Next Stop, Wikipedia

Last night J Ryan informed me that we now have IMDB pages for the short promotional videos we wrote for the LA Music Center last year.

Midnight Madness

I'm late to post this, but last month I went to New York to work with my friends Mat and Andrea on Midnight Madness.

Midnight Madness is an annual all-night scavenger hunt and charity fundraiser on Wall Street. For the last year I've been working with Mat Laibowitz, the game's founder, to research, write, and test puzzles. During the event itself, I worked Game Control, helping to track and guide the teams through the city (and my husband Dev worked as Tech Support, installing and repairing game installations).

Dev and his multimeter

Andrea installing some of the light boxes

 

At Game Control:

 

 

 

My work station

 

 

There are some great articles about Midnight Madness here, here, here, here, here, and especially this video.

It was probably the most grueling 24 hours of my life, but I can't wait to do it again next year.

The Least Dangerous Game

A partial list of literary egg puns compiled by Aubrey Clayton and me, with contributions by Zac Lizer:

Eat, Pray, L'Oeuf
How to Hen Friends and Eggfluence People
Fear of Frying
The Yolk and Its Relation to the Unconscious
12 Albumen
Our Bodies, Our Shells
The Tragedy of Omelette, Prince of Henmark
Upton Sinclair's "Boil!"
The Huevo the Pilgrim
The Kreutzer Frittata
The Mayonnaise Waltz
Thus Spoke Shakshuka
The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzoufflé
The Poachman Always Meringues Twice
Live and Let Dye
The Scrambler
The Soufflé Also Rises
This Sunnyside of Paradise
All Quiet on the Western Omelette
Over-Easy of Eden
Scrambler's List
Croque Madame Bovary
Don Quicheote
The Deviled Dictionary

Thomas Hardy and E. M. Forster

Thank you, Amber Sparks, for my sharing my new favorite author meeting story:

"Thomas Hardy once took E.M. Forster to his personal cat cemetery, and made him walk around for like an hour while he named all of the cats buried there (and there were many) and told Forster how they lived and how they died."

Growing up in LA, and more from the Music Center

Today I have a short list up at The Bold Italic, 20 things about growing up in L.A.

And another #Playlist video, this time Episode 2.

LA Music Center #Playlist

Back in June, J Ryan Stradal and I wrote a series of promotional spots for the L.A. Music Center called #Playlist.  Now the first one is up on YouTube - check it out and stay tuned for 19 more.  (And clicking "Like" wouldn't hurt either!)

You can also follow the Music Center on Twitter to keep track of all of the games and contests we devised as part of the #Playlist series.

Dinner Party Hot Dish

The Dinner Party Download and Hot Dish are teaming up for Dinner Party Hot Dish, an evening of short dinner-party anecdotes, stories, and asides from Rico Gagliano, Davy Rothbart, Lou Mathews, Kent Woodyard, and me.

And as if that's not enough, Chef Rossi and his culinary students at the Art Institute will be serving a thematically-appropriate menu inspired by our stories:

Spaghetti Noodle Baskets with Sweet Potato
Blistered Brussels Sprouts and Pickled Radish
Scallion Blini with Beef Bulgogi and Pear Salad
Dr. Pepper Braised Pork Gordita with Fried Shallot Slaw; and 
Rum Cakes with Candied Walnuts and Rum Glaze and Matador Sugar Garnish.

It's all part of Lit Crawl LA: NoHo. Come check it out! Wednesday, October 22, at 9pm.
Find more info and RSVP here.

Hot Dish at the Hammer Museum

This Sunday Hot Dish is putting on a special kid's edition with seven wonderful children's book authors reading their work as part of the Hammer Museum's Family Day. 

Come hear stories by Cecil Castellucci, Erin Hickey, Julia Ingalls, Ben Loory, Antoinette Portis, and the writing/storytelling team of Eugene Yelchin and Mary Kuryla.  I'll also be reading a selection of stories about art, artists, and museums, plus we'll have snacks, crafts, and coloring books to share.

Poetiscape Podcast this Sunday, plus a new event for LA Festival of Books

This Sunday J Ryan Stradal and I will be guests on the Poetiscape Podcast, chatting with Rich Ferguson about Hot Dish and the Los Angeles literary scene.

We'll be taping on Sunday morning and you can tune in to hear it Sunday 2pm PST/5pm EST. Go here to check it out.

Also, on Thursday April 10 Hot Dish will be joining forces with The Rumpus and The Nervous Breakdown to produce an event celebrating the LA Festival of Books, with readings and performances by Gina Frangello, Jerry Stahl, Dana Johnson, xTx, Ted Travelstead, and DJ Mira Gonzalez. For more info, click here.

Hot Dish 12 and an Abandoned Hostess Factory

 

We just celebrated our 12th Hot Dish with a mimosa brunch for more than 100 people last Sunday at 826LA, featuring readings by Zoe Ruiz, Sara Benincasa, Thomas Moore, Cari Lynn, Eric Stolze, and Erin Hickey.  And we were joined by the folks from Book Bound Mobile Library, too.

 

Gillian and Maureen came, too!

 

The Mobile Library

Elina Shatkin serving up Scooby-Doo-shaped pancakes

 

Thank you to Brooke Healy for getting all these wonderful photos!

Last weekend I also did a reading in an abandoned Hostess factory (well, okay, I guess it was just vacated, not abandoned, but that sounds more dramatic).  Curator Martina Dolejsova selected six works of art and architecture and assigned each to a different writer to write a 500-word story inspired by the artwork.  It was incredibly fun to write and to read.

 

Gillian standing on an old factory scale

Thank you, Martina, for organizing this wonderful event!

Hot Dish in the L.A. Weekly

And now we're in the L.A. Weekly!

"Attracting a crowd for a literary event can be tough, but Hot Dish founders Summer Block Kumar and J. Ryan Stradal have found a way to make readings more appetizing: Provide homemade brunch and mimosas."

Come see what everyone is talking about this Sunday at 11:30am.

Hot Dish

Last Saturday night we hosted another fine Hot Dish at our house and it was a blast.  About eighty people turned out to drink beer, eat barbecue, and hear readings by Cecil Castellucci, Andrew Choate, Heather Havrilesky, Michal Lemberger, and Ruth McKee.  The silly thing I read is here.

Thank you so much to Dev for setting up the PA system, the chairs, the lights, and everything else, and to Jason Gutierrez for taking these gorgeous photos. And most of all, thanks to my amazing co-producer for the last four years, J. Ryan Stradal.