Ever notice how you get really behind in all the miscellaneous crap tasks that you do when you do something on a "school night"? Last night we went to dinner, a reading, and a get-together afterward that went until almost midnight -- on a Thursday night, the horror! -- and I feel like I haven't caught up yet!

Ah, but it was worth it. This is what it feels like to have a life. Not sure I like how it feels... ;)

Seriously, though, Elizabeth and I both had a really great time last night. We met fellow writer Jason Lundberg for dinner beforehand, and we had a great Mediterranean meal (Jason does a much much better job of describing all the details in his entry) all I can add is the following word: baklava.

So we had a nice chat over dinner, Lizzie peppering Jason with questions, and what's funny is that I learned more about him in that meal than I'd learned in the past few years. Cool. My wife -- she knows how to get to the heart of the matter.

We were running a bit late for the reading, but got there before it started, luckily. I really look forward to reading Jim Morrow's next book, The Last Witchfinder, the story of its eventual publication being slightly less enthralling than the story in the novel itself. Cool stuff--not often you can listen to a book ahead of its publication, and in this case, we got to listen to a book written BY a book. Don't ask -- it's a long story!

What really freaked me out during the reading wasn't anything Morrow had to read, but the fact that he had his WHOLE NOVEL with him, in printed-out manuscript format. I had visions of the climactic scene of "The Wonder Boys," when Michael Douglas' manuscript went flying out of his car window. Topping this off was when Morrow went to read, and promptly DROPPED most of his manuscript on the floor!

I thought it was cool that he read with a pen in his hand, and I saw him make at least one edit as he was reading.

After the reading, which was very well-done, we stopped off at the Tajma Teeter to get some wine, and then we went to John Kessel's house for a reception. Now, let me tell you a secret -- I'm not a people person. I was sorely tempted to just go home after the reading. I think it's just 'cause of my midwestern upbringing, in that I'm very non-confrontational and always ready to avoid any sort of stressful situation. And sometimes going to parties with published, successful authors constitutes a stressful situation for me. Go figure.

But all my concerns were for naught. We had a great time at John's place. We met Jason there, and he and I chatted about China Mieville's books and my antho idea while Elizabeth talked with Sue, John's wife, about horses and schools and who knows what else (I sorta lost track of her there!). And John and Jason and I chatted about stories and Greg Frost's Nebula nod and Conjunctions and Polyphony and all sorts of fun stuff.

Another cool moment was toward the end of the night, when Lizzie and I were getting ready to go, and Elizabeth was like "Have you met the guest of honor yet?" And I hadn't had a chance to James Morrow yet. So John introduced me and all of us chatted about writing and agents and editors and all that cool stuff that's probably only of interest to writers, but as Jason said in his journal, it's really wonderful to get the sort of insight that John and Jim can offer us "newbies."

And that was my night -- we came home at midnight and crashed. Luckily we got to sleep in 'til 7 or so, so I feel fine. And pretty stoked about last night, to be honest.

And this weekend, after I do a little work on the opening of the story I'm doing with my friend Greg, I'm taking it EASY. No writing, just READING. Wow. What a treat! I'm hoping to read a bunch in this Elizabeth Hand book I've had since Clarion, when she was our Week 4 teacher. Hey, could I drop any more names in this entry?

Tonight it's movie night -- "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" and the new Special Edition of "Say Anything." Friday nights rule! Later!

Now Playing:
"So Much for the Afterglow," Everclear