Occult Los Angeles (And This Is Just The Beginning)

I wanted to direct your attention to this piece I wrote last summer for The Towner, The Architecture of Belief, about (of course) Los Angeles (of course) and the occult (of course):


Here is a story about Los Angeles: In 1935, a man who attempted to murder his wife gifted over 4,000 acres of land – previously owned by a man who had survived two attempts on his own life by separate, jilted lovers – to a corrupt mayor later driven from office by the efforts of a charitable Christian businessman with a side business in sexual novelties, who discovered that mayor’s secrets behind a false wall in a fake library. That businessman founded a thriving chain of restaurants built on the premise of giving away free food, one of which became the meeting place for a science fiction writer’s club, whose members included a man who conned a rocket scientist out of his life savings after first taking notes on how the scientist masturbated, and another man who convinced the city of Los Angeles to erect a three-story-tall fake Babylonian arch in the middle of Hollywood and then turn it into a shopping mall. This really happened, and I mention it here to remind you of the old saw about truth’s superlative relationship to fiction.


I've just started work on a book about the occult in the San Fernando Valley and I couldn't be happier. Have a story about goths in Burbank, psychics in the North Hollywood, or healers in Pacoima? Let me know!

One-Day Workshop: Getting Published

Next month I'm teaching a one-day workshop on navigating the world of submitting your work and getting it published. This is a great intro class for non-writers and those just starting out! Also you are 100% guaranteed to be published in the New Yorker within 24 hours of finishing this workshop.

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.

In the classroom and on the air

Last Saturday I was on the radio talking about - what else? - shipwreck songs! On Bob's No Wake Zone Boating Radio Show, on KRMS 97.5. You can catch it in the archives here.

I was also a guest on the Brock Party podcast recently, where I was talking about ghosts - and a little about shipwrecks.

Up next, I'll be doing a reading about Bollywood movies at Machine Project.

Also I'll be teaching short fiction writing in two upcoming classes at The Writing Pad. The first is an intensive one-day workshop on Sunday, September 27, from 2:30-5:30pm.

Then I'll be teaching a five-week short fiction class starting Sunday, October 4, 2:30-5:30pm, also at The Writing Pad.

Come sign up and hang out with me - there will be snacks!

The Most Dangerous Game

One great game to play with children at the Natural History Museum is to point to one of the dioramas and ask, "What's the most dangerous thing in this scene?" The answers may surprise you.





What's the most dangerous thing in this scene?
No, actually it's the cape buffalo.





What's the most dangerous thing in this scene?
Yes, it's an elk, but not the one you'd think.





What's the most dangerous thing in this scene?
It's lupine, a poisonous woodland flower.

What's the most dangerous thing in this scene?
That lizard on top of the boulder.

What's the most dangerous thing in this scene?
That fox's crippling depression.



What's the most dangerous thing in this scene?
Your own unchallenged assumptions.

What's the most dangerous thing in this scene?
Over-reliance on hydroelectric dams.

What's the most dangerous thing in this scene?
Climate change.



What's the most dangerous thing in this scene?
The lead used to paint the backdrop.

What's the most dangerous thing in this scene?
Cosmic background radiation.

What's the most dangerous thing in this scene?
The baby hippo, who is going to grow up to be a spree killer.

What's the most dangerous thing in this scene?
The baby chimpanzee, who is 10x more venomous than the adult.

Hot Dish Brunch is Back!

Hot Dish Reading Series returns to 826LA for its third annual brunch party! And we're recommended by both Time Out and KPCC!

Featuring readings by Dorothy Fortenberry, James Hannaham, Ana Kasparian, JJ Keith, Samantha Powell, and Lilliam Rivera, plus a full brunch spread and beverages!

Admission for all of this is only $10, one hundred percent of which goes to support the student programs at 826LA.

Check out our Facebook event page here.

The Best Places to Get Free Coffee in Los Angeles

"When the Great Old Ones are recalled to power someday, they will be summoned right here in the Valley, in a strip mall between an El Pollo Loco and an adult bookstore."

Check out The Best Places to Get Free Coffee in LA - my first time in The Awl; not my first time talking about free coffee, PTA raps, LSD-laced sugar cubes, Freemasons, or the Deep Valley.

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"The truth is, I can’t imagine living without constant low-level embarrassment about my teeth, like the roar of silence in a room after someone turns off the TV."

Meanwhile, on Medium, I published The List. This will probably be the only time I discuss my butt on the internet, so get on it.

Also, while we're talking about Medium, You Have Plenty of Time to Love Them Later is at more than 213,000 views!

Modeling on Medium and More from the Music Center

"In the nicest shot Beatrice is sitting on an overturned trash can with a giant pink plastic flower in her hair, but somehow she makes it look good, which is probably the definition of a born model."

I have my first piece up on Medium, discussing my complicated feelings about Beatrice's short stint as a clothing model.  So far I'm really enjoying the Medium interface, I think I'll stick around.

 

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Also, there are more Music Center episodes up! Check out #7, 8, 9, and 10.

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Lastly, I've started working with the home automation startup Cliqk, writing some of their web and social media content and generally helping out.

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.

Everyone Believes In At Least One Crazy Thing

I'm so pleased to be on Jezebel today!

Tracy Moore had some nice things to say about my piece in The Bold Italic, "Navigating All the Fringe Beliefs in L.A."

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.

A Picture Is Worth 500 Words

This Saturday night I'll be reading at this awesome combination of art, architecture, and literature. Check it out!

Hot Dish in Time Out

Thanks to Time Out Los Angeles for highlighting our next Hot Dish.  We'll be serving up brunch (and mimosas) on Sunday, March 16 at 11:30am!  As always, all proceeds go to support the wonderful work of 826LA.

If the winning combination of "day drinking, literature and humanitarian work" sounds good to you, RSVP here!

The paper of record.

October Links

As usual, I am not doing very much writing in the month of October, I'm too busy working on Halloween projects, but I did publish two pieces this month:

*  "Artificial Consciousness," a fake Wikipedia entry about the Singularity for The Bygone Bureau (in which a computer achieves consciousness and then, moments later, self-consciousness)

*  "Danse Macabre," an essay on my deep love of Halloween, and the weird, creepy cartoon short that may have started it all, in the all-Halloween, all-horror special issue of the film magazine Bright Wall/Dark Room.

I also have something coming soon in Trop.

We also had another excellent Hot Dish last Sunday and we're already hard at work on the next one, November 14, at The Last Bookstore downtown.  More to come!