If you are going to our big reading on Wednesday but can’t figure out how to get there …

Close to 100 percent of the people who read this blog will be going to my reading with Amy Ettinger so I’d better step up and give you better directions. First of all, the basics: Amy Ettinger and I will both read personal essays that will most likely be incorporated into longer nonfiction projects. The reading starts at 7 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library on 150 East San Fernando Street in San Jose. Once you arrive at the MLK library, proceed to the fifth floor. We will be speaking at Room 550 — the Schiro Program Room. Refreshments will be served including wine and cheese but you already know that. You’re here for the directions. You’re sick of being reminded about the wine and cheese.  So here goes. DIRECTIONS FROM THE SILICON VALLEY AREA  If you just so happen to be traveling from Cupertino, here’s what you…

Leonard Cohen: we’ll be seeing in you in San Jose

I was amazed to find out that the great Leonard Cohen will be playing live in San Jose on November 7. At 78, he’s a good seven years older than Bob Dylan. A few years back, an unexpected financial setback  (involving a trusted associate’s skullduggery) forced him to hit the road again. It was just another extreme example of retirement cut short during the financial hard times that are affecting us all. Anyways, this setback was a surprise boon for fans. I missed him last time around — and this time I’m not making that mistake again. Here he is, performing Tower of Song. And if you — the three readers of this blog — aren’t familiar with the works of Leonard Cohen, you might want to start with The Essential Leonard Cohen, a lovely, two-disk overview. Don’t miss the liner notes by Pico Iyer. Not surprisingly, the talented Sylvie…

A busy October awaits

October is going to be busy. My first personal essay (in quite a while) is getting published and should be coming to a news stand near you. The inaugural issue of Catamaran is coming out. Also, we’re starting to practice for our event at SJSU on October 10th. More news soon. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Matthew Parker’s Larceny in my Blood — and the Cactus Eaters! — featured in The Millions website

Now get a load of this.  This eye-opening interview appears this week in my very favorite web-based literary magazine, and this interview just happens to include a mention of The Cactus Eaters. Anyhow, I thoroughly enjoyed Matthew Parker’s hard-hitting, honest and funny book, which was published this month.Oh, and there’s one more thing I want you to see: Wolf Larsen’s beautiful song, “If I Be Wrong,” featured recently on NPR. Here’s the link to the song and video. Anyhow, I am glad to report that I am following up my recent TC Boyle interview with a Wolf Larsen Q and A. Stay tuned! By the way, I almost forgot to mention that the TC Boyle interview will appear, in print version, in the upcoming debut issue of Catamaran, which will also include a very brief essay I wrote about Boyle’s work. http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default

Sign up for journalist and author Peggy Townsend’s workshop at the Capitola Book Cafe!

Journalist and novelist Peggy Townsend says: “One of the most powerful tools at a writer’s disposal is the interview.Whether its purpose is for narrative non-fiction, biography or fiction,the interview is a foundation of great storytelling.  In this workshop we will study effective interview techniques — from how to ask tough questions to drawing information from reluctant subjects to the role of our own lives in productive dialogue.  We will do close readings of interviews such as Richard Meryman’s poignant last talk with Marilyn Monroe, Truman Capote’s ego-clashing session with Marlon Brando, and a serialized reconstruction of a century-old love affair as a way explore the elements of a good interview: preparation, persistence, flexibility, courage, and curiosity. In-class exercises will help the writer hone their listening and observational skills as a way to create compelling, dramatic story.” The workshop is Saturday Sept  8 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Capitola Book Cafe. Sign up for…

A few thoughts about last week’s travel class

Thanks to everyone who showed up for this.  I had students from all across town and all over the hill (one drove here from San Jose). Several volunteered to read their work out loud — and so much of what they read was touching, specific, evocative and hilarious. There was mystical writing, biographical sketches, a William Least Heat Moon-style road trip, and place portraits focusing on a location in Santa Cruz. Each of these sketches was so different, you’d swear they were talking about different locations. Students imagined they were strangers visiting their own houses, describing them from an outsider’s perspective. They did close readings of Jonathan Raban, Annie Dillard, David Foster Wallace and John Jeremiah Sullivan, and wrote several on-the-spot sketches. We shared tales of triumph and absolute horror from the publishing industry.  It was a remarkable group of people. Anyhow, I always get so much out of these…

My podcast interview with T.C Boyle on Catamaran Literary Reader’s webiste

Listen in on my recent interview with the celebrated author T.C. Boyle about environmental themes in his fiction, starting with “The Extinction Tales,” which we are proud to feature in the inaugural issue of Catamaran, which will be coming to a bookstore near you this October. In other news, there are still a couple of spots left in my writing workshop tomorrow (Saturday) at the Capitola Book Cafe:  In addition to the reading and writing exercises that will be sent directly to your email, we’ll also do an additional reading (a great one from Jonathan Raban) in class, some on-the-spot writing assignments and a piece of travel writing that you will complete later on. See you all in a few hours! http://cactuseaters.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default