Mary Kay Zuravleff's Mystery Reading at Riverby Books (Capitol Hill DC): November 28th

About a century ago (almost 2 years, actually) I read "The Building of Quality" in Monica Jacobe's very fun A Space Inside reading series at the venerable (they even serve afternoon tea!) Riverby Books. As I'll be out west, I'm going to miss the reading scheduled for November 28th, but if you're anywhere in the Washington DC area, don't miss it! Mary Kay Zuravleff will be reading something new... not from her elegantly witty DC museum-insider novel of manners, The Bowl is Already Broken. (I know this novel well; I had the priviledge of reading multiple drafts.) Nor will she be reading from her first novel, The Frequency of Souls, which one critic deemed “the best short comic novel ever written about refrigerator designers with psychic powers." Whatever it is she's going to read, this is sure to be a special evening. Here's the official info:

Mary Kay Zuravleff at Riverby Books on Capitol Hill
Old Books & New Stories
Wednesday, November 28, 2007, 7 pm
The reading is free, the books are used, and the wine is new. Spread the word.
Riverby Books is at 417 E. Capitol St., SE, near the Folger Theater.

Ready, Set, Nanowrimo!

Today is the start of Nanowrimo, National Novel Writing Month. Could be fun. Could give you carpal tunnel syndrome. If you decide to do it, check out my daily 5 minute writing exercises for a nudge. And I ardently recommend the founder of Nanowrimo's book, No Plot, No Problem, believe it not... (With such a title, I admit, I never would have picked it up in the first place, but novelist Mary Kay Zuravelff did me the favor of convincing me to have a look.) More anon.

Women Writers of Washington DC

Let us begin with Frances Hodgson Burnett. E.D.E.N Southworth. Katherine Ann Porter. Clare Boothe Luce. Alors: thanks to the efforts of Sarah Blake, Mary Kay Zuravleff and Susan Shreve, here's an embryonic Who's Who of Women Writers in today's Washington DC:

Emily Bazelon
Kate Blackwell www.kateblackwell.com
Sarah Blake
Maud Casey
Lisa Coutuier www.lisacouturier.com
Katharine Davis www.katharinedavis.com
Olga Grushin www.olgagrushin.com
E.J. Levy
Wendi Kaufman www.thehappybooker.net
Ann McLaughlin
C.M. Mayo www.cmmayo.com
Kyoko Mori
Faye Moskowitz
Jennifer Oko
Carolyn Parkhurst www.carolynparkhurst.com
Linda Pastan
Erica Perl www.ericaperl.com
Leslie Pietrzyk www.lesliepietrzyk.com
Susan Shreve www.susanshreve.com
Jane Shore

Julia Slavin
Amy Stolls
Mary Kay Zuravleff www.mkzuravleff.com

Two recent very fine anthologies, Grace and Gravity and Enhanced Gravity, both by Richard Peabody, offer an even longer list. More anon.

Update: see latest list from Richard Peabody.