One Story is a small press in Brooklyn (the address is “The Old American Can Factory” – you can’t make this stuff up!).  They publish ONE STORY for subscribers every three weeks.  The reasons for delivering in this format are many – the [...]]]> Here’s something neat I discovered at the Boston Book Fest … One Story!

One Story is a small press in Brooklyn (the address is “The Old American Can Factory” – you can’t make this stuff up!).  They publish ONE STORY for subscribers every three weeks.  The reasons for delivering in this format are many – the publisher believes short stories should be read and digested singly; the stand-alone issues allow the spotlight to shine on that one author and his or her fiction; the stories are portable, easier to tuck in a bag than a bulky hardcover.

They have a policy of publishing each author only once, allowing for a continuous influx of new voices.  As each issue is published and sent to subscribers, One Story simultaneously posts an interview with the author on their web site.

Maribeth Batcha is publisher and co-founder of One Story; Hannah Tinti (yes, author of The Good Thief) is editor.  The staff also includes a handful of readers who vet the stories submitted to One Story.

Braving the elements, One Story was one of dozens of tents set up around Copley Square on October 24.  In addition to sharing their story with attendees, One Story invited us to collaborate on an interactive short story.  As people stopped to chat at the booth, we were encouraged to add a sentence to the flip chart and to be part of the story that emerged; it was a lot of fun to watch the story grow.  The rains and high winds eventually took their toll; read about One Story’s battle with the weather and Copley Square’s version of “mall cop” at the One Story blog. The completed Exquisite Corpse collaborative story can also be found on the blog.

This is a non-profit organization whose mission is “to save the short story.”  Are you interested in helping them in that mission by subscribing or purchasing a few back issues?  Here’s a look at the bundled collection I purchased at the Boston Book Fest – five stories with a local Boston flavor:

• King of the Empty Kegs by Steve Almond (5 published books, and an LOL header on his website)
• Villanova OR: How I Became a Former Professional Literary Agent by John Hodgman (funny, funny guy!)
• The Strings Attached by James Scott (yikes! This is the leader of the Writing Workshop I’m attending … I’m not worthy [bowing down and grovelling])
• Archangel by Andrea Barrett (enjoyed her The Air We Breathe!)
• Desiderata by Jennifer Haigh (I have yet to read The Condition, it’s on my wish list)

Have you read any new-to-you short story authors this year?

The day started out wet and windy, so we were all donning rain [...]]]> In addition to hearing from some fabulous authors at Saturday’s Boston Book Fest, I was able to meet some of the “imaginary friends” I converse with via blogs and on Twitter.  Here’s a quick run-down of my close encounters of the bookish kind:

The day started out wet and windy, so we were all donning rain gear as we prepped for going into town.  I was checking Twitter in the morning, to confirm who I might be able to connect with, and saw this tweet from Lauren, aka @bostonBookGirl; note the hashtags!:

Also, for picking me out of a #bbf09 crowd purposes: I am going to wear my yellow coat today. #tweetsmydadwillfindunsafe

About an hour later I was walking across Copley Plaza and saw a woman in a bright yellow coat … should I approach her?  Promising myself that if it wasn’t Lauren I wouldn’t talk to any more strangers, I walked over to her and asked, “Is your name Lauren?” and introduced myself.  Fortunately, it was Lauren and I didn’t suffer a clonk on the head from a person who thought I overstepped her personal space (and this encounter freed me to approach more unknown people throughout the day).  We said quick hellos, as we were off to different buildings for our first events.  I think she was heading to Cryptozoology, and I was going the Ties That Bind panel.

My other bookish encounters happened in quick succession.  I was checking Twitter while waiting for the Hodgman/Perrotta panel to start, and read this note from Deborah (@DSloanAndCo) from The Picnic Basket and KidsBuzz)

just walked in behind mr pc himself-@hodgman!

When I asked where she was seated, Deborah replied:

@toofondofbooks in front row, left, wearing orange volunteer shirt meet up after? @bbf09

I wish I had snapped a pic of one of the volunteers – they wore orange tee shirts with a HUGE Question Mark on the front and the Boston Book Fest logo on the back (maybe we can convince the Boston Bibliophile to post a picture modeling her shirt?).  I never did catch up with Deborah; I don’t know what her volunteer duties entailed.

In the meatime, I was trading text messages with Care:

Care:  Hodgman?  We r on lft lookng at stage – c red jacket & LOBSTER

Dawn: Rt of aisle 2/3 back. Cream sweater

Care:  Salmon sweater hair is up shaking lob fcing in not fron8t

You’d be curious, right?  I stood up and looked toward the left side of the venue; sure enough, there was Care – red sweater, hair up, enthusiastically shaking a stuffed lobster!!  We were in a church, so we didn’t jump and shout; rather we waved and made the pinky-to-mouth-and-thumb-to-ear universal sign for “call me.”

[break here for one hysterical hour of John Hodgman and Tom Perrotta]

Marie, the Boston Bibliophile ( @bostonBibliophl ) had also texted, saying she was working the Hodgman/Perrotta signing.  After I stopped laughing and clapping at John Hodgman and Tom Perrotta I made my way back to the signing area.  Marie and I recognized each other right away, despite the fact that our avatars are graphic renderings.  She was having a great time helping patrons with the book signing; I imagine she probably got some extra time with the authors, too.  You can read the Boston Bibliophile’s account of the Boston Book Fest here and a wrap-up of recent author events here.  I’m so glad I finally got to meet Marie, if only briefly; she lives fairly close, and we’ve often been ships passing in the night at events around here!

I finally resorted to that phone call to catch up with Care.  She and her friend Holly had ventured over for a quick lunch at the Boston Public Library cafe.  I joined them in the (wet) courtyard, and learned the story behind Copley the Lobster’s trip to Boston.  We had a short visit, but it was fun; it didn’t seem like it was the first time we met (chat, chat, chat!). Care has some more to say about the day here.

I promised you the blooper reels, here they are.  Highlights (lowlights?) of this first clip are Care falling off the steps (she didn’t get hurt!), and Holly not realizing the camera was still recording.

In this second clip I like the woman who walks in front of the camera – oblivious to filming- and the splashes from the fountain drowning our words.  Can someone tell me how to carry my messenger bag so it doesn’t look like a diaper bag – those days are long gone!

Can you hear what we’re saying?  Care and I had worked up a code phrase exchange in advance; you know, so we wouldn’t be talking to an impostor.  Check the first comment below to read our secret phrases.

Yeah, I know these are supposed to be outtakes and now I should present you with a final edited version of our password exchange … you can stop looking, this is as good as it gets!

There were six categories of events (I’m using [...]]]> Yesterday, October 24, was the inaugural Boston Book Festival.  There have been book fests in Boston in the past, but this was the first under this name, with this leadership.  Despite the wet, windy weather, the event drew a huge enthusiastic crowd, and is considered a great success.

There were six categories of events (I’m using ‘events’ as a catch-all to describe panels, readings, performances): fiction, non-fiction, kids, poetry, participate, and technology.  The schedule was packed, from 10:00 a.m. through 9:00 p.m.  All author events were indoors at Copley Square – the Boston Public Library, Old South Church, or Trinity Church.  There were also tents around the Square itself with various vendors, publications, and services (i.e., samples of Brigham’s limited edition Paul Revere’s Rocky Ride ice cream!)

This was some of my day, with event descriptions from the Boston Book Fest:

10:30 – 11:30 Ties that Bind

Meet the family in fiction. Two generations of academics are drawn to Cape Cod in Pulitzer Prize-winner Richard Russo’s new novel, That Old Cape Magic. In Man Gone Down, Michael Thomas plumbs the brilliant mind of a black man who came of age during Boston’s busing era, marries a white woman, and has an existential crisis in Brooklyn. Modernizing the classic Manhattan screwball comedy, Elinor Lipman surrounds The Family Man–here a sensible gay dad–with a paparazzi-stalked daughter and a needy, newly widowed ex-wife. Hosted by Bret Anthony Johnston, Director of Creative Writing at Harvard and author of Corpus Christi: Stories.

Ties that Bind was held in the sanctuary of the Old South Church – gorgeous and imposing!  The host was Bret Anthony Johnston, whose book Naming the World we’re using in a writing workshop; that lattice of coincidence again.

My favorite take-away from this panel was Richard Russo speaking about Janet Maslin’s review of That Old Cape Magic; she accused the novel of being autobiographical.  Russo told the Book Fest audience that “life has no shape, just as stars form no constellations.”  The author “winks at the reader” to disguise autobiographical elements in a novel.

12:30 – 1:30 John Hodgman interviewed by Tom Perrotta

Novelist Tom Perrotta made his reputation through attention to craft, with novels including Election, Little Children, and The Abstinence Teacher. His one-time student John Hodgman took a more improbable route to notoriety: by depicting a PC in the “Get a Mac” ads, providing commentary as a “resident expert” on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, and writing the books The Areas of My Expertise and More Information Than You Require. Tom will grill (or perhaps roast, as on a slow-burning fire) the man whose irresistible humor begat Hodgmania on topics ranging from the sublime to the downright silly.

This event was held in the same great space.  I had time to “powder my nose,” then returned to the same pew and continued chatting with the man next to me (yes, I talk to strangers … more about that in my upcoming “Boston Book Fest: meeting imaginary friends and the blooper reel” post).  I’m glad I didn’t venture far, the church was packed – the sanctuary seats 850 people on the first floor, the second level was full, and people were standing!

This was billed as an interview, but it was much more like eavesdropping on a conversation between two friends subtly trying to out-do each other.  We learned something of Hodgman’s history, but mostly we laughed and laughed.  He is very quick – started by telling the audience “I always wanted my own megachurch.”  When Perrotta asked Hodgman why he wrote books about fake trivia, Hodgman replied “The world doesn’t need fake trivia any more than we need a Slanket.  But they’re making them, and you’re [pointing to us in the audience] buying them!”

2:30 – 3:30 Jumpstart Your Writing

Join one of Grub Street Writers’ award-winning instructors for an hour of innovative and inspiring prompts that will have aspiring writers brainstorming ideas for new stories and writing new scenes. The focus will be on creating memorable characters and settings, inventing plots and improving dialogue. This session is designed for people interested in writing fiction and non-fiction, but poets will also benefit.  The afternoon session is led by Stace Budzko, writer-in-residence at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Free pre-registration is required to participate in this event.

This was held across Copley Square in a meeting room at Trinity Church.  Between admiring the beautiful stained glass windows and watching the trees bending in the plaza, it was easy to get distracted.  But, I focused!  It was a very productive hour – I’m pleasantly surprised that I can write (and share!) with such a tight timetable; maybe it was easier because I didn’t know any of these people.

In another one of those “small world” coincidences, I learned that the instructor for this session is working closely with a student who used to babysit our kids when we lived in Connecticut (OK, who else remembers “Confused? You won’t be after this week’s episode of Soap!”)

4:00 – 5:00 Poetry as Music

Experience the intersection of poetry and music with jazz aficionado and former National Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky. The founder of the Favorite Poem Project and professor of creative writing at Boston University, Robert is known for his ability to bring poetry to life as spoken language, as showcased in his collection Essential Pleasures: A New Anthology of Poems to Read Aloud. Robert will give a music-inflected reading, with back-up from jazz musicians Rakalam Bob Moses and Andrew Urbina.

This session was held in the Trinity Forum, a lovely meeting room in the lower level of Trinity Church.  Robert Pinsky read several (a half dozen?  I was mesmerized and didn’t take notes!) poems, augmented by jazz music (horns, percussion, other voices).  It was phenomenal – this trio was so in synch, and so clearly enjoying their time performing together; it was a pleasure to be part of the audience.

What happened after 5?

Well, the “Poetry as Music” session ran about 15 minutes late, but I wanted to savor every minute of it.  When I dashed (through monsoon-like winds) across Copley Plaza back to the Old South Church for the keynote address with Orhan Pamuk I was told (along with others trying to gain access) that there was “no room at the inn.”  No worries, I figured I’d head across the street to the Boston Public Library and “freshen up” (I’ve got quite a collection of euphemisms for using the restroom!) before the Boston Noir event and launch party from 6-9.  Well, this time it was a security who turned me away at the Library doors, explaining that they had closed at 5, and wouldn’t allow anyone in until the event began at 6.

I was disappointed, but decided it was a sign that I should call it a day and head home.  I forfeited the $15 I paid for the Boston Noir ticket, but I did get back in time to have pizza with my family.  J was away this week, and I had a network of friends (you know who you are – thank you!) helping out so I could attend the Boston Book Fest.

A little (or a lot of!) rain didn’t stop us from having a great time!  Many thanks to Founding President Deborah Porter, Executive Director Emily D’Amour Pardo, staff, Board members, advisors, and the scores (maybe hundreds?) of volunteers who made it possible – I’m looking forward to 2010!

Check out this list of authors who will be at the Boston Book Fest, including Ken Burns, Anita Diamant, Joseph Finder, Kathleen Kent … it goes on and on!

This event is a must-do for book lovers in Massachusetts, Southern New Hampshire, Rhode [...]]]> The Boston Book Festival is coming up – Saturday, October 24th in Copley Square!

Check out this list of authors who will be at the Boston Book Fest, including Ken Burns, Anita Diamant, Joseph Finder, Kathleen Kent … it goes on and on!

This event is a must-do for book lovers in Massachusetts, Southern New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and, maybe even for you, further afield.

And, what better way to top off a day at the Boston Book Fest than with a Meet-Up with like-minded bookish people?!  The Boston Bibliophile and I are putting together this “after party.”  Details are starting to shape up, and we need input from those who might be attending.  Would you help us out by filling out this BBF Meet-Up survey; your input is confidential, and will help us to arrange a great event.  Thanks!