Texas Pages

The Dallas Museum of Art's Arts & Letters Live series has added three events for this season:

Julie Powell, author of Julie & Julia, appears 7:30 p.m. July 29 at the museum's Horchow Auditorium. A screening of the Nora Ephron movie is slated for 7:30 p.m. July 27 at the AMC NorthPark, and a "special Julia Child-inspired buffet dinner" is being offered at the museum as well.

Deborah Nadoolman Landis, an Academy Award-nominated costume designer, will discuss Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design 7 p.m. Aug. 27 at the Horchow Auditorium.

And Sue Monk Kidd and Ann Taylor Kidd will discuss Traveling With Pomegranates: A Mother-Daughter Story 7:30 p.m. Sept. 15 at First Presbyterian Church of Dallas. Sue Monk Kidd is also the author of The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid's Chair.

Tickets are $30 for the public; $25 for DMA members, Friends of the Dallas Public Library, seniors, and educators; $15 for students. For Julie & Julia, tickets include the preview screening, but dinner is separate.

Details are available here.

Our friends over in the Points section of The Dallas Morning News will launch the third annual Points Summer Book Club this month, and you're invited. They've picked a doozy of a book this year, with loads of local relevance and intrigue: The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes, by former Wall Street Journal reporter Bryan Burrough. It's about the four "Big Four" oil barons who shaped much of what Texas is today. Extra credit: Can you name the Big Four? Find the answer at the bottom of this post.

Why is it in the twilight of newspapers
that story-telling is ascendant?

The SMU's Newcomers Institute, by the School of Education and Human Development, continued Saturday, and two of the most gripping presentations
were by those who told their stories, one as a former homeless
student and the other through song.

They were skilled at their craft.
Their stories had a strategy.
To inspire others to action.

Last year, the Writers League of Texas welcomed me to Austin for what turned out to be a terrific weekend, full of the kinds of behind-the-scenes publishing knowledge that beginning authors crave.

I can't make it this year, but somehow, they've pulled together lineup without me. It features Michael Murphy, former publisher at William Morrow and founder of Max & Co. Literary Agency and Social Club, who has the best keynote address title I've seen in a while: ""Sitting in a Cardboard Box, Saying Vroom Vroom and Pretending It's a Car: Book Publishing 2009."

The weekend's main appeal for aspiring, unpublished writers would be the chance to meet editors and make pitches to real-life literary agents (19 of whom are scheduled to be in attendance.) I suspect the number of employed editors who can afford the weekend journey to Austin will be down a bit from last year. I also suspect that the wisdom will still flow as freely as those pitchers of sangria margaritas did at the bar, only the aftereffects will be more helpful.

The conference takes place June 26-28. You can register here, or call , or call 512-499-8914.

OK, yes, I succumbed to headline writers' punnery with the one above -- I couldn't help myself, especially since it has that wonderful headline thing of being both a pun (Stephanie Pearl-McPhee is an avid knitter and writes books about the subject, including Free-Range Knitting and Yarn Harlot) and being absolutely true (she's hilarious). Someone once described Pearl-McPhee as the "David Sedaris of knitting," and that just about nails it.

PHOTO: Fans of Stephanie Pearl-McPhee pass the time waiting for her talk to begin. Dawn Zhang of Plano is knitting on the left, with Amee Dixon of McKinney helping out.

KERA's "Think" has another author-rich week on tap this week. Check out this schedule.

Highlights would include Eric Boehlert, author of Bloggers on the Bus: How the Internet Changed Politics and the Press; David O. Stewart, whose new book is Impeached: The Trial of President Andrew Johnson and the Fight for Lincoln's Legacy; and Thomas Maier of Masters of Sex: The Life and Times of William Masters and Virginia Johnson, the Couple Who Taught America How to Love.

Everyone's invited to the Dan's Silverleaf in Denton for this Saturday's Original PubFest.

Sponsored by Farrago's Wainscot, Original PubFest is an independent, regional publishing festival that will take place on the back patio of Dan's Silverleaf. Food will be available for donation, and local songwriters will perform throughout the day. The purpose of this event is to expose local artists, authors, and publishers to the community and to each other in a relaxed, community-oriented environment. This event is free to the public."

The event starts at 2 p.m., and the music begins at 3 p.m.

Acoustic acts include: Chris Flemmons (Baptist Generals), Isaac Hoskins (The Heelers), Freddie Schulze (Heartstring Stranglers), Bruce Bond, Ashley Cromeens (Record Hop), Lara Bryant, and Mike Miller

Publications include: Farrago's Wainscot, Oak Bend Review, Workers Write!, Mad Swirl, Moulin Review, WOW Signal, The Porch, Threadbare Arts Collective, and Recycled Books and Records.

We've taken a lot of your feedback and have made several changes to the new GuideLive.com, including adding "GUIDELIVE IT!" sections at the top of each tab (Events, Movies, Restaurants and Performers) to help you search for things that matter most to you.

We encourage all of you authors out there to create your own Performer's page where you can tell people about yourself and your works, as well as link to your own sites. Another benefit of creating a Performer's page is that you can add it to listings for your book signings, talks and other events where you are featured, so people interested in going tcan quickly find out more information about you beforehand.

Just remember to search the Performers section first, because you might already be in there, in which case you can click "Report an error with this listing" and claim it to gain control over it.

Don't miss out on the next big read. Check out the list of bookstores and literary events. If you don't see your event listed, feel free to create it.

Give us a shout or leave comments below if you run across any other concerns regarding the new GuideLive.com.

Terri Cadiente, stuntwoman from 24 and author of Live Courageously: Choose to Be the Real You, will sign books 6 p.m. Friday at Barnes & Noble Southlake Town Square, 1430 Plaza Place, Southlake. People who do not buy a copy are possibly at risk of being thrown from an exploding tanker truck.

Take at look at the new GuideLive.com. The Dallas Morning News is upgrading its signature entertainment portal this week with a state-of-the-art, “go, see and do” utility you won’t want to leave home without.

From now on, when you type in GuideLive.com or click on “Things to do” you will discover, front and center, a simple search box that can find the event, movie, venue, restaurant or performer just right for you. It understands words you would normally use, so when you’re looking for something tomorrow, just type “tomorrow.” Then in one place, you’ll get our critics’ ratings and reviews, user reviews from across the Internet, often an option to purchase tickets, directions and nearby attractions, too.

We’ve got more things to do than ever at your fingertips. Look for sporting events, community and church events, art exhibitions – and if you don’t see an event you’re hosting, please add it!

You can still find all the coverage that our Guide staff provides about the arts and entertainment in our Entertainment channel on dallasnews.com (and linked from each relevant GuideLive.com listing). And we’ve finally added a comment box below each article, plus a way to share it or e-mail it to your friends.

Visit the new GuideLive.com!

Intelligence has no gender.

That was the rallying passion for Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz, a 17th century nun who fought to be educated.

And a chain of homages to her poetry, her prose and her spirit are linking fans through the United States. Saturday, some 400 persons poured into the Latino Cultural Center in Dallas for the Sor Juana Festival. The festival included a movie, music, discussion and a play all focused on the Mexican poet and writer.

(Image courtesy Latino Cultural Center)

The Dallas Museum of Arts' Arts & Letters Live series tonight blessed us a talk by two authors with strong Dallas connections: Dallas resident Kathleen Kent, author of The Heretic's Daughter, and Cristina Henríquez, former Dallas resident and author of The World In Half. They continued A&LL's absolutely stellar season -- anyone who still thinks Dallasites don't care about literature hasn't been paying attention to what the DMA has accomplished this season.

Ms. Henríquez recalled her early days in Dallas (she now lives in Chicago), when she was living in an Uptown apartment and thinking she and her husband could manage with one car -- he commuted to a job during the day; she worked on her writing at home. When she decided to look for a job, she landed an interview at D Magazine. On a 97-degree summer day, wearing a wool-blend suit, it took her a trolley ride and two buses to traverse the 1.7 miles to D's headquarters.

PHOTO by Joy Tipping: Cristina Henríquez (foreground) and Kathleen Kent at the DMA on Friday night.

John Neal Phillips, author of Running With Bonnie & Clyde: The Ten Fast Years of Ralph Fults will speak at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Dallas Public Library, 1515 Young Street.

Bonnie & Clyde aficionados should note that local author Jeff Guinn's Go Down Together (which Bryan Woolley reviewed here) got the better end of a double-barreled review in The New York Times recently.

The Dallas Museum of Arts' fabulous season of Arts & Letters Live is coming quickly to an end, but they saved some of the best for last. On Tuesday, journalist-author-adventurers Tony Horwitz (seated at right in photo) and David Grann (seated at left) captivated the audience with tales of history, derring-do (some of it their own) and the obsessive pull of a nearly century-old mystery.

Photo by Joy Tipping

Several local authors will be signing books from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Richardson Public Library.
.
Scheduled to appear are Carol Adams (How To Eat Like a Vegetarian Even If You Never Want to be One), Ginnie Siena Bivona (Notes From a Chameleon), Glo Brown (MAX and Joey, Buddy Detectives), Rachel Defriez (The Rath Haven Chronicles), Tony Eldridge (The Samson Effect), Perla Sarabia johnson (Global WarNing), Laurel Iakovakis (Puppetry Plays Plus: Using Stock Characters to Entertain and Teach Early Literacy), Allan Kimball (The Big Bend Guide: Travel Tips and Suggested Itineraries), Gloria Oliver (In the Service of Samurai), Robert Rummel-Hudson (Schuyler's Monster), Kat Smith (The Naked Author -- Exposing the Myths of Publishing), Earl Staggs (Memory of a Murder), Earl Stubbs (The Brown Recluse) and Ron Wade (Personal Devils-Intimate Demons).

The event is sponsored by the library and the Writers' Guild of Texas.

Anyone headed down to Houston to visit mom this weekend? Well, after you've taken her out to brunch, why don't you show her how cultured you are by heading over to the second annual Houston Indie Book Festival.

This year's fest will be held at Domy Books, at 1709 Westheimer Road, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is free. Moms love cost-conscious children.

The event features some of Texas' finest small and independent presses, magazines, and booksellers, all selling their wares at deeply discounted prices.

Signed books and gift certificates will be raffled off throughout the day.

For more information, check out Gulf Coast Magazine's site.

After we bravely slogged through e-mail problems yesterday, I finally connected with Southern Methodist University professor Willard Spiegelman, whose Seven Pleasures: Essays on Ordinary Happiness was reviewed on Sunday.

Like any proud author, he was eager to experience the simple pleasure of getting more books into the hands of readers. But he seemed rightly happy that the book has received warm attention from the likes of Publishers Weekly (which called him "an intelligent, well-read and kindly soul,") and The Wall Street Journal ("Taken together, Mr. Spiegelman's essays amount to a kind of cubist memoir, catching the author from different angles. It is unexpectedly fascinating to read a memoir these days in which the author isn't a victim of anything.") I hear reports that it is selling well locally, too.

You can see him in person 7:30 p.m. May 14 at Legacy Books. To whet your appetite, an excerpt is attached below.

Fellow blogger Glen Weldon at NPR reminds me that Free Comic Book Day arrives Saturday. "Love of Comics" is the one bookish nerd-child trait I managed to be immune to, my recent purchase of a TOTALLY COOL Green Lantern shirt not withstanding. But I can still celebrate anything that promotes reading, be it in children or 30-year-olds who still live at home.

A list of participating Dallas-area shops can be found here. And if you want to go all nerdtastic on us, let's hear stories of how comic books changed your life. Or why I should have been reading Marvel instead of DC.

Willard Spiegelman will be signing his latest, Seven Pleasures: Essays on Ordinary Happiness, Thursday evening at the DeGolyer Library, DeGolyer Library, 6404 Hilltop Lane at Southern Methodist University.

The reception begins at 6 p.m. in the Texana Room; a lecture and book signing begin at 6:30 p.m. in the Stanley Marcus Reading Room.

Full details are posted here. And watch your paper for a review, coming soon.

Let's face it -- how often do you get to see a screen adaptation of a book by one of Israel's most famous novelists? Well, you do today, when the Jewish Community Center of Dallas kicks off its 13th Annual International Jewish Film Festival of Dallas with The Little Traitor.

Never heard of The Little Traitor? That's because this poignant 2007 film is adapted from the novel Panther in the Basement by Amos Oz. I had a chance to screen it in advance and it's a terrific story of a lonely young Jewish boy in 1947 Palestine months before Israel became a state. Like his friends, he hates the British soldiers who are governing the area -- that is, until one befriends him which in turn, makes him a traitor to his community.

The marvelous Alfred Molina plays the English officer -- I like him a lot better without his SpiderMan 2 Doc Ock tentacles.
Tonight at 9 pm. Studio Movie Grill at Royal Lane and Central Expressway. $14 includes dessert reception. 214-739-2737. www.jccdallas.org. $2 more for tickets purchased at the door.

It's fun to see the kids' eyes get really big when they meet the authors and illustrators that created the books they love. And you can get that chance today at the free Dallas Children's Book Fair and Literary Festival at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library. Get all the details on the Dallas Moms blog here.

The North Texas Book Festival is taking place Saturday at the Center for the Visual Arts, 400 E. Hickory, in Denton.

Western legend Elmer Kelton will be there, as will many others.

The folks at the fest sent a copy of their full schedule. I've attached it for your convenience. (Hey, it's what I do.)

If you head out there, I'd love to hear reports from the scene. Just hit the "comments" button when you get back.

Galleycat recently captured video of Arthur Phillips reading at the launch of his latest, The Song Is You.

The book has already been subjected to glowing reviews. And Dallas readers will get their chance to see him when he comes to town for Arts & Letters Live on Friday.

Kyle Hall, director of marketing and events at Legacy Books, sends in a missive about the sometimes-steamy scene at Saturday's appearance of Lewisville High alum Chad Kultgen, author of The Average American Male and creator of a successful series of frat-boy-funny/raunchy YouTube videos.

Kyle writes:

"They came out in good number for Chad Kultgen's The Lie. It was an interesting event, since we knew that Chad wanted to read from the book, though he told me he'd been silenced at a Los Angeles Borders event after five minutes of reading. ("OK, thanks, that was enough, that was great, now let's have you sign some books.") I wondered whether those who came without knowing the book well knew what they were in for, but there was no question of not having the author read, because his publisher had been upfront about the content of The Lie months ago, and I'd looked at the book after when it recently came out.

"And frankly The Lie is ... um ... scurrilous? Obscene? Vulgar? Just plain nasty? - but we had no walkouts. Many who came turned out to be buddies of Chad's or friends of the family, and they appeared to be shockproof. He read for half an hour before a crowd that included his mom and dad, and I think most of us heard stuff we hadn't heard of before and possibly couldn't conceive of even then.

KERA has its usual author-heavylineup on Think this week. Dog owners in particular will want to check out Thursday's appearance of Michael Schaffer, author of One Nation Under Dog: Adventures in the New World of Prozac-Popping Puppies, Dog-Park Politics, and Organic Pet Food, about which I have read good things.

You can see the whole schedule here.

Jim Montgomery is scheduled to be signing Mastering Swimming 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday at the South Central Zone Championships at the CISD Aquatics Center, 1501 W. Southlake Blvd., Southlake.

The press release announcing the event says he has three Olympic gold medals, 10 swimming world records, 9 world championships, 14 national titles and 7 NCAA titles.

So I'm guessing he knows something about his subject. But that is idle speculation on my part.

The 2009 Texas Bound series kicked off last night at the Dallas Theater Center, with wonderful readings by actors Jessica D. Turner, Brad Leland, Liz Mikel and Chamblee Ferguson of short stories and essays by Katherine Center (who was in attendance), Steven Gullion, Sue Monk Kidd and Steve Almond. The series, in its 13th season, is part of the Arts & Letters Live series put together by the Dallas Museum of Art.

All the authors and/or works have a Texas connection, and were briskly directed by Raphael Parry. Special kudos to Ferguson, who stepped in at the last minute to replace G.W. Bailey, who had a scheduling conflict with his TV series, The Closer (he plays Lt. Provenza).

All four performances and pieces were excellent, but my favorite was "Old Maids," the funny, endearing tale of a budding romance between a very large dentist and his very petite patient, brought to captivating life by Leland (whom you may know from his ongoing role as Buddy Garrity on Friday Night Lights).

What a wonderful experience, to sit in the packed Kalita Humphreys Theater on a Monday night and see an audience utterly spellbound by good literature. Texas Bound is like the adult version of "Tell me a story!" and it's just sublime.

For information on the remaining two Texas Bound shows (May 11 and June 8), or the entire Arts & Letters Live season (it's a doozy), go here.

And now, for a brief musical diversion:

Last summer, at a Writers League of Texas conference in Austin, I caught a performance by the '70s cover band Skyrocket. The literati and I had a blast.

You'll have to round up your own literati this time, but the band -- which has included local writer Melanie Wells on fiddle -- is coming to the Double Wide in Deep Ellum on April 17. Doors open at 10 p.m.; the show is 10:30 p.m. until 1:30 a.m; tickets are $7 at the door.

Far be it from me to encourage you to be doing anything besides reading books and then commenting on the blog, but just this once, I'll make an exception.

KERA-FM's Think has several authors scheduled this week:

Noon Monday, Pico Iyer, discusses The Open Road: The Global Journey of the Fourteenth Dalai Lama.

1 p.m. Monday, David Grann, discusses The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon. (Prepare yourself beforehand with our review.)

Noon Tuesday, Richard Dowden, director of the Royal African Society, discusses Africa: Altered States, Ordinary Miracles.

1 p.m. Tuesday, Rushworth M. Kidder discusses The Ethics Recession: Reflections on the Moral Underpinnings of the Current Economic Crisis.

Noon Wednesday, Peter Singer discusses The Life You Can Save: Acting Now to End World Poverty.

Noon Thursday, Andrew Lih discusses The Wikipedia Revolution: How a Bunch of Nobodies Created the World's Greatest Encyclopedia.

At 1p.m., it's University of North Carolina religious studies professor Bart D. Ehrman with Jesus Interrupted: Revealing the Hidden Contradictions in the Bible (And Why We Don't Know About Them)

We'll have a full review of Jeff Guinn's Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde Sunday on GuideLive.com. And you'll be able to catch Guinn at two signings next week -- 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Legacy Books, 7300 Dallas Parkway, Plano, and 7 p.m. Thursday at Borders, 4601 W. Freeway, Fort Worth.

To whet your appetite, here's a report from Rick Barrick, who was on the scene Wednesday when Guinn signed books at Borders, Preston at Royal.

Jeff Guinn knew the pouring rain Wednesday night would been the least of his worries as his began promoting his new book.

Guinn told the crowd that the Internet is already a venue of skepticism about his accounts of Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, the bandit lovers and lawmen killers during the early 1930s. His favorite comment so far on a blog is by someone who said, "I don't know who this guy (Guinn) is, but I hope he burns in hell because he's destroyed a wonderful story."

Guinn has his own supporters, among them relatives of Bonnie and Clyde. Barrow's nephew, Buddy Barrow Williams of Sunnyvale, and Parker's niece, Rhea Leen Linder of Dallas, answered questions from the audience.

Guinn "did a good job. ... He's not afraid to step on somebody's toes," Williams said.

Publisher Simon and Schuster has already weighed in. Go Down Together is in its second printing after just days on booksellers' shelves.

Michael Collins (left) of Dallas accepts a signed copy of Go Down Together from Jeff Guinn.

John Lanzillo of Richardson (left) visits with Buddy Barrow Williams, a nephew of Clyde Barrow.

Guinn hugs Rhea Leen Linder after his appearance. Linder helped Guinn with his book.

Author Jim Marrs will speak 4 p.m. Saturday (March 14) to the Emily Fowler Central Library, 502 Oakland in Denton.

He'll present what's being bill as the "definitive account of the Aurora spaceship crash of 1897, hailed by many as the 'smoking gun' of the UFO issue." The program is co-sponsored by the Denton Area Paranormal Society.

Details, if not the truth, are out there, at the library's Web site.

Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants, has postponed her appearance on June 15 at the Dallas Museum of Arts' Arts & Letters Live series. According to her publicist, Gruen's new book publication has been delayed and she has postponed all appearances for the time being. When she goes back on tour, though, we're assured that Dallas will be on her agenda.

Replacing Gruen will be author John Burnham Schwartz, critically aclaimed author of Bicycle Days, Claire Marvel and Reservation Road (which was made into a film starring Joaquin Phoenix, Mark Ruffalo and Jennifer Connelly). His latest novel, The Commoner, looks into the isolated lives of women within the Japanese royal family.

Those who already have tickets for the Sara Gruen appearance have several options: to exchange them for John Burnham Schwartz's appearance; to exchange them for another A&LL program of equivalent value; or to return the tickets for a credit voucher for whenever Gruen is rescheduled. Those with tickets should call 214-922-1818, or e-mail their choice to artsandletterslive@DallasMuseumofArt.org, by May 30. For more information about Burnham, go here, and to purchase tickets go here.

Here's an author event that inadvertently didn't make our weekly Author Tours roundup: Perla Sarabia Johnson says she will sign Global WarNing from 4 to 6 p.m. Friday at Saxbys Coffee, Farm Road 544 and Murphy Road in Murphy The event will benefit the programs of the Murphy Middle School Environmental Club.

Eat, Pray, Love author Elizabeth Gilbert utterly enchanted a crowd of more than 1,200 Tuesday night at Richardson's Eisemann Center, in an appearance that was part of this season's (a killer season, I might add) of the Dallas Museum of Art's Arts & Letters Live series. Gilbert is as amusing and engaging in person as she is as a writer, and she has, as A&LL director Carolyn Bess noted, "the wit and timing of a stand-up" comic.

The story that grabbed the most laughter -- along with some horrified gasps -- was when she told of how, on a previous trip through Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport, on the way to and from somewhere else, her Brazilian boyfriend José (readers know him as Felipe in Eat, Pray, Love) was detained and interrogated for six hours by the Department of Homeland Security.

Staff Writer Dianne Solis attended the Robert Olen Butler event at The Writers Studio on Wednesday. Here's her report:

The Writer's Garret coyly billed it as an author chat "for mature audiences." After all, Robert Olen Butler's latest work of fiction is called Intercourse.
But think of it as much about the supremacy of tickling the heart.
Intercourse is about the imagined interludes among the mighty and the mythical, the fallen and heroic of history.
It includes meditations on loneliness and isolation and character. A case in point was Butler's dramatic reading of the imagined interaction of a celebrity political couple with the surnames of Nixon.
And the romp through the heart is what makes literature art.

Author Bob Mayer -- who claims to have 35 titles and 3 million books in print (and since he's a former Green Beret, who am I to challenge him?) will be keynote speaker at the 2009 DFW Writers' Conference, May 2-3 at the Grapevine Convention Center in Grapevine.

Others scheduled to attend include authors such as Rosemary Clement-Moore, Candace Havens and A. Lee Martinez and several literary agents.

Forty workshops will be offered in fiction, nonfiction and poetry. Early registration, at $150, ends Feb. 28 at www.dfwwritersconference.org; additional discounts are available.

DFW Writers' Workshop is, and I quote, "a nonprofit organization devoted to promoting literacy and helping writers improve their craft. It meets every Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Euless for read-and-critique sessions and members of the public are welcome to visit."

I'm freshly back from Theater Three, where I heard an engaging hour of discussion with James. M. McPherson.

He elaborated on many of the points we went over in the interview I previously posted. But he also was asked, and answered, questions about the role of the historian, and challenges our electronic era will pose to historians of the future.

He drew an analogy between being a historian and being a cop interviewing witnesses after a car wreck: Everybody will have a different perspective; you have to decide which one you are going to believe. "If we didn't have some principles of selection, history would be a confusing mess."

About 50 people turned out for the appearance. I was impressed with the thoughtful questions they asked. And I think lucky ticket holders to his appearance tomorrow at the World Affairs Council will be pleased.

(In the photo: McPherson flanked by Randy Gordon and Catherine Cuellar of The Writers Studio.) +

Here's a chance to see two local novelists with recent national releases: Brendan McNally (Germania -- watch for a review soon) and Kathleen Kent (The Heretic's Daughter)

The two will be discussing "Breathing Fresh Air into Historical Fiction" at a free Writer's Garret event 1 p.m. Sunday, Upstairs at Paperbacks Plus, 6115 La Vista Dr.

The agenda says that "Both will discuss how they went about researching and crafting historical novels with characters that feel vibrant and contemporary, managing to avoid the weight of years and dust collecting on a book shelf."

To reiterate what Ann Pinson said, Wally Lamb was just marvelous last night at First Presbyterian Church. He was there as part of the Dallas Museum of Art's fabulous 2009 lineup for its Arts & Letters Live Series. What a boon for book lovers in this town -- if you haven't seen this year's schedule -- Ian McEwan! Elizabeth Gilbert! David Sedaris! -- you owe it to yourself to check it out, and reserve your tix early. More than 450 fans turned out to see Lamb.

I was so impresed with Lamb's humility, warmth and intelligence -- a combination that is all too rarely seen among authors with his kind of numbers (he is, after all, one of the few authors to make the Oprah book club twice). Last night, he read from an autobiographical essay and then read a very moving piece from his new book, The Hour I First Believed. I was fascinated with how he "hears" his characters; he said the first line that Caelum, the new book's protagonist, spoke to him was: "My mother was a convicted felon, a manic-depressive, and Miss Rheingold Beer of 1950." From that, the book was born.

Also loved his stories about some of the reader mail he receives, like the letter where someone asked him if there was going to be an all-woman Mt. Rushmore, who would he put there? I think we all expected him to say Oprah. But no: "The only one I'm absolutely sure of is Aretha Franklin." On that, Wally, we're totally with you.

Click to see our review of the new book, and our recent interview with Lamb.

I saw Wally Lamb at Arts & Letters Live last night, and he was incredibly warm, kind and engaging. I know Joy Tipping is planning a post about his appearance, so I'll stay away from most of it. But one thing I thought was really cool was that there's a playlist (scroll down when you get to the link) of the songs he was listening to when he wrote his latest, The Hour I First Believed.

Right away, I was wondering if he'd have any Conor Oberst on there, since Lamb mentioned his affinity for contemporary songwriters. Sure enough, there's "At the Bottom of Everything" from old Bright Eyes himself. It just makes me like him more.

"I'm always envious of those writers who have an outline," says Wally Lamb. "It doesn't work that way for me. It starts with my caring on a deeper level for a character, this character who's telling me the story. I follow that character, it keeps me up at night and wakes me up and I come up with these islands of story, usually disconnected.

"After that, it's sort of a leap of faith. I remind myself that I'll figure it out, but that usually doesn't happen until about the three-quarters mark through the book."

You can read Joy Tipping's entire interview with the best-selling writer on the GuideLive.com books page, before you catch him Thursday at Arts & Letters Live.

Joy's review of The Hour I First Believed is posted here.

Hubby and I greatly enjoyed David Macaulay's talk today at the Dallas Museum of Arts' Arts & Letters Live series. Macaulay charmed and enlightened a nearly full house in the Horchow Auditorium, mostly talking about and showing drawings from his books Pyramid and The Way We Work.

He started off with an utterly hilarious, imagined look at a circa 2470 excavation of an early 21st-century site, the mysterious Motel Toot 'N C'mon. "I'm much more optimistic about the future [than the past]," he noted. The site featured the deceased lying down, facing what appears to be a sacred altar (the TV), holding some sort of interaction device, possibly for communicating with the gods in the after life (the remote control). Macaulay pointed out "the sacred parchment" in a small anteroom, noting it's fascinating point downward, possibly the importance of direction to this enigmatic people (that would be the toilet paper with it's maid-has-been-here point).

The whole thing made me wonder if there are Egyptian spirits hovering around the Tut exhibit, laughing hysterically at our interpretations of what was left behind.

Macaulay moved on to intriguing drawings from Pyramid and his most recent book, The Way We Work, which dissects the human body with both architectural precision and a demented sense of glee (a drawing of the pelvis is dubbed "the bridge of thighs," with an accompany drawing of Venice, "just because.")

This was part of A&LL's "BooksmART" series; the next installment is with Jonathan Stroud, at 3 p.m. Feb. 1 at St. Mark's School of Texas. Stroud is the author of The Bartimaeus Trilogy of fantasies. A&LL also hosts Wally Lamb, author of The Hour I First Believed, this coming week, on Thursday at First Presbyterian Church. For a full schedule and tix, go here.

Ever-energetic Kathy L. Patrick forwards links from the Pulpwood Queen Girlfriend Weekend Author Extravaganza 2009 GREAT BIG BALL OF HAIR BALL (emphasis hers, abundantly.)

The literary festivities -- my, how festive they appear to have been -- took place in Jefferson last weekend.

I'm formally asking Queens who attended to comment below and let us know what the scene was like. And for the rest of you -- the next ball is slated for Jan. 14 -17, 2010. Plenty of time to get your reading done and your wig steam-cleaned.

Roving correspondent Rick Barrick was on the scene last night while radio personalities from KTCK (1310-AM, "The Ticket") gathered at the House of Blues.

Rick writes:

There was a wild celebration on Thursday night of the Dallas sports radio station's 15 years on the dial.
The Ticket's nine on-air hosts shared the House of Blues stage at the sold-out anniversary party, interviewed by WFAA-TV's Gary Cogill. They told a story. The audience howled. They spoke sadly about the departed host Greg Williams. The audience quieted. They revealed pranks. The audience howled again. On it went for two hours.
The event was timed for release of Full Disclosure: The Ticket (BenBella Books, $24.95), by Scott Boyter. The 279-page book devotes chapters to hosts George Dunham, Craig Miller, Gordon Keith, Norm Hitzges, Bob Sturm, Dan McDowell, Donovan Lewis, Mike Rhyner and Corby Davidson. Some past hosts, including Williams, Chuck Cooperstein and Rocco Pendola, are addressed as well.
A hardcover version will be next available at TicketStock, Feb. 6-7, at the Plano Center. The paperback is scheduled to be available in bookstores beginning in June.

(Above: Matt Johnson, from The Ticket's promotions department, helps Doug Fuentes of Dallas buy a copy of Full Disclosure: At the background is Will Cummings, another Ticket employee. Below: Mike Rhyner (left), Norm Hitzges and George Dunham.)

Poets recently honored by the Poetry Society of Texas will be reading 7:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Benbrook Public Library.

On the schedule are Naomi Simmons, Mike Baldwin, Paul Holcomb, Barbara Berry, Susan Maxwell Campbell, Marilyn Komecek, Budd Mahan, Hank Longcrier and Jeannette Strother, president of the society.

(Thanks to Susan Vogel Taylor for the tip.)

The Writer's Garret is holding a potluck 3 p.m. Sunday at Paperbacks Plus. Bring a dish and get a discount on their spring semester classes.

It may be the most intelligent use of cream of mushroom casserole I can imagine. But they do ask that you RSVP first.

Kathy L. Patrick knows how to throw a book party. And her infamous Girlfriend Weekend Author Extravaganza is just around the corner.

I've attached the list of scheduled authors below.

Full details straight from the queen, or as straight as they get, are available at her Web site (and, if you have a large monitor or particularly strong reading glasses, at this alternate site.)

The Writers Studio has unveiled a spring/winter calendar that includes a free appearance by Pulitzer-winning historian James McPherson on Feb. 11, the day before Lincoln's birthday.
Others scheduled to appear with the literary interview and reading series this season include:
Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer-winning author of the collection A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, on Feb. 18.
Richard Price, novelist of works such as Lush Life and Clockers and screenwriter for The Wire and The Color of Money, April 7.
Eric Bogosian, writer of the play Talk Radio and other works and star of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, May 19.
Tickets are available at www.theatre3dallas.com.
As noted, Mr. McPherson, whose latest is Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief, will also address the World Affairs Council on Feb. 12, the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. Tickets, $45-$60, are available at www.dfwworld.org.

The Writers Studio has unveiled a winter/spring calendar that includes a free appearance by Pulitzer-winning historian James McPherson on Feb. 11, the day before Lincoln's birthday.
Others scheduled to appear with the literary interview and reading series this season are:
Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer-winning author of the collection A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain, on Feb. 18.
Richard Price, novelist of works such as Lush Life and Clockers and screenwriter for The Wire and The Color of Money, April 7.
Eric Bogosian, writer of the play Talk Radio and other works and star of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, May 19.
Tickets are available at www.theatre3dallas.com.
As noted, Mr. McPherson, whose latest is Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief, will also address the World Affairs Council on Feb. 12, the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birth. Tickets, $45-$60, are available at www.dfwworld.org.

One of my favorite author events of 2008 was Taylor Branch's appearance at the Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture's annual King Day symposium.

It looks as if another great evening is in the works this year, with Diane McWhorter, Pulitzer prize-winning author of Carry Me Home: Birmingham, Alabama, The Climactic Battle of the Civil Right Revolution. She'll be appearing with Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker, who helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference.

It takes place 7 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Belo Mansion, 2101 Ross Ave. Tickets are $20, $10 for teachers. Call (214) 871-2440 or visit www.dallasinstitute.org (where the details should be posted by the time you read this.)

Fort Worth writer Laurie Moore's Jury Rigged will be reviewed in Sunday's paper

She'll be out and about in Fort Worth signing copies Saturday: 1 p.m. at Barnes & Noble, 1612 S. University Dr, and 4 p.m. at Borders, 4601 West Freeway.

If you're in need of some holiday cheer (and in this economy, who isn't?) that helps you save money (see previous parenthesis), consider the Writer's Garret's Holiday Pot Luck Party, from 1 to 3 p.m.Sunday at Paperbacks Plus, 6115 La Vista Drive.

You can take a look at their calendar of spring classes and, at the party, qualify for an early bird discount.

R.S.V.P. at (214) 828-1715.

Ben Fountain, who had been scheduled for a signing at Legacy Books on Saturday, has had to cancel, the store says.

No make-up date has been scheduled.

This just in ... Kim Gatlin will be signing her memorably titled Good Christian Bitches 7 p.m. Wednesday (tomorrow) at the Southern Methodist University Bookstore, 3060 Mockingbird Lane.

Unfamiliar with the book? Alan Peppard described it recently.

David LaBounty produces one of Plano's finest literary journals, The First Line. TFL is coming up on its 10th year, which is quite amazing for any publication of any kind, when you get right down to it.

But he always has a unique perspective on the Texas Book Festival. I blog it from the vantage point of a journalist scrambling from event to event. He writes about it as a vendor/participant who sees an entirely different side of things.

Here's his insightful take from this year's event.

[Updated 9:30 a.m. Tuesday to correct name.]

The lineup for 2009's Arts & Letters Live season at the Dallas Museum of Art was unveiled today, and as usual, it's a feast for the literal-minded.

Highlights would include Ian McEwan, Elizabeth Gilbert, Wally Lamb, David Sedaris and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. But that's just a sampling.

You should be able to order tickets today via this link.

Of interest to you, the Web-savvy reader: Some of the events will be recorded and, eventually, posted online at www.DallasMuseumofArt.tv. Arts & Letters Live director Carolyn Bess tells me that some past programs are already available; there will be a delay of approximately 6 to 9 months after the end of the 2009 season before the new programs are posted.

A complete schedule has been compiled below. See any favorites on this list?

Author Bob Mayer will be headlining the DFW Writers Conference May 2-3 at the Grapevine Convention Center in Grapevine. Literary agents Uwe Stender, Gina Panettieri, Al Longden, Sally Harding and Doris Booth are also scheduled to attend.

You can find more details and register here.

The timing of this event was up in the air, but former presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is now scheduled to sign Do the Right Thing 7 p.m. Saturday at the Borders, Preston Road at Royal Lane. Details here.

David Sedaris fans who are not members of the Dallas Museum of Art or KERA might wish to sign up quickly.

The DMA announced today that he'll be appearing 7:30 p.m. April 19 at McFarlin Auditorium in a benefit for the Kay Cattarulla Endowment for the Literary & Performing Arts.

Tickets for the general public will go on sale at noon Dec. 3. But members can start buying them tomorrow. Details will be posted at DallasMuseumofArt.org/ALL.

The Dallas literati were out in force last night to help launch one of the biggest local books of the year: Literary Dallas, from TCU Press.

How big? Well, at 493 pages, it's a hundred pages over budget, I am told.

But with that space, editor Frances Vick has cataloged a "who's who of Dallas writers," as one attendee put it. Among the contributors in attendance to sign copies at the private North Dallas gathering were Skip Hollandsworth, Harry Hunsicker (pictured below), Darwin Payne, Marshall Terry and Jane Roberts Wood.

Also there swapping stories were many names that will be familiar to readers of the book pages: Bob Compton, Isabel Nathaniel, Clay Reynolds and Bryan Woolley.

The book promises "to assemble the work of Dallas' finest writers who look at the city's history, its arts, commerce and personalities," TCU Press says.

We'll have more about the book in days to come. You can watch for it at your favorite bookseller in the meanwhile.

A couple of late-breaking author appearances to note for you:

Tony M. Stevens will be signing Shower Her With Roses 2 p.m. Saturday at Borders Express, Collin Creek Mall, in Plano.

And Rick Steves, PBS TV host travel-guide author, will appear 7 p.m. Saturday at the Grand Prairie Main Library.

Here's a nice coup for Dallas -- on Feb. 12, the bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth, none other than James McPherson will be speaking here, at the World Affairs Council.

Mr. McPherson, who helped rekindle national interest in the Civil War with his Pulitzer-winning Battle Cry of Freedom, just released Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander-in-Chief (which we reviewed in this roundup of Abraham Lincoln books.)

Tickets are available from the council.

The third annual Dallas International Book Fair takes place this weekend at the J. Erik Jonsson Central Library.

You can find the list of participants here.

Alert reader L.A. Starks notes this link to Irving's "Big Read" activities.

NeighborsGo has a blog for discussing the book.

Garrison Keillor spoke Tuesday evening in Dallas, and special contributor Manuel Mendoza was there to file this report (now updated with additional quotes; our interview with Mr. Keillor is posted here.):

Garrison Keillor was in Dallas to promote his new Lake Wobegon novel, Liberty, but never cracked it open. The author/humorist/musician/radio host didn't even mention the book until almost an hour into his appearance Tuesday at Unity Church of Dallas.
"I wrote it, but I haven't read the book yet," he said at one point.
Instead, he recited and sang sonnets. "I've been writing these sonnets, and I don't know why," he said. He later explained, "A sonnet reins you in a little bit...and sometimes you find that's all you needed to say. Most books are too long."
The sonnets ranged in subject matter from James Joyce to endangered polar bears to lovers past and present. They were a jumping-off point for what turned out to be a funny and serious essay on writing and life and the relationship between the two that he seemed to improvise on the spot.
Mr. Keillor weaved the talk around his familiar biography, which plays out every week on his public radio show, A Prairie Home Companion. Religion was at the heart of it. He was in a church, after all.
"I came from dark people, and they had good reason to be dark. We were in Minnesota," he said. "We believed in forgiveness, in theory. It depended on the circumstances."
Dressed in high-water jeans and red socks and sneakers, he looked the part. But Mr. Keillor is an urbane wolf in rural clothing.
"I'm a city person," he said. "The part of small towns I like is the dissatisfaction."
His "sanctified brethren parents" and community's literal belief in Scripture unintentionally passed on to him a love of language, he said, "verbal art."
Teachers, who he called "goddesses of learning," extended that love to secular "imaginative literature." And then came rock 'n' roll, which he used to secretly listen to on a tube radio hidden under his bedsheets. To make the point, he moved from sonnets to Jerry Lee Lewis lyrics.
He never referenced the dust-up over his last visit to Dallas, and he stayed clear of politics -- until he was asked about it. Last time, he said he was told to avoid the subject. This time, the audience of about 800 was eager to hear what he had to say, and he obliged.
Did he have any thoughts about the upcoming election? "Hundreds, hundreds," he said. "It's going to be on the first Tuesday after the first Monday."
On George Bush's low approval ratings: "It makes you worry for his employment prospects. I hope his financial portfolio is in better shape than mine."
Who will win the presidency? "It'll probably come down to the skinny guy and the bitter old man."
And on Sarah Palin: "She will get a terrific book deal in December, January at the latest, and she'll have a lot of time to work on that...The American people have a very keen ear for when someone is talking and the clutch is not in gear."

Romantics, take note that tickets are still available for this event:

Sherrilyn Kenyon will headline the Buns & Roses Tea for Literacy, which takes place 2 p.m. today Sunday Oct. 12 at the Radisson Hotel in Richardson. Also participating are Candace Havens, Pamela Morsi, Dixie Cash, Lorraine Heath, Judy Christenberry, Lori Wilde and Sandy Blair. Tickets, $35, are available at www.bunsandrosestea.org.

And you can read all about Candace Bushnell, whose new work is One Fifth Avenue, in this interview.

She's recording with the Writers Studio. Ticket info is here.

After reading this weekend's story about Gustavo Arellano by Lesley Tellez, I was eager to find out whether an entertaining shouting match might break out at his signing Saturday.

I turned to Lesley for a report. She tells me:

"No violence. It was actually a pretty adoring crowd -- great turnout, standing room only, into the aisles of the bookstore.

"Gustavo told the audience about the email at the beginning of the reading, and he urged everyone to get his back (i.e., be his bodyguard) if a random guy in red, white and blue showed up. Luckily no one did. I do know they only had three or four copies of Ask a Mexican, and those sold out quickly. A lot of people bought Orange County books.

"He was really funny in person. He took questions from the audience about the Cesar Chavez naming debate (which he didn't know much about, but he didn't appear to like what he heard), and he read a question from Ask a Mexican that originated in Dallas. (Something funny and clever about how hard it is to be a "brotha" in Oak Cliff, where all the fried catfish joints are now taquerias.)

"Most of the time he talked about the Orange County book.

"I enjoyed it. It was a good reading."

A group of about 30 people showed up at the Allen Public Library Saturday to hear author Kao Kalia Yang speak about her new book, The Late Homecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir. Ms. Yang read several passages from the book and shared anecdotes about her life as a Hmong American.

She told one story about her father, who used to climb trees in the Thai refugee camp where Ms. Yang was born. He would hold Ms. Yang in his arms while in the trees so she could see that there was life beyond the walls of the camp. It's memories like these that Ms. Yang told audience members she doesn't want to ever forget.

After sharing her stories, Ms. Yang answered questions from the audience members. Children asked her why she decided to become a writer, interested readers asked her to elaborate on specific passages, and a school teacher told her she was inspired by Ms. Yang's ability to write a book in her second language.

Ms. Yang, a soft spoken and petite 27-year-old, said writing has helped her to find her voice as a writer and as a Hmong American. She said she plans to continue writing about herself and her family and hopes to pen other books in the future.

Click here to read more about Ms. Yang and her book.

CBS newsman Bob Schieffer drew a crowd of about 75 people while promoting his new book, Bob Schieffer's America, Thursday night at Barnes & Noble on Northwest Highway. So many people purchased the book that the store ran out of copies.

Mr. Schieffer, who was born in Austin and grew up in Fort Worth, spoke lightheartedly about his longtime career as a journalist and drew frequent laughter from the mostly older crowd. He said his new book, which is a compilation of his closing commentaries on Face the Nation, addresses a variety of topics, ranging from the ways in which cell phones have changed society to political affairs.

Mr. Schieffer has covered every presidential campaign since 1968 and will be moderating the third presidential debate on Oct. 15. He said that of all the elections he has covered, the 2008 election is the most dynamic of them all. Because the race is so close, he predicted that this year's debates will hold significantly more weight than those in years past.

For more information about Mr. Schieffer, his political predictions and his new book, read Michael Granberry's story about him.

Today in GuideLive, Gustavo Arellano talks about Ask a Mexican, Orange County and why his appearance in Dallas tomorrow might not be a sedate affair.

For the uninitiated, this trailer from YouTube might give you a sense of what you're missing.

CBS newsman Bob Schieffer speaks at Barnes & Noble on Northwest Highway tonight, signing copies of his new book, Bob Schieffer's America. But if you can't be there, you can still read Michael Granberry's story about him.

The North Central/NortheastTexas Chapter of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators is offering a conference from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sept. 27, at First United Methodist Church, 313 North Center Street Arlington.
Authors and illustrators taking part include Jim Averbeck, Priscilla Burris, Robyn Conley, Betsy Haynes and Cheryl Zack.
The cost is $90 for society members, $100 for others. E-mail lpowleytx@aol.com for details.

This week's listing of author tours was already chock full. Here are several additional events coming up:

Thomas Cathcart and Daniel Klein, authors of Plato And A Platypus Walk Into A Bar: Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes, have two local appearances scheduled. The two will speak at 7 p.m. Thursday at St. Andrew United Methodist Church, 5801 W. Plano Parkway, Plano. And 10 a.m. Friday, they'll be at Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 Mockingbird Lane.

Kao Kalia Yang will discuss The Latehomecomer: A Hmong Family Memoir 2 p.m. Saturday Sept. 20 at the Allen Public Library, 300 N. Allen Drive.

J. Brent Bill will sign Sacred Compass 11 a.m. Saturday at The Bookworm, 3245 Main Street, Frisco. [UPDATE: Anthony Greer has rescheduled his appearance that was scheduled for this day.]

Author/screenwriter Derek Haas will sign The Silver Bear 2 p.m. Saturday at Borders, Preston Road at Royal Lane.

Kristine Kahenek will sign Katie and the Magic Umbrella 2 p.m. Saturday Sept. 20 at Borders, 5615 Colleyville Blvd., Colleyville.

Gustavo Arellano will discuss and sign Orange Country 2 p.m. Saturday at Borders, Lovers Lane at Greenville Ave.

A Pulitzer Prize changes things.

Whereas Junot Diaz could keep it casual in his visit last year, on Sunday he and his Hugo Boss suit were up on a stage in front of about 220 people at the Dallas Museum of Art, flanked by the hosts of the Writers Studio, fielding earnest questions about structure and Dominican history.

Whereas before, he'd been breezy and fun, the first half of this afternoon's program was cerebral, with Mr. Diaz explaining things such as, with his extensive use of footnotes, "I wanted the undertext to argue with the overtext."

Nothing wrong with that. It was just a different type of affair.

In fact, the first f-bomb wasn't dropped until about halfway through.

Ah, but you can't keep a good man down. And with an enthusiastic audience -- one that was refreshingly youthful and diverse for a Dallas author appearance -- taking over the questioning, Mr. Diaz was able to edge away from the English lecture material and, it appeared, make himself at home.

How at home? Well, by my count, he lobbed 14 f-bombs in the final 40 minutes, which may very well lead to a few more being lobbed by the poor public radio editor who has to make the show FCC-ready for broadcast.

The live audience, of course, loved it. In fact, one of his unprintable comments came up again and again in the questioning. To wit:

A couple of weekend events to tell you about:

Jennifer Satterwhite will be signing Sleep is for the Weak 1 p.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble, 801 W. 15th St., Plano. The book is an anthology of "23 of the Web's most well-known Mommybloggers," put together by the BlogHer site.

And also at 1 p.m., Beth Fehlbaum, author of Courage in Patience, will appear at the Barnes & Noble Prestonwood, 5301 Beltline Road.

Sorry for the late notice, but if you're in Jefferson tonight, you can catch Joe Nick Patoski talking about Willie Nelson: An Epic Life at 6:30 p.m. at Beauty and the Book, the hair salon/book store run by Kathy L. Patrick.

That's three Texas icons at one time, even if Willie is just there in spirit.

In true Pulpwood Queen style, Ms. Patrick has declared it a picnic. She says Mr. Patoski "will talk (in a drawl) and sign copies of his critically-acclaimed biography on the grounds" of the store, at 608 North Polk Street.

She adds, "All we ask is that you grab your friends, bring lawn chairs, a dish, whatever, for a community dinner on the grounds. Tables for food and iced tea will be available for the dinner."

A final warning:

"Special note: No skinny dipping in the fish pond out front! Ticket price is your attendance!"

The fall catalog for The Dallas Institute of Humanities and Culture held a couple of pleasant surprises this morning.

In addition to the usual lineup of salons and book groups, there's word of a "Festival of Ideas" taking place Nov. 8. Full details are not online yet, but attendees will include presidential historian Michael Beschloss, New Yorker writer Elizabeth Kolbert, New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof, and Center for Social Inclusion director Maya Wiley.

Then, on April 28, Stephen Sondheim is promised as keynote speaker for the Hiett Prize.

From the pages of today's GuideLive: Jewell Parker Rhodes talks about what she learned from voodoo priestess Marie Laveau.

The author is just one of many appearing this weekend at Tulisoma, the South Dallas Book Fair & Arts Festival.

We've had a slew of late-breaking events for Saturday.

DeAnn Daley Holcomb plans to sign Family Secrets 10 a.m. Saturday at Kroger, 2400 Preston Road, (at the corner of Preston and Park) in Plano.

Christina Speck will sign Going to the Ark 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Barnes & Noble at the Parks at Arlington Mall, 3881 S. Cooper St.,
Arlington.

Susie Stone plans to sign Children in the Hands of a Mighty Mom 1 p.m. Saturday at Borders, 5615 Colleyville Blvd., Colleyville.

This year's Buns & Roses Romance Tea for Literacy has landed Sherrilyn Kenyon as a participant.

Others taking part include Candace Havens (of KSCS-FM), Pamela Morsi, Dixie Cash, Lorraine Heath, Judy Christenberry, Lori Wilde and Sandy Blair.

A table for nine with the author of choice is $360; individual tickets are $35. It takes place 2 p.m. Oct. 12 at the Radisson Hotel Dallas North--Richardson. For reservation info and more details, click here.

Former San Antonio resident T. Jensen Lacey will autograph her latest book, Amazing Texas: Fascinating Facts, Entertaining Tales, Bizarre Happenings and Historical Oddities About the Lone Star State, at 7 p.m. Monday at Barnes & Noble, Southlake Town Square, southeast corner of Carroll Avenue and State Highway 114.

Ms. Lacey has also written books in the "Amazing" series on Tennessee and North Carolina. For more info on her work, check out her Web site.

Just one more day for those of you awaiting the 12:01 a.m. Saturday release of Breaking Dawn. Be sure to check out tomorrow's Guide section for a list of release parties.

If you're a Stephenie Meyer fan -- which one are you headed to? If you're planning event -- what's cooking at your location? And if you're dying to share your views -- any predictions about what will happen?

And, once you have heard it, is it possible to get this Bella Cullen Project song out of your head?

Time to rifle through the sofa cushions and figure out a way to squeeze more room on the bookshelf: According to this link, the Friends of the Plano Public Library will hold their 25th Annual Used Book Sale this weekend. Early buying -- which is always where the action is at a used book sale, am I right? -- starts Thursday. Location is the Plano Centre, 2000 East Spring Creek Parkway. Or just follow the trail of tattered paperbacks.

Texas Non-Fiction Writers is "a new online community that encourages interest and excellence in Texas non-fiction." That's what the e-mail from Jeff Morgenthaler tells me about his organization. He also mentions that they are preparing a retreat this fall in Boerne. The lineup has several familiar Texas names on the agenda -- among them, Elmer Kelton, Joe Nick Patoski and Michael Erard. Attendance is limited, and thanks to underwriting, the cost is only $50.

And all of this comes my way because someone forwarded me the results of their bad writing contest -- which was won by Lydia Ondrusek of Richardson. Let me don the hazmat suit and gingerly lift the news release into place below. Don't say I didn't warn you.

News first: Philippa Gregory is headed to town to discuss and sign The Other Queen
7 p.m. Oct. 7 at Highland Park United Methodist Church, 3300 Mockingbird Lane.

I'm posting early notice for a couple of reasons.

First, she brought the house down when I saw her at BookExpo America. Granted, she won't have Alec Baldwin as a punching bag this time. But as I recall, she drew maybe 1,000 people on her last visit to town. So I imagine she'll do fine without him.

Second -- and here is the interesting bit -- she's been scheduled at the exact time that Garrison Keillor, who famously dissed the HPUMC crowd last time around, will be appearing at Unity Church of Dallas.

It's too far-fetched to suspect a plot. Isn't it?

It's not hard to understand why local writer Jenny Block has been getting worldwide attention for her book Open. From San Francisco to England, it's hard for a TV station or newspaper (or blog) to ignore a self-described "girl next door" who talks openly about her unconvetional sex life.

She e-mailed this week to announce a reading in Dallas -- 7 p.m. Aug. 7th at the Borders in the West Village (3600 McKinney Ave.). I asked her what her experience with the press had been like and in particular what she thought of that piece in the Guardian, which was surprisingly (perhaps) non-sensational. She told me:

"I thought so too. It had a few errors (we're not swingers, Jemma doesn't actually live with us, and the timeline was a little mangled). But the writer was fabulous and it actually ended up being a lot of fun talking to her. I was a bit nervous at the prospect as you can likely imagine!"

It was a busy week for visiting authors last week, with Larry McMurtry on Thursday, Bob Shacochis at the Mayborn on Friday and N. Scott Momaday's wonderful presentation on Sunday.

As a result, I missed out on the scene as Will Clarke, Harry Hunsicker, Melanie Wells and Trish Murphy performed Thursday at the Bar Belmont.

Happily, publicist Lisa Taylor sends this image of the venue. She reports it was a standing room only crowd and, good news -- they've been invited back in October. We'll post details as they arrive.

Michael Granberry filed his own report from last night's event.

If you were there, or wish you had been, we'd love to hear your own thoughts as well.

Larry McMurtry, loquacious. Who knew?

Up until this evening, when he and co-writer Diana Ossana spoke to a full house at the Nasher Salon, I'd not heard much that contradicted his reputation as a curmudgeon. But tonight, that side of the legendary Texan's personality made only the briefest of appearances.

As a team, Mr. McMurtry and Ms. Ossana offered insights into writing for Hollywood. But most fascinating were the insights into their partnership, which began after his heart surgery in 1991, when he had been reduced to "just an outline of himself," she said, going into detail on her efforts that drew him back into writing.

And if there wasn't a whole semester's worth of creative writing advice packed into that one hour, there was at least a small book's worth.

Claiborne, who cuts quite an unconventional figure among Christian speakers and writers, will be at White's Chapel UMC in Southlake tomorrow (Thursday) at 7 p.m. Click here for details.

The Larry McMurtry/ Diana Ossana event tomorrow night at the Nasher Salon sold out faster than you can say "Lonesome Dove."

But as a thank-you for reading the blog, I am happy to offer a pair of tickets to the first person who e-mails me at mmerschel@dallasnews.com.

CAVEATS: The tickets can't be sold or given away. And if you're on the payroll of The Dallas Morning News or any of its related companies -- give someone else a chance, OK?

[UPDATE -- The tickets have been allocated. Check back later for coverage of the salon.]

I didn't mention this at the time, but Dallas writer Melanie Wells was the secret enabler who connected the gang at the Writers' League of Texas conference with the fab-tastic Austin cover band Skyrocket. (Between them and the pending release of Mamma Mia!, ABBA might be stuck in my brain until fall.)

Melanie is actually good friends with singer/songwriter Trish Murphy, a member of Skyrocket. And -- here comes the actual literary connection to all of this -- you can see them along with Dallas writers Will Clarke and Harry Hunsicker 6:30 p.m. Thursday, July 17 at the Bar Belmont, 901 Fort Worth Avenue at Sylvan.

That's not your only chance to learn about her this week:

Eoin Colfer already brought his one-man show, Fairies, Fiends and Flatulence, to Dallas.

But if you missed it, you can catch a live simulcast 7 p.m. Tuesday at Barnes & Noble at Stonebriar Centre.

Mr. Colfer is launching a tour for his newest Artemis Fowl book, The Time Paradox.

Emma Sweeney, author of Tulipa and As Always, Jack, will speak at noon Tuesday at Maggiano's, 305 NorthPark Center. As a literary agent, she has represented, among others, Sara Gruen, author of Water for Elephants. Tickets for the event , a benefit for The American Foundation for the Blind's Center on Vision Loss, are $25, or $50 with lunch, and available at 214-559-4140.

Garrison Keillor has a new Lake Wobegon book coming out this fall. Liberty is slated for publication on Sept. 16.

And he'll be in Dallas to discuss it 7 p.m. Oct. 7 at Unity Church of Dallas. (A $10 donation is being requested.)

This should be good. Fans current and former might recall his 2006 visit to Highland Park United Methodist Church, where he charmed an overflow crowd of 900. A week later, in a syndicated column (excerpt here), he correlated Dallas Methodists with Nazi sympathizers. Which did not go over so well with some people.

I'm told he specifically requested that his tour be routed through Dallas. I'm guessing he figures either:

While everyone is abuzz about the Harry Potter conference, a wizard of another type is also appearing in Dallas on Thursday: Financial columnist Scott Burns will be signing Spend Till the End 7 p.m. Thursday at Borders, Preston Road at Royal Lane.

The Writers Studio is certainly hauling out the big guns this year.

First was news that Pulitzer winner Junot Diaz was coming to town 2 p.m. Sept. 14. (Tickets are $22 for Writer's Garret members, $28 for others.)

Now comes word that "Sex and the City" creator Candace Bushnell will appear at the Eisemann Center 7:30 p.m. Oct. 2. (The early bird ticket price couldn't be confirmed as I typed this; I'll update with information when I receive it.)

Those tickets will be available at 214-828-1715 or by e-mailing gen@writersgarret.org.