: Powell’s City of Books, 1005 W Burnside
When: 7:00 pm
Cost: Free
For more info: www.powells.com

This week the Portland Fiction Project continues it’s “Relatively Forced Laughter” theme with “embarrass” inspired stories. Check out www.portlandfiction.net for some unabashedly good short fiction.

Merry Christmas from Indigo Editing!

(Wait, are we allowed to say "Christmas"? Screw it, we're saying it anyway. Take that you PC thugs!)

Indigo Editing is taking a few days off; our weary wrists could use the rest. But be sure to come back in the New Year for upcoming events, reviews on the latest books and general information on the literary scene in Portland and beyond.

Need a last minute Christmas gift, or an early one for President’s Day? Here are two great suggestions that are in no way connected to Indigo Editing or any of its employees.

The Ink-Filled Page 2007 Anthology. Stories and art galore, now 15% off! You can’t beat that deal! https://indigoediting.com/IFP_Anthology.html for more info.

A Camouflaged Fragrance of Decency, considered by many to be the best book of humorous short fiction to come out of the Pacific Northwest in the last three and a half months. http://www.timjosephs.com/ for more info.

And don’t forget to check out the Portland Fiction Project (http://www.portlandfiction.net/) as they begin their new "Relatively Forced Holiday Laughter" theme.

New Release Spotlight: Tino Turtle

Tino Turtle Travels to London, England & Tino Turtle Travels to Paris, France by Carolyn L. Ahern, Illustrated by Neallia Burt Sullivan

Tino is happy with his life as a desert turtle, except for one thing—he wants to travel the world. And thanks to the magic of his Fairy God Turtle, he can, and kids can travel the world with him. In Carolyn L. Ahern’s series of pictures books featuring Tino the Turtle, kids can trek around the globe with the charming turtle, learning about different cultures, people, cities, and countries along the way. Famous landmarks and tourist sites are included in Tino’s travels, and tidbits of information about architecture, art, forms of government, language, and history are tucked in throughout the storyline. For example, when Tino travels to London, not only will readers learn about double-decker buses, the River Thames, and Big Ben, but they will also learn about the prime minister and see what exactly a Tudor style house looks like. In Tino Turtle Travels to Paris, France, French phrases are sprinkled throughout the text, and children can learn about such famous places as the Luxembourg Palace, the Eiffel Tower, and the Louvre.

The Tino Turtle series is a great way to teach children about other countries, but Tino also teaches readers about another important subject—friendship. In each country that Tino travels to, he makes friends with local children. He visits their classroom, visits their homes, and they show him the local sites. And when Tino returns home, his fondest memories are of the friends he has made.

The illustrations by Neallia Bart Sullivan truly help Tino, and the countries that he travels to, come alive. Drawn in a delightful cartoonish style, Tino is a cuddly reptile who always has a camera around his neck and a baseball cap on his head. The bright colors of the illustrations are attractive to the reader, and the detail given to each illustration will provide plenty to explore and discover on every page.

Each book is accompanied by an audio CD that includes a telling of the story and a special song written about Tino’s latest adventure. All in all, the Tino Turtle series will entertain and delight children to the very last page, all the while teaching them along the way.

Review by Katrina Hill, Indigo Editing, LLC
.

ISBN: England: 0979315808, France: 0979315816

Publisher: Tino Turtle Travels, LLC

Pub. Date: England: June, 2007, France: September 2007

Hardcover, $17.95 each

Portland Literary Events

Wednesday, December 19
Derrick Jensen: Q&A with the author of Endgame and As the World Burns
Where: Disjecta, 230 E. Burnside St
When: 7:00 pm
Cost: $15 advance, $18 at the door
For more info: www.mythmedia.org, 503-913-6884

Wednesday, December 19
Verse in Person: Poets read selections from their works
Where: Northwest Library, 2300 NW Thurman St.
When: 7:00 pm
Cost: Free
For more info: www.multcolib.org/events, 503-988-5560

Friday, December 21
Attic Writers’ Workshop & Poetry Northwest: Holiday Happy hour celebrating the Attic and PoNo family and literary community
Where: The Blue Monk on Belmont, 3341 SE Belmont St
When: 6:30 pm
Cost: Free
For more info: www.atticwritersworkshop.com, 503-595-0575


This week the Portland Fiction Project continues it’s “Things Both Flat and Round” theme with “ice” inspired stories. Check out www.portlandfiction.net for some chillingly-good short fiction.

Writers Partying

The Writers' Dojo concludes its Season of Launching with a party Saturday, January 12. The party starts at 7:00 p.m. and goes till whenever. Readings start at 8:00 p.m. Late night open mic and jam session to follow. If you have any questions, e-mail info@writersdojo.org. Writer types, editors, literary professionals, and their friends and families, too, are welcome. RSVP if you plan to attend.

Readers include these fabulous folk:

• Chelsea Cain: Weekly columnist for the Oregonian and author of
several books, including the new bestseller Heartsick.
• Kim Stafford: Poet, author, professor, musician, and director of the
William Stafford Studio.
• Tom Spanbauer: Pulitzer-nominated author and the founder of Dangerous
Writing workshop.
• Alison Clement: This year's winner of the Oregon Book Award for her
novel Twenty Questions.
• James Bernard Frost: Journalist for Wired and others. His book The
Artichoke Trail won an award for travel journalism. World Leader
Pretend is his first novel.

Where is the Dojo?
7518 (and 7506) N. Chicago Ave., just over the St. Johns Bridge, one block from N. Lombard
Portland, OR 97203
There's plenty of free street parking.

New Release Spotlight: The thing about life is that one day you'll be dead

The thing about life is that one day you'll be dead by David Shields

This book is a memoir of sorts. David Shields talks about his life and at the same time talks about life in general; conception, birth, all the way through to—you guessed it—death. Stories of his childhood and family are interspersed with very detailed facts about genetics and biology.

Shields, at age fifty, is obsessed with death; the eventuality consumes him. He dreams about it. He waxes poetic about the inevitable deterioration of the body. He ghoulishly wonders what his last words will be.

His foil (and most interesting character in the book) is his father. He’s ninety-six and as vibrant and full of life as ever. Of course this irks Shields to no end. How can someone so close to death not think about it?

The book has kind of a weird, disjointed format—random facts about teen suicide, Donald Trump’s wedding, and Shields’s cat seemingly pop-up out of nowhere. What at first seems to be a unique way to tell a story quickly becomes tiresome and at times puzzling.

It’s obvious Shields has done a lot of research (in addition to all the science, there are a countless amount of quotes from people ranging from Da Vinci to O. J. Simpson), but the lack of a straight-forward narrative is jarring.

The stories about his father—a Dodger fan who once in the middle of a losing streak asked himself why God hadn’t made him a Yankee fan—and Shields’s own early basketball prowess are interesting and entertaining, and I wished there were more of those and less of the cold, hard scientific facts.

The best lesson learned from this book is that life is too short to constantly dwell on death or, for that matter, to read a book about someone who does.

Review by Tim Josephs, Indigo Editing, LLC

ISBN: 0307268047
Publisher: Knopf
Pub. Date: February 2008
Hardcover $23.95

Grace Paley, Celebrated Wondrously

I attended a celebration of Grace Paley's life last night at Broadway Books. What a fun event. It's too bad the format wouldn't work for readings normally because the variety of both information given and speakers was so refreshing.

Judith Arcana (Paley's biographer), Miriam Budner, and Nancy LaPaglia hosted the evening, with Ursula K. Le Guin, Elisabeth Linder, Ruth Gundle and Judith Barrington, Rebecca Gundle, Marjorie Sandor, Elinor Langer, Paulann Peterson, Martha Roth, and Gwyn Kirk sharing Paley's work and their memories of her. Every couple of speakers or so, Budner asked the audience members questions about their relationships with Paley. What resulted was not only a memorial to a person but a reading and a discussion of writing, activism, and strong living. A percentage of purchases made last night at the bookstore went to the War Resisters League, which Paley was a member of for almost fifty years.

I took some notes, but they don't cover the full event, and I also need to offer apologies for any misquotes (and certainly the language of my notes doesn't convey the thoughtfulness and poetry of the speakers' words). Around taking hasty notes, I was cutting the cake and unwrapping the bread for a post-discussion feast it sounds like Paley would have loved.

*Paley said that few paid her work any attention until "women lifted her" by buying her books, etc. (Arcana)
*Brian Doyle's recent Oregonian column suggests one of the worthy ways one could spend one's kicker check is on Le Guin's complete works. (introduction to Le Guin speaking)
*To Paley, stupidity equals refusal to hear; adults should raise children righteously up, meaning that they should speak truth and do no harm to both those who are familiar to them and those who are strangers; a hunk of bread is an important thing to eat daily (her father ended every meal with a hunk of bread); always remember love. (Le Guin)
*Paley arrived at a pre-event party with bare legs, and the host (Linder) rejoiced and ran back upstairs to her bedroom to remove her own nylons. It's sad that we are no longer able to ask Paley questions, but what is truly awful is that we can no longer receive her answers. (Linder)
*Budner told the story of the time she was in a cab with Paley, and she had just worked up her courage to say, in just the right way, how much Paley's works had meant to her when Paley interrupted her to speak to the cab driver about broken stoplights. Budner said she suddenly felt as though she were in one of Paley's short stories, realizing how difficult and surprising it is to care.
*Paley preferred the word storytelling over fiction. She told her writing students to think of and discuss, without putting pen to paper, a story. A couple days later, she asked them to think of the story underneath that original story. On the fifth day of class, she asked them to consider the story underneath the second story. Some amazing, truly unexpected stories emerged. Don't lie to the reader. That's enough concrete; anything more is just stone. Compassion should be in the same room as hard truths. You should interrupt—don't you know how to have a conversation? (Ruth Gundle and Barrington)
*Kirk explained that she thought she had read Paley's stories, but she had of course read them in her British accent, etc. She discovered that she hasn't truly read the stories until she heard Paley read them. (And there is a good plug for the importance of readings.)

Define a Word, Donate a Grain

What a great way for writers, editors, and all word lovers to give a little back, at any time of year.

Season's Greetings Indeed

It's that time of year. The sky is overcast, potentially dumping rain or snow. It's cold outside, and most of us just want to be inside, cuddled with a blanket and a favorite book. Some of us are even out bustling around in search of the perfect gifts for family members and friends.

Whatever your situation, be sure to buy a copy or two of the 2007 anthology of the Ink-Filled Page. It's the perfect way to immerse yourself in literature while the weather immerses your house in cold. It's also the perfect gift for any book lover. Winter hobbies and holiday shopping fulfilled in one stop! You don't even have to leave your house.

Just visit our site to buy a copy, or three or ten.

Because one can never have too many anthologies, check out Write Around Portland's most recent one too: See the Water Rise. Write Around Portland is also featured in this year's Willamette Week Give Guide as a nonprofit worthy of your donated cash and time.

Some other great books to spend your cozy time with are, of course, this year's winners of the Oregon Book Awards. Check them out at Literary Arts.

A Gift to Writers This Holiday Season

Have you checked out Duotrope's Digest yet? Jeff at the Writers' Dojo clued me into this amazing—and free!—online resource.

What Kate's Reading

One of Indigo's clients has started a blog she calls an "online book club…I'd love to have my blog become a place for discussion on books, a place for people to learn about new books, comment about them or similar authors or books that they think I and other blog-readers might enjoy."

Portland Literary Events

Monday, December 10
Dinotopia: Journey to Chandra
Where: Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd
When: 7:00 pm
Cost: Free

Tuesday, December 11
Deadline
Where: Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd
When: 7:00 pm
Cost: Free

Tuesday, December 11
The Brontosaurus Word Processing Exchange
Where: In Other Words, 8 NE Killingsworth St.
When: 6:30
Cost: $3-$10 suggested donation

Wednesday, December 12
T is for Trespass
Where: Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd
When: 7:00 pm
Cost: Free

Thursday, December 13
To Harvest, To Hunt: Stories of Resource Use in the American West
Where: Looking Glass Bookstore, 7983 SE 13 Ave
When: 7:00 pm
Cost: Free

Friday, December 14
Live Wire!
Where: Aladdin Theater, 3017 SE Milwaukie Ave
When: 8:00 pm
Cost: $12.00 adv/$15.00 dos

Saturday, December 15
Walking Bridges Using Poetry as a Compass
Where: Looking Glass Bookstore, 7983 SE 13th
When: 1:00 pm
Cost: Free

This week the Portland Fiction Project continues it’s “Things Both Flat and Round” theme with “note” inspired stories. Check out http://www.portlandfiction.net/ for some note worthy short fiction.

New Release Spotlight: Engleby

Engleby by Sebastian Faulks

Creating an unreliable character may seem like it would be easy: create someone totally crazy, with shifting motivations. Perhaps a drunk. But of course all that does is create a reliable character—reliably over the top. In his latest novel, Engleby, Sebastian Faulks uses grays, rather than blacks and whites, to paint a fifty-year portrait of Mike Engleby, whom the reader first meets as a teenager in 1970s England.

Engleby is either terrorized or ignored by his classmates, leading the reader to sympathize with the boy whose only crime seems to have been being unlucky. But then Engleby shares a detail such as the time he met a beggar: “Dear God, a facetious beggar. A postgrad wino. I didn’t feel like giving him money. I felt like taking his money—like elbowing him in the teeth, clearing out his pockets and selling off his dog for dog meat.” The reader begins to wonder how much compassion Engleby deserves.

Engleby is funny, wondering if one becomes a social geographer by reading articles such as “Oxbow Lakes and the Non-Egalitarian Aquifer” and “Tectonic Plate Shift and the Command Economy,” but he is also a mean comic, as when during a heart-to-heart with his sister, he notes that “Julie liked to give ideas a name familiar to her, and get them into boxes small enough to handle easily.” Engleby shares some interesting thoughts about loneliness and history and uniquely observes that a woman’s “black nylon calves crackled” and that a song had a “gluey organ intro,” but his descriptions are not always so benign. A girl dancing flirtatiously at him is not beautiful but instead “like a dog emerging from water” and his need to steal a young woman’s bike is not joking or even unthinkingly mean; rather it’s to make her less independent. His observations swing wildly from funny and introspective to creepy and ugly.

And yes, Engleby drinks and takes drugs. He does so with a darkness not standard for the typical teenager and talks about headaches and forgetfulness of whole events, but he’s also functional, scoring well in school and earning for himself a relatively comfortable lifestyle.

Readers may be sucked in by the book jacket’s talk of missing Jennifer Arkland—was Engleby involved?—but Engleby himself is more of a plot than “just” a character. It’s impossible to do justice to the subtlety and brashness of his ideas, moods, and stories in a short review. Thankfully there’s more than three hundred pages of him waiting—perhaps lurking—at the local bookstore.

Review by Kristin Thiel, Indigo Editing, LLC

ISBN: 978-0-385-52405-6
Publisher: Doubleday
Pub. Date: September 2007
Hardcover: $24.95

Portland Literary Events

Monday, December 3
The First Christmas: What the Gospels Really Teach about Jesus’ Birth
Where: Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd
When: 7:00 pm
Cost: Free

Tuesday, December 4
It’s So You
Where: Powell’s City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W Burnside
When: 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

Wednesday, December 5
Son of Stitch ‘n Bitch
Where: Powell’s City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W Burnside
When: 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

Wednesday, December 5
Children’s Hanukkah
Where: Annie Blooms’ Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy
When: 3:30 pm
Cost: Free

Thursday, December 6
Book release party for The Things I Can’t Say Out Loud
Where: Grendel’s Coffee House, 729 E. Burnside St.
When: 6:00 pm
Cost: Free

Thursday, December 6
Saint City Sinners
Where: Powell’s at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills
When: 7:00 pm
Cost: Free

Friday, December 7
Twenty Questions
Where: Waucoma Bookstore, 212 Oak St, Hood River
When: 5:00
Cost: Free

Saturday, December 8
Torina’s World: A Child’s Life in Madagascar
Where: Looking Glass Bookstore, 7983 SE 13th
When: 10:00 am
Cost: Free

Tomorrow

Sorry for the short notice. I just happened upon these and thought I'd share:

During Talk of the Nation on NPR, Neal Conan will explore the decline of reading in America. After attending Wordstock, I was astonished by the number of folks enthralled in all forms of reading and writing. Not surprisingly, the literary community in Portland does not reflect the nation's overall status. The program airs from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. on OPB (91.5 in Portland), but if you miss it live, check it out online.

At 7:30 tomorrow evening, author Molly Gloss will be reading at Annie Bloom's Books. Her book, Hearts of Horses, was released this fall and follows three previous award-winning books. See you there.

New Release Spotlight: Her Last Death

Her Last Death: A Memoir by Susanna Sonnenberg

After learning of her mother’s fatal car accident, Susanna Sonnenberg decides she will not go to the hospital to say goodbye and watch her die. “I am afraid my mother will die. I am afraid she won’t.” Her reaction seems atypical, and throughout her memoir, Her Last Death, Sonnenberg describes a childhood that would solicit such a response.

The story begins in a New York townhouse with her mother, father, and younger sister. After only a few years, Sonnenberg’s parents divorce and she and her sister live with their mother, Daphne. Daphne buys Penthouse magazine for eight-year-old Sonnenberg, gives her a gram of coke for her sixteenth birthday, has sex with several of Sonnenberg’s ex-boyfriends, and tells unending lies to feed her addiction to painkillers and cocaine.

Throughout the book and Sonnenberg’s life, the dysfunction remains. The reader meets a calloused Sonnenberg as she relates an extraordinary childhood and her struggle to find normalcy. Her tone allows an honest and intimate portrait while keeping the reader at a distance. Similar to diaries I kept as an elementary student, it is an observation of events and relationships without much personal reflection. Unfortunately, Sonnenberg never allows the reader to connect with her struggle and pain as Daphne repeatedly fails her. The frankness with which she relays the story leaves it flat.

The account offers the reader, and perhaps more importantly, Sonnenberg, justification for leaving her mother to die. However, her mother’s physical death merely punctuates the finality of a terminally ill mother-daughter relationship.

Review by Adriel Gorsuch, Indigo Editing, LLC

ISBN: 978-0-7432-9108-8
Publisher: Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Pub. Date: January 2008
Hardcover $24.00

Best Recommended List

I thought this was an interesting list worth sharing. The new list will update monthly in 2008.

From today's Shelf Awareness e-mail:

NBCC Creates 'Best Recommended List'
The National Book Critics Circle is creating a monthly Best Recommended List based on a poll of its 800 members and the finalists and winners of its books prizes about which books they have read that they love. The aim is to come up with a list that reflects not which books have sold best but which books have been read and enjoyed most.

To start the list, NBCC polled members about the books published in 2007 that they read and loved. Monthly lists start in January. For more information about the voters and titles, see NBCC's Critical Mass blog. Winners are:

Fiction

1. The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (Riverhead)
2. Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson (FSG)
3. The Yiddish Policeman's Union by Michael Chabon (HarperCollins)
4. Exit Ghost by Philip Roth (Houghton Mifflin)
5. Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson (Graywolf)

Nonfiction

1. Brother, I'm Dying by Edwidge Danticat (Knopf)
2. The World Without Us by Alan Weisman (St. Martin's)
3. The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein (Metropolitan)
4. Schulz and the Peanuts by David Michaelis (HarperCollins)
5. Legacy of Ashes by Tim Weiner (Doubleday)

Poetry

1. Time and Materials: Poems 1997-2005 by Robert Hass (Ecco)
1. Collected Poems: 1956-1998 by Zbigniew Herbert (Ecco)
1. Gulf Music by Robert Pinsky (FSG)
4. Next Life by Rae Armantrout (Wesleyan)
5. Elegy by Mary Jo Bang (Graywolf)

Contest Wow

This sounds like an amazing short story contest. Entries must be received by December 21, 2007.

Odds and Ends Wednesday

Following up on my post from November 17 about Amazon (the bookstore, not the .com): the only feminist bookstore in Texas, BookWoman, is in danger of closing. Read more about what's happening and how to help here.

More info on the Grace Paley event I originally posted about on September 19:
An Interest in Life: GRACE PALEY

Grace Paley, one of this country's most honored and best loved writers, died on August 22, 2007. Her commitment to antimilitarism, environmentalism, feminism and antiracism was inseparable from her stories, essays, and poems.

CELEBRATE GRACE PALEY'S LIFE AND WORK
Tuesday, December 11 @ 7:00 p.m.
Broadway Books 1714 NE Broadway 503.284.1726

Grace visited and taught in Oregon, and had many friends, students, and colleagues who will tell stories about her and read from her work: Ursula K. LeGuin, Elisabeth Linder, Judith Arcana, Elinor Langer, Marjorie Sandor, Judith Barrington, Miriam Budner, and others. The evening will also include some chances for audience participation, and cake.

Commemorating Grace's membership in the War Resisters League for nearly fifty years, 10% of Broadway Books’ sales at the event will be donated to the Portland chapter’s Military and Draft Counseling Project.

Budner will be discussing Paley's fiction with her biographer, Arcana, on KBOO radio (90.7 FM) December 4 at 10:00 a.m.

And regarding my post from way back in September, on the 6th, to be exact: The Portland Writers Room, now officially named Writers' Dojo, is really up and running, complete with its own Web site.

Portland Literary Events

Monday, November 26
Walking the Gobi
Where: Powell’s on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
When: 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

Monday, November 26
Fifty Places to Go Birding Before You Die
Where: Powell’s City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W Burnside
When: 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

Tuesday, November 27
The Hearts of Horses
Where: Broadway Books, 1714 NE Broadway
When: 7:00 pm
Cost: Free

Tuesday, November 27
Voice Catcher
Where: Powell's City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W Burnside
When: 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

Wednesday, November 28
Children’s Hanukkah
Where: Annie Blooms’ Books, 7834 SW Capitol Hwy
When: 3:30 pm
Cost: Free

Thursday, November 29
Tales from the Oregon Ducks Sideline
Where: Twenty-Third Avenue Books, 1015 NW 23rd Ave
When: 7:00 pm
Cost: Free

Thursday, November 29
The First Oregonians
Where: Powell’s City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W Burnside
When: 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

Friday, November 30
Plastic Cameras: Toying with Creativity
Where: Powell’s City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W Burnside
When: 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

This week the Portland Fiction Project begins a new theme with 'plane' inspired stories. Check out www.portlandfiction.net for all your daily fiction needs.

New Release Spotlight: The Name of This Book is Secret

The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseudonymous Bosch

WARNING: DO NOT READ BEYOND THIS PAGE

So begins The Name of This Book is Secret. “Good,” the narrator continues once you’ve turned the page. “Now I know I can trust you. You’re curious. You’re brave. And you’re not afraid to lead a life of crime.”

The narrator goes on to tell us about secrets and how powerful a force they are and hints at the big one that may be hiding in the book. After we’re warned (in a tongue-in-cheek manner) not to continue reading, that what we will discover may be too frightening to bear, we’re introduced to Cass, the eleven-year-old heroine of the story.

When she one day discovers in her grandfathers’ antique store a box of small vials called the Symphony of Smells that once belonged to a missing magician, her curiosity is piqued. At school she meets Max-Ernest (his parents couldn’t agree on a name), a talkative perpetual bad-joke teller, and they soon become “collaborators” in the mystery.

Venturing to the magician’s house, they encounter an oddly-perfect looking couple in search of the magician’s notebook. After evading them (and snagging the notebook themselves) Cass and Max-Ernest soon find themselves on a dangerous journey involving kidnappings, an ancient cult, and a dangerous secret.

The journey is a fun and exciting one and there are lots of twists and surprises along the way. Original and clever, the story moves along quickly; the frenetic pace ensures that there’s rarely a dull moment. The quirky, memorable characters and amusing narrator interjections will certainly keep you entertained.

Although probably meant for the tweener/young adult set, The Name of This Book is Secret could really be enjoyed by anyone.

Review by Tim Josephs, Indigo Editing, LLC

ISBN: 0-316-11366-2
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Pub. Date: October 2007
Hardcover, $17.99

Amazon Kindle

Engadget's posting what's happening and being said live from the launch.

So, what do all you book people think? I'll write more later, but for now, while I'm sure others have commented on this already, isn't Kindle kind of an odd choice of name? Makes me think of fire, which is a rather anti-book thing…

Portland Literary Events

Monday, November 19
Starbucked
Where: Powell's on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd..
When: 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

Monday, November 19
Earth Under Fire
Where: Powell's City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W Burnside
When: 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

Tuesday, November 20
Have You Seen the Horizon Lately?
Where: Powell’s City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W Burnside
When: 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

Tuesday, November 21
Diane Ackerman
Where: Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 SW Broadway
When: 7:30 pm
Cost: $10-$26

This week the Portland Fiction Project continues its "Journey to a New World" theme with "Columbus" inspired stories. Check out http://www.portlandfiction.net/ for some delicious cranberry sauce-coated fiction.

No, Not That Amazon

If you're looking for a place with as much literary soul as Portland, Oregon, you must check out Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. Maybe I'll delight you with a list of reasons why another time, but for now, I'll point you to one Twin Cities resource because it was recently profiled: Amazon Bookstore, the oldest indie feminist bookstore in North America.

Striking Writers—Some More Thoughts

Ali McCart introduced on this blog the topic of the Hollywood writers' strike a couple weeks ago, when it started. Let's keep this important bit of news going with some more resources to check out.

A large part of what the writers are striking about involves the Internet, so what better way to recap than by a video they created. For a less polished but still interesting look, here's a video some of those from The Office made from the picket line. The ridiculousness of the networks' position, an example of support from cast and crew—it's all there.

But will the networks be smart enough to change the "Internet pie" while the writers are busy negotiating for what currently exists? Check out this article in Forbes. Keep reading about the importance of this fight at another Forbes article.

Last in this post but not in importance, stay up to date with news directly from the writers at their United Hollywood blog. They even suggest ways we can do something in support. (And I love the third point under the Pencils2MediaMoguls post on November 16.)

Where Did the Funny Go?

I write a lot. In fact, I’ve been writing a new short story every week for nearly a year and a half. I’m not crazy (well…no, not really), and I’m not trying to boast (although it is rather impressive), but it’s because I write for the Portland Fiction Project. In case you haven’t heard of us (and where ya been?) we’re a group that’s constantly creating original short fiction and posting it everyday on our website www.portlandfiction.net. Check it out if you want to be thoroughly entertained.

Anyway, my point is I write a lot and it’s mostly humorous stuff. I always lean towards humor; my first instinct is to look for a laugh. When one week the editor of the PFP gave us the suggestion word “death,” my first thought was, “Okay, how do I make death funny?” I try to keep things light and witty and I think most people prefer to read something amusing, I know I do.

So my question is, where did the funny go? I read a lot of short fiction too and I’ve noticed a real dearth of humor. Why is that? Is the world in such a mess that everyone’s too depressed to be funny? Has global warming and Bush and Britney sucked everything good and fun from our lives? I certainly hope not because it seems like now more than ever we could really use a good laugh.

(Shameless plug time)

So my little diatribe has got you wondering about literature that will tickle your funny bone? Well, look no further than A Camouflaged Fragrance of Decency, a book of humorous short fiction by yours truly. Check out www.timjosephs.com for more information. And remember, there's no better Christmas gift than the gift of laughter.


Do you have a funny story? Well, Indigo would love to read it. Right now we're accepting submissions for the winter edition of the Ink-Filled Page. Check out our home page for more information.

New Release Spotlight: Walking the Gobi

Walking the Gobi by Helen Thayer

Crossing sixteen hundred miles of nearly uninhabited desert in 126-degree temperatures, all on foot, seems impossible—or at least unbearable—on its own. But author Helen Thayer and her husband, Bill, tackled the journey anyway, all for the sake of an adventurer’s childhood dream. Thayer first fathomed crossing Mongolia’s Gobi Desert when she was thirteen. Political situations closed the desert to foreigners for years, but she maintained her goal for half a century. At age sixty-three, despite a recent injury that left her limping, she began her journey.

Before the start of their first week in the desert, they experienced a sandstorm that left them huddled behind their camels in instant darkness as the sand blasts blocked out the seething sun. Over the next months, they battled scorpions and snakes, not to mention wild Bactrian camels intent on stampeding them and wolves intent on devouring the pack camels. They watched the desert swallow their precious water supply after a camel’s temper tantrum smashed their tank, and they endured the ensuing muscle cramps and delusions as their bodies stood at the brink of expiration. Helen and Bill hid from smugglers crossing the Mongolian-Chinese border and were even jailed for allegedly smuggling as they inadvertently crossed the border themselves.

Amid all these trials, Helen Thayer shows not only her sense of courage and adventure, but also her talent as a writer and, through her words, her love of the desert and the culture therein: “At night, electric blue flashes sparked when we moved our hands rapidly through the air.” She and Bill encounter ovoos, pyramids of rocks adorned with offerings to ward off storms and bad luck. When they meet the few nomadic people who inhabit the desert, they are quickly invited inside to be treated to salty tea, goat’s milk, and mutton. In the utterly desolate regions, Thayer finds “a mosaic of browns, tans, and blacks merged to form abstract patterns across the scorched earth.” By the end of their journey, eighty-one days total, Thayer and her husband are reluctant to leave the land that challenged them and thrilled them so. “Over the roar of the plane, Bill and I held hands and mouthed the same words to each other: ‘We’ll be back.’”

Thayer deserves applause not only for her incredible life as an adventurer, but also for her mastery of language that brings us on the journey with her. Through her words, the scenery takes our breath away and the dangers leave our hearts pounding. And even as the vast emptiness of the desert seems to suspend time and leaves our heroes stumbling across innumerable dunes, Thayer’s writing pace turns this eighty-one day excursion into a journey readers can experience in just a few hours—preferably in the comfort of shelter, food, and water.

Review by Ali McCart, Indigo Editing, LLC

ISBN: 978-1-59485-064-6

Publisher: The Mountaineers Books

Pub. Date: September 2007

Hardcover, $23.95

Portland Literary Events

Monday, November 12
David Halberstam: The Coldest Winter film screening
Where: Bagdad Theater, 3702 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
When: 7:00 pm
Cost: $9

Monday, November 12
Women Behind Bars
Where: Powell's Books on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd.
When: 7:30
Cost: Free

Tuesday, November 13
Poe Ballantine presents 501 Minutes to Christ
Where: Annie Bloom’s Books
When: 7:30 pm
Cost: Free

Wednesday, November 14
Local/NW Sci-Fi Authorfest
Where: Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 SW Cedar Hills Blvd, Beaverton
When: 7:00 pm
Cost: Free

Thursday, November 15
Oregon Writers Colony Workshop: Kay Kenyon discusses dialogue and writing
Where: Chantiques, 3384 S.E. Milwaukie Ave.
When: 6:00 pm
Cost: $20, register http://www.oregonwriterscolony.org/

Thursday, November 15
Flying Close to the Sun
Where: Powell's Books on Hawthorne, 3723 SE Hawthorne Blvd
When: 7:30
Cost: Free

Friday, November 16
Made Love, Got War
When: Powell's City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W Burnside
When: 7:30
Cost: Free

Friday, November 17
Meet the Oregon Book Award finalists
Where: Ace Hotel, The Cleaners, 403 S.W. 10th Ave
When: 5:30
Cost: Free

Saturday, November 18
Audubon Society of Portland Wild Arts Festival: More than 100 artists and authors
Where: Montgomery Park, 2701 N.W. Vaughn St.
When: 10 am
Cost: $5 general, 16 and under free; for complete schedule: http://www.audubonportland.org/

New Release Spotlight: Getting Rid of Matthew

When Helen confides in her best friend that her boss, a married man, has propositioned her, Rachel tells her to end the relationship immediately; Helen protests that he really likes her. “‘Oh, for fuck’s sake. Of course he likes you, you’re twenty years younger than him and about to fall over into his bed just because he’s asked you to. Plus, you do his typing and make cups of tea. You’re a middle-aged man’s fantasy. What’s not to like?’”

Likewise, on the surface, what’s not to like about Jane Fallon’s debut novel, Getting Rid of Matthew? She doesn’t refrain from lacing the book with her infectious British humor, and the plot is fun: Helen is about to dump Matthew when he shows up on her doorstep with some clothes, a pair of skis, a guitar, a shoe-shine kit, and model cars, having without warning left his second wife. Obsessed with the fact that her once simple affair has actually destroyed a family, Helen feels a compulsion to see what Matthew’s wife, Sophie, is like. She bungles her stakeout, and the two end up meeting—with Helen posing as Eleanor—and over time, becoming friends. Suddenly Helen is juggling two identities among people who are just barely staying outside each other’s circles while trying to convince Sophie to take Matthew back.

Unfortunately the story, which also involves catty coworkers, Matthew’s estranged handsome son from his first marriage, and some side business about doing publicity for D-list celebrities, is more so-so sitcom than good book. That’s not to say Fallon doesn’t write well—she does, with dead-on dialogue and even some moments of real insight, as when Helen and Matthew sit down to eat one of their first meals in their apartment and Helen dreads a whole future of such stilted evenings. “‘Do you want another glass?’, ‘I don’t know, do you?’, ‘Well, I will if you will.’ Her parents used to waste whole evenings that way. Politeness, that great substitute for passion”. But outside of that great idea of a mistress covertly trying to reunite a husband and wife, the situations and characters are clichéd, making it difficult for the reader to stay invested. At almost 350 pages, Getting Rid of Matthew is about one hundred pages too long.

Review by Kristin Thiel, Indigo Editing, LLC

ISBN: 978-1-4013-0320-4, 1-4013-0320-X
Publisher: Hyperion
Pub. Date: August 2007
Hardcover, $23.95

Writers as Strikers

I used to think of strikes in the Norma Rae-industrial sense. It's interesting to note that writers strike too--and encouraging, considering writers tend to be the least appreciated professionals in most productions. Kudos to the striking writers who fight for fair pay!

Hollywood Writers Go On Strike After Talks Fail

Nov. 5, 2007, 10:38 AM EST

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Noisy pickets appeared outside the "Today" show set on Monday as a strike by film and television writers got under way.

Writers' demands for a bigger slice of DVD profits and revenue from the distribution of films and TV shows over the Internet has been a key issue.

The strike is the first walkout by writers since 1988. That work stoppage lasted 22 weeks and cost the industry more than $500 million.

A giant, inflated rat was displayed Monday morning near the NBC studios as about 40 people in Rockefeller Center shouted, "No contract, no shows!"

Read the rest of the article here.

Come Hear the Voice of Portland Women Writers

***Kristin Thiel, one of Indigo's own editors has been featured in an upcoming anthology of Portland women's writing, VoiceCatcher. Congratulations to Kristin!***

The second edition of VoiceCatcher, an anthology of Portland Women's Writing, will be available online and in local bookstores (Powell's, et al) on November 5th. VoiceCatcher presents prose and poetry by award-winning and emerging women writers. VoiceCatcher grew out of a community of women writers and is an offering to the wider community of readers. For more information, email us at editors@pdxwomenwriters.com.

Reading Events

November 7th
7pm @ In Other Words Bookstore
(8 NE Killingsworth St)

November 27th
7:30 pm @ the Downtown Powell’s City of Books
(1005 W Burnside)

Each reading will highlight the work of 6 contributing authors – please come join us in celebrating these local artists!

More readings will come! Kristin's reading is yet unscheduled, but we'll post it as soon as we know the details so you join us in applauding her talent.

Call for Submissions--fiction, nonfiction, artwork

The Autumn 2007 issue if the Ink-Filled Page is now available for free download at http://www.indigoediting.com/ under the Ink-Filled Page tab. Thanks to all our talented contributors!

It's also time to submit your talent for the Winter 2007 issue!

Literary Submissions:

Fiction submissions can be short stories or novel excerpts, and the nonfiction section is open to personal narratives and essays. While all genres are welcome, special interests include travel, multicultural themes, feminism, and magical realism.

Limit submissions to 5,000 words, one submission per candidate. Authors who submit more than one piece will not be considered. All submissions must be in Times New Roman, 12-point font, and double-spaced. Name, contact information, title, and word count should be at the top of the first page.

Artwork submissions:

Artwork submissions are open to all mediums, but pieces must be submitted electronically. Winning pieces are selected based on composition and originality. We are looking for pieces that highlight the human experience—show us the good or the bad, be surreal or real, but make sure that whatever you submit connects us, human to human.

Limit three submissions per candidate. Artists who submit more than three pieces will not be considered. Submit digital artwork at 300 dpi or higher.

Selected authors and artists earn publication and will receive a complimentary copy of the annual anthology. Authors will also receive professional editing services on the selected story. All work must be original and unpublished. By submitting your work to the Ink-Filled Page, you are offering first online and North American print publication rights. Rights revert to authors and artists after publication.

E-mail all submissions to inkfilledpage@indigoediting.com with a 100-word bio and "Fiction Submission," "Nonfiction Submission," or "Artwork Submission" in the subject bar by Friday, November 30.

View the most recent issue of the Ink-Filled Page at http://www.indigoediting.com/ under the Ink-Filled Page tab.

New Release Spotlight: The Dog Says How

The Dog Says How by Kevin Kling

Before I read Kevin Kling’s collection of autobiographical essays, I didn’t know much about him except that he’s an NPR commentator. While reading The Dog Says How, I discovered that Kling is a talented storyteller. His childhood stories and his clever observations of his surroundings are told effortlessly. And within all the humor there is wisdom. Humor and wisdom seem to go hand in hand throughout this book; one paragraph had me laughing out loud and the next had me pausing for deeper reflection. And though this is a common pattern in Kling’s book, I was constantly—and pleasantly—surprised by it. This is not a book to skim. Every line must be read because Kling will throw in a bit of perception if you’re not looking.

Kling instantly hooked me in from the beginning when he said that “we are all made up of a little Goofus and Gallant.” For those unfamiliar with the Highlights Magazine, Goofus exemplifies bad behavior, and Gallant good behavior. Kling creates examples such as this one to explain universal experiences and to bring further understanding to human behavior—and he does it brilliantly. Not many people can tell a story of joining a circus at age twenty-six (a story that involves performing in towns down the Mississippi River for $25 per week, a captain in the process of changing genders, their boat sinking, and friends bribing him back to work with ribs) and reveal a deeper meaning: one must live life with an adventurous spirit and an open mind. If there’s a risk you’re not willing to take, ask yourself why not?

Kling's stories are the kind of adventurous tales everyone wants to hear: Russian boar hunting, stowing away in a boat; and performing his banned play in Czechoslovakia. Though some of his decisions seem foolish—and something you would never do—he meets people that have a lasting impact on his life and learns valuable lessons, all because he is open to the possibility of being shaped by his environment and the people he encounters.

Although many of his tales seem out of the ordinary, I found myself nodding in agreement and able to relate to many aspects within these stories. However, there is one big part of his life that I can’t identify with—facing and rising above the challenges that come with being disabled. Six years ago, Kling was given another chance at life after a serious motorcycle accident that left him with nerve damage to his right arm. His left arm has a congenital birth defect; he describes it as three-quarters the size of his right arm with no thumb or wrist. Depressing and frustrating? You bet. But Kling has a determined, can-do anything attitude that is refreshing and inspiring. We all have had our share of bad experiences. We have all suffered. Yet, Kling conveys that we can learn and grow from these experiences; we can heal and move forward with greater perception.

Review by Valerie Zogas, Indigo Editing, LLC

The Dog Says How
Publisher: Borealis Books
ISBN: 978-0-87351-599-3
Hardcover, $22.95

Keeper of Secrets

From our friends at Ink & Paper Group:

All of us at Three Muses Press and Ink & Paper Group would like to invite you to a celebration party for Anjuelle Floyd, TM's debut author. The promotion for her book Keeper of Secrets ... Translations of an Incident, has kept Anjuelle on the road (and around the globe) since its publication in June 2007. Her successful readings and signings, and the windfall of wonderful praise and reviews for her book, are a great achievement for Three Muses Press, and milestone for Ink & Paper Group.

All of Anjuelle's hard work will culminate with a reading & discussion on the Comcast Stage at Wordstock III, November 11th, at 3:30. Her positive, contemporary portrayal of the African American elite in modern-day America and the emotional, psychological, and sociological issues they face in Keeper of Secrets, has churned up much needed debate about how African Americans in general are represented in the media, in music, film, and on television.

We would greatly appreciate your company as we celebrate this amazing author. Did I mention the free wine and hors d' oeuvres?

The launch will be held at the Gypsy Caravan Studio, 4050 NE Broadway, Portland, Oregon, on November 10 from 6 to 8 p.m. The studio is a no-shoes environment.

Local Events

Saturday, October 27
Mary Lynn Archibald Reads from Accidental Cowgirl—Six Cows, No Horse and No Clue
Where: In Other Words Women's Books and Resources, 8 N.E. Killingsworth St.
When: 2 p.m.
Cost: Free

Sunday, October 28
Wonder Woman Day II: Celebrate Super-Hero Women and Raise Money for Domestic Violence Shelters and Crisis Lines
Where: Excalibur Comics, 2444 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.
When: 1–6 p.m.
Cost: Free

Sunday, October 28
Andina Restaurant's Book Party: Gluten-Free Appetizers, Cocktails, and Signed Copies of Shauna Ahern's Gluten-Free Girl
Where: Andina, 1314 N.W. Glisan St.
When: 6–8 p.m
Price: $55. For reservations, call: (503) 228-9535

Sunday, October 28
The Liberators and Live Wire's Faces for Radio
Where: Mississippi Studios, 3939 N. Mississippi Ave.
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $7
Learn more at: http://www.mississippistudios.com/bio23.htm

Sunday, October 28
Writer, Filmmaker, and Artist Miranda July & Portland Artist and Teacher Harrell Fletcher Present Learning to Love You More
Where: Powell's City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W. Burnside St.
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free
Note: Mirandy July will not be at this event.

Monday, October 29
Jimmy Pickering Presents His Children's Book, Skelly the Skeleton Girl
Where: Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd.
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: Free

Monday, October 29
Artist Fritz Haeg Lecture
Where: Fifth Avenue Cinema, 510 S.W. Hall St.
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free
Learn more at: http://www.pica.org/programs/detail.aspx?eventid=285

Monday, October 29
Karen E. Bender and Nina de Gramont Present Choice, a Collection of Personal Essays About the Ongoing Debate of Reproductive Choice
Where: Powell's City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W. Burnside St.
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free

Tuesday, October 30
Author Pamela Crow Reads from Her New Book of Poetry, Inside this House
Where: Broadway Books, 1714 N.E. Broadway St.
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: Free

Tuesday, October 30
Scary Stories with Local Authors such as Natalie Serber, Chelsey Johnson, & Jay Ponteri
Where: McMenamins Kennedy School, 5736 N.E. 33rd Ave.
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: Free

Wednesday, October 31
Classics Book Group Meets to Discuss McTeague by Frank Norris
Where: Powell's Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd.
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: Free

Thursday, November 1
Art Show and Book Release Party: Tara Jane O'Neil Presents Wings. Strings. Meridians. A Blighted Bestiary
Where: Reading Frenzy, 921 S.W. Oak St.
When: 6 p.m.
Cost: Free

Thursday, November 1
Martin Limon Presents The Wandering Ghost
Where: Twenty-Third Avenue Books, 1015 N.W. 23rd Ave.
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: Free

Thursday, November 1
Powell's Celebrates National Adoption Month. Portraits of Adoptable Oregon Children from the Heart Gallery of Oregon will be Featured in the Basil Hallward Gallery through the Month of November. Adopted Children and Family Members will Speak Out on why "Kids Can't Wait."
Where: Powell's City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W. Burnside St.
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free

Friday, November 2
Journalist Dahr Jamail Presents Behind the Green Zone
Where: Powell's City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W. Burnside St.
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free

New Release Spotlight: Illuminated

Illuminated, by Matt Bronleewe

This mystery thriller disappoints in more ways than one. On the heels of The Da Vinci Code and National Treasure, Illuminated had the opportunity to ride the treasure hunt trend and to enchant readers with further tales of secret societies dating back to medieval times. What’s more, the premise of the book, based on Gutenberg’s Bibles and codes hidden within their illuminations, invites bibliophiles to revel in a story created just for us.

The book opens with a scene depicting Johannes Gutenberg as he is warned about the heretic creating chaos in the streets and the new age the man’s death will bring. We then jump forward to a time when people are not scolded for speaking on cell phones on airplanes. August Adams, a rare-book broker, is transporting one of three Gutenberg Bibles when the beautiful woman sitting next to him reveals the plot to kill August’s son, Charlie, if he doesn’t comply with her commands to decode the Bible’s illuminations. We quickly learn that the codes lead to fortune, and a secret society called the Orphans have been seeking it for centuries. Meanwhile, August’s ex-wife, April, is pursued by more villains—of the Order of the Dragon—as she traverses a brilliant maze of secret passageways in the Library of Congress in an attempt to get to the library’s copy of the Gutenberg before the Draconists do. The battle ensues between those dedicated to preserving the Bibles, and two ancient societies racing—and killing—to steal the Bibles and the treasure they lead to.

For a book created for book lovers, though, the writing ability lacks. Simple inconsistencies, such as evaluating August’s performance in decoding the illuminations every hour to determine if his son will live another day, distract from the story. The text is full of trite, overused phrases—“shrieked like a girl,” “It wouldn’t be a secret if I told you”—and stilted dialogue for the sake of the reader—“You’re right-handed.” The best character-development points include April’s danger threshold of reading a book without her glasses and Charlie’s pride in his ability to spell lyceum.

Bronleewe’s true talent lies in music making, and readers can download a free soundtrack to the book on his site, www.mattbronleewe.com. Perhaps readers looking for an adventure should turn on the music, close their eyes, and imagine their own mystery thrillers about the Gutenberg Bible.

Review by Ali McCart, Indigo Editing, LLC

ISBN: 978-1-59554-249-6
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Pub. Date: August 2007
Hardcover, $22.99

Weekend Events

The week may have just started, but there are two exciting events coming up this weekend—it's never too early to plan! Don't miss opening night of "Collected Stories," a play described as a "timeless story of literary ambition, artistic honesty, and personal betrayal." If you're a mystery lover and fan of writer Phillip Margolin, make sure to check out the Beaverton Library this Saturday.

CoHo Productions is offering a special deal for published authors on opening night of "Collected Stories," written by playwright Donald Margulies. CoHo will give two tickets for the price of one on opening night (Friday, October 26) for any author who brings a copy of his/her published book. If you want CoHo to display and promote your book, don't forget to bring a copy! You will get your book back at the end of the show. "Collected Stories" takes place October 26–December 1, on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 p.m. and on Sundays at 2 p.m. at the CoHo Theater, 2257 N.W. Raleigh Street. If you're a Willamette Writer member, simply mention Willamette Writers and get $5 off the price of your ticket. For reservations, call: (503) 220-2646 For more information, visit: http://cohoproductions.org/

The New Friends of the Beaverton Library will meet on Saturday, October 27. Portland mystery writer and criminal defense attorney Phillip Margolin will discuss "How to Write for Fun and Profit." This event takes place at 11 a.m. in Meeting Room A-B at the Beaverton City Library, 12375 S.W. Fifth Street. Afterwards, there will be a silent auction from 12 to 3 p.m. Come bid! There will be fifty assorted gift baskets and refreshments will be provided.

Local Events

Saturday, October 20
Community Festival: Keep Portland Weird
Where: Multnomah County Central Library, 801 S.W. 10th Ave.
When: 12 p.m.–4 p.m.
Cost: Free. Tickets available at the welcome desk after 11:30 a.m. http://www.multcolib.org/events/kpw.html

Saturday, October 20
Author Michael Hoeye Signs Copies of Time to Smell the Roses
Where: Wallace Books, 7241 S.E. Milwaukie Ave.
When: 2 p.m.
Cost: Free

Saturday, October 20
Celebrate Poetry Northwest’s Fourth Issue
Where: Maiden in the Mist, 639 S.E. Morrison St.
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: Free (includes a copy of the magazine)

Saturday, October 20
Tangent Reading Series: Bay Area Poets Sarah Anne Cox and Dana Teen Lomax & Portland Poet Jesse Morse
Where: The Press Club, 2621 S.E. Clinton St.
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: Free

Sunday, October 21
Northwest Author Series: Author Christina Katz Talks about Writing and Raising Kids and Gives Tips to Nonfiction Writers on Writing for Publication. Hosted by Portland Poet Sage Cohen.
Where: Wilsonville Public Library, Oak Room, 8200 S.W. Wilsonville Rd. (in Wilsonville, OR)
When: 3–5 p.m.
Cost: $5 at the door

Sunday, October 21
Finding Iris Chang by Paula Kamen. Kamen Investigates the Journey of Writer Iris Chang, Author of The Rape of Nanking
Where: Powell's City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W. Burnside St.
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free

Monday, October 22
Alternative Radio Founder David Barsamian Discusses Targeting Iran
Where: SEIU Local 49 Union Hall, 3536 S.E. 26th Ave.
When: 7–9 p.m.
Cost: Free
For more information, call: (503) 344-5078

Monday, October 22
Monday Night Lecture Series: Seattle Architect Steve Bandanes
Where: Fifth Avenue Cinema, 510 S.W. Hall
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free

Tuesday, October 23
Peak Oil Book Group Meets to Discuss the First Half of Powerdown by Richard Heinberg
Where: Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd.
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: Free

Tuesday, October 23
A.J. Jacobs Presents The Year of Living Biblically
Where: Powell’s City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W. Burnside St.
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free

Wednesday, October 24
Richard Russo Presents Bridge of Sighs
Where: McMenamin’s Bagdad Theater & Pub, 3702 S.E. Hawthorne Blvd.
When: Doors open at 6 p.m. Event starts at 7 p.m.
Cost: &19 (includes admission and a copy of the book)

Wednesday, October 24
Poetry Readings: Oregon Poets Margaret Smith and Elizabeth Archers
Where: Northwest Library, 2300 N.W. Thurman St.
When: 7–8 p.m.
Cost: Free

Wednesday, October 24
White Bird Dance Series: Pilobolus Dance Theatre
Where: Arlene Schnitzer Concert Hall, 1037 S.W. Broadway
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: $20–$50 http://www.whitebird.org/Performances/WhiteBirdDanceSeries/PilobolusDanceTheatre/tabid/61/Default.aspx

Thursday, October 25
Chefs Pino Luongo & Mark Strausman Present Two Meatballs in the Italian Kitchen
Where: Restaurant Serratto, 2112 N.W. Kearney St.
When: Cocktail social & book signing from 6–7 p.m. At 7 p.m., Chef Josef Valoff will cook a multi-course dinner with recipes from the book.
Dinner price: $85 per person or $145 per couple (includes one copy of the cookbook). Reservations for dinner are required and must be held in place with a credit card. Call Serratto: (503) 221-1195

Thursday, October 25
Shannon Brownlee Critiques American Health Care in Overtreated
Where: Powell’s Books at Cedar Hills Crossing, 3415 S.W. Cedar Hills Blvd.
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: Free

Thursday, October 25
George Wright Presents Roseburg 1959
Where: Twenty-Third Avenue Books, 1015 N.W. 23rd Ave.
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: Free

Thursday, October 25
Michael Hoeye Presents Time to Smell the Roses
Where: Annie Bloom’s Books, 7834 S.W. Capitol Hwy.
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free

Friday, October 26
Book Release Party! Artist Chris Johanson Presents Please Listen I Have Something to Tell You About What Is
Where: Reading Frenzy, 921 S.W. Oak St.
When: 7 p.m.
Cost: Free (includes snacks & treats)

Friday, October 26
Bart King Presents An Architectural Guidebook to Portland
Where: Powell’s City of Books on Burnside, 1005 W. Burnside St.
When: 7:30 p.m.
Cost: Free

New Release Spotlight: Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler

Have you ever had a dream so powerful, so realistic that it became intertwined with actual memories? In Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict, narrator Courtney Stone wakes up in an unfamiliar room. But the oddities don’t stop there; she also has a British accent and a different name—Jane Mansfield. The year is 1813.

The last thing she remembers is a night spent with Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice and a bottle of Absolut. But is this a dream due to a night of vodka and months of distress—or is it actually occurring? While the narrator is busy figuring out her present life as Jane Mansfield, we get little tidbits of her life as Courtney Stone. We soon find out the reason of her distress: her fiancé Frank cheated on her, and her best friend Wes didn’t tell her. Devastated and heartbroken, Courtney turns to Jane Austen, her “constant companion through every breakup, every disappointment, every crisis.” Along with Courtney, you’ll wonder if she is simply having a breakdown or if she’s truly inhabiting the body of a nineteenth-century woman.

Courtney goes from a life of struggling to support herself financially to a life where the maids do everything for her, which includes dressing her and giving her baths. But it is also a life where women have little to no independence, and are thought of as old maids if they’re still unmarried by age thirty. It is a time when money and social status were considered the most important qualities in a mate, and people did not often marry for happiness and love. Courtney may be living in the nineteenth century, but she still possesses a twenty-first century mind. After the charming Mr. Edgeworth proposes to her, she searches her Jane Austen knowledge to give a proper response, but instead says, “‘I won’t deny I’m attracted, but don’t you think this is way too fast? I mean, I haven’t even slept with you.’” Her frankness—though reasonable—is not readily accepted in a time period of propriety.

Rigler’s novel is well-written and the dialogue is both poetic and amusing. Not only will you frantically turn the pages to find out why Courtney was transported to the nineteenth century and if she will get her old life back, you will laugh with each new chapter, with each new discovery Courtney makes about her life as Jane Mansfield. Much like Courtney becomes wrapped up in her life as Jane, you too will become engrossed in the intertwined stories of these two women.

Review by Valerie Zogas, Indigo Editing, LLC

Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
Publisher: Penguin Group
ISBN: 978-0-525-95040-0
Hardback, $24.95

Ink-Filled Page 2007 Anthology Available Now!

We are happy to announce the release of the Ink-Filled Page 2007 print anthology. Our launch party was last Saturday. Thanks to everyone who came and celebrated with us!

In these ink-filled pages, we're certain you'll witness artists' colorful strokes of culture, portraits of themselves as caretakers, blushing reflections of their youths, and dark sketches of their deepest fears. More than anything, you'll experience their artistic revelations on life itself. While we hope readers of all ages indulge in this anthology just as artists of all ages contributed, some of these revelations may resonate more either with adults or with youths. We invite you to read and share those pieces that appeal to you the most.

Order copies from our Web site: https://www.indigoediting.com/Ink-Filled_Page.html.
Or visit our booth at Wordstock, November 9–11 at the Oregon Convention Center.

Be Unapologetic

All writers face common demons in our thoughts: This is stupid. I have nothing new to say. Who will care what I write? What would we see if we changed our perceptions? In an opinion piece in the New York Times, Verlyn Klinkenborg writes, "It's a delicate thing, coming to the moment when you realize that your perceptions do count and that your writing can encompass them. You begin to understand how quiet, how subtle the writer's authority really is, how little it has to do with 'authority' as we usually use the word." How did you grow up, and what of that time lingers in your writing and in the strength you give your voice? Klinkenborg touches on the likelihood that females experience internal road blocks more than males—what do you think about that?

Upcoming Classes at Ink & Paper Group

Sign up for the last two courses held this month at Ink & Paper Group.

AP Style Crash Course
Saturday, October 20, 2–4 p.m.
Price: $50 (includes all class materials and refreshments)
Learn about AP style with instructor Ali McCart. http://www.inkandpapergroup.com/Pages/class_descript.html#AP_style_crashcourse

Exploring the Mystery in Memoir: a fall workshop
Sunday, October 21, 10 a.m.–4 p.m.
Price: $150 (includes all class materials and a light lunch)
Instructor Ana Callan explores life's mysteries through readings, discussions, and writing.
http://www.inkandpapergroup.com/Pages/class_descript.html#exploringthemystery

To register for classes:
Call: 503.232.0103
or mail a check and contact information to:
Ink & Paper Group
1825 SE 7th Ave.
Portland, OR 97214