Weekend Odds and Ends

If you happen to be at the Syosset Long Island Street Fair this weekend, stop by the Borders booth and say hello. I'll be there from noon to one, signing copies of Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA.

I'll be doing a more formal reading/signing at the Syosset Borders on Friday, September 29 at 8pm. Hope you can make it!

On Monday I'll be blogging about Melanie Lynne Hauser, the GCC author who brought me into the group. I'll have lots of wonderful things to say about Melanie and her writing.

I haven't yet heard from George Clooney, which means you still have a chance to win this contest.

My friend Robin Slick has a wonderful essay online called The Night I Met Neil Gaiman and Confirmed I am a Dork. Read it--Robin is a hoot.

Speaking of Robin, I owe her a big thanks for risking arrest by snapping this picture inside a Barnes & Noble:

The new issue of SmokeLong Quarterly looks like a great read.

The Edifice Wrecked First Annual 666 Flash Contest is underway. I hope you'll enter!

I'm in the middle of reading (and loving) Which Brings Me to You by Steve Almond and Julianna Baggott. For me, it's an odd reading experience because I never lose consciousness of the fact that I'm in the hands of two authors. But I'm digging it. In fact, everything I've read these past few weeks has been terrific. I just finished Gods in Alabama by Joshilyn Jackson, which was stunning. Before that I read Prep by Curtis Sittenfeld. (Are you getting the impression that it takes me forever to get through my reading pile?) I was a little prejudiced going into Prep, as Curtis Sittenfeld had written what I thought was an unfair assault on Melissa Bank some months back. But she won me over. (I still think there was more spite to her Melissa Bank review than objective criticism.) I also fell madly in love with Alice Hoffman lately, having read Turtle Moon and The Ice Queen back to back.

If you're a writer and you're not reading Miss Snark's blog, you're missing a lot of very valuable lessons on the publishing biz. Even though I'm not in the market for an agent, I still learn something from her every day.

I've almost finished listening to Lisa Kudrow's narration of the audiobook version of Secret Confessions of the Applewood PTA. Man, she is good. I'm awed and humbled. Here's a sample.

I'm getting a disturbing number of blog hits from people Googling the phrase "penisland."

I just went to the first PTA meeting of the new school year, which was a little stressful, as it was the first time I got to see everyone since my book came out. Before the release, there was a buzz in the community, as people assumed I modelled the book on real people or events. I think most of my community now understands that the book is fiction, and I was greeted warmly by moms and teachers alike. The administration is another story. Talk about icy. Yikes. I'm not paranoid, but I have the feeling that there was some kind of memo sent around telling everyone to stay a certain distance away from me and my book. I guess they're afraid of being associated with the sex and scandal. Such silliness.