Gregory Frost 

  Rachel Pastan    

Saturday night I headed out to a book launch party for novelists Gregory Frost and Rachel Pastan, being held at Swarthmore College, where both teach writing.  Frost’s latest fantasy, Shadowbridge, and Pastan’s second novel, Lady of the Snakes, were released this month, within a day of each other. This serendipity led them to link celebratory forces.

As an invited guest, I had decided to simply enjoy the event, not cover it for Local LIT. However, as soon as I entered the party, I wished I had at least brought my camera.

The room glowed with local literati.

The convergence of authors, in addition to Gregory Frost and Rachel Pastan, included, in alphabetical order: poet Nathalie Anderson; novelist Diane Ayers; novelist/anthropologist Judith Berman; YA novelist and editor Steve Berman; writer/editor/critic Meredith Broussard, fresh from her January publication in Harper’s; fiction writer Clare Keefe Coleman; short story writer Ef Deal; columnist/investigative journalist/author Stephen Fried; novelist, screenwriter (and proud new papa) Joe Gangemi; Bill Kent, journalist and “Street” mystery novelist;  poet and novelist Judy Moffett;  novelist-turned-poet Margaret Robinson; Kelly Simmons, whose debut novel, Standing Still, will be published February 5; award-winning fiction writer Carla Spataro, co-editor/co-publisher of Philadelphia Stories; and science fiction and fantasy author Ann Tonsor Zeddies.

I hope I haven’t forgotten anybody.

Pastan and Frost read from their works, then faced off for a humorous and witty Q & A of each other, which included (Frost to Pastan) “If you were Jell-O, which flavor would you be?  Then Pastan asked the following question, and Frost’s answer capped the inspiring qualities of the evening for me:

As a writer, what do you now know, that you wish you had known 20 years ago?

Frost referenced Robert Olen Butler (From Where You Dream: The Process of Writing Fiction), and said what beginning writer’s invariably leave out of their stories is the element of desire.  He said somewhere along the line, this fact finally “clicked” in his writing mind: that all great fiction is predicated on desire in some fashion.  Kurt Vonnegut’s more humorous way of expressing this, Frost said, was to tell his students to make their characters want something, and right away (not 20 pages in), even if it’s nothing more than a glass of water. Vonnegut said even characters paralyzed by existential crisis get thirsty now and again.

 David Sedaris

Michael Fox of Joseph Fox Bookshop just e-mailed me with the news he will be hosting  

a special in-store signing (no talk 

. This will be Sedaris’ only bookstore event in Philadelphia, according to Fox, and the new title, Indefinite Leave to Remain, will be out only four days at the time. “We expect a huge crowd, and plans will be made for crowd control,” Fox wrote. “Of course, anyone who wants to reserve a signed book can do this – and I would even encourage it. [David] will sign as long as necessary and I will guarantee a signed copy.” For more details, keep an eye on the Joseph Fox website.

Robin’s Book Store, known as “Philadelphia’s Oldest Independent Book Store,”  has begun selling books online. To access the online store go to www.robinsbookstore.com, and click on the word “sales” in the top right corner.

The Free Library of Philadelphia has made podcasts of past author events available on its website. Featured authors include Norman Mailer, Steven Pinker, Dave Barry, Khaled Hosseini, Carlos Eire, Nikki Giovanni, Calvin Trillin, Richard A. Clarke, Alice McDermott, Wole Soyinka, Frank McCourt, Maureen Dowd and Ernest J. Gaines. See complete list HERE.

The 2007 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNERS, announced November 14, include Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, by Tim Weiner, for non-fiction; Tree of Smoke by Denis Johnson for fiction; and The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indianby Sherman Alexie for Young People’s Literature. Robert Hass won the poetry award for Time and Materials.
READ COMPLETE LIST OF WINNERS

Note: 2006 National Book Award fiction finalist and Philadelphia author KEN KALFUS will be reading from his novel, A Disorder Peculiar to the Country, which is set in New York after 9/11, at Bookcourt, 163 Court Street, Brooklyn, New York, at 7 PM, November 15. For more information call 718-875-3677 or visit www.bookcourt.org.

On Wednesday, September 27, Local LIT went on record on mediabistro’s blog, GalleyCat, saying that the next Oprah’s Book Club title — a closely guarded secret — would be Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez [READ STORY HERE]. GalleyCat editor Ron Hogan, who asked for title predictions after providing answers to several clues (cost, publisher) — plus a clue to the last clue —(number of pages) — thinks the guess is a good one. We’ll find out for sure this Friday. 

UPDATE, October 5: Local LIT was right!