What has she been doing for 10 days?

Making the transition from holiday to work is rough. I’ve been back from Lake Tahoe for three days and yet I still can’t seem to light a fire under myself. Actually, I had a productive Wednesday revising a chapter of my book, but I still feel like I am in loopy land. Maybe it’s the effect of having Fourth of July on a Tuesday. I keep thinking it’s the weekend, but its not.

First up is a big congratulations to Ed Champion, whose Bat Segundo show was named a Yahoo pick. For those of you who don’t know about the Bat Segundo show, it’s a podcast featuring some of the country’s best authors. Ed has tracked down many friendly, as well as inscrutable, writers for chats, including TC Boyle, William Vollman, Harvey Pekar, Colson Whitehead, Erica Jong, Jay McInerny, and others. Each podcast represents hours and hours of work. He works tirelessly on his blog, too, often filing 12 posts a day. (Sometimes that many in an hour) It’s hard to believe Ed has a full time job (as a paralegal, I think) writes fiction, and catches readings and events around the Bay Area. Return of the Reluctant is a great site and Ed deserves kudos for making the blogosphere a much more interesting place.

Julia Glass is in the Bay Area the next few days, but I won’t get a chance to hear her. She’s chosen distant locales for her readings from The Whole World Over. On Friday, she will be in Danville at Rakestraw Books. On Saturday, she will be at the new bookstore, Bookstore West Portal, owned by Neal Sofman, one of the former co-owners of A Clean Well-Lighted Place for Books. (I was happy to hear that Books, Inc. will move into their former location on Van Ness). She’s also going to Capitola. I know those are all great bookstores but no Berkeley? No Marin County? Since so many major bookstores are about to close, it will be interesting to watch where the big authors choose to read.

I’m looking forward to going to a new incarnation of the Progressive Reading Series on Monday, July 10 at the Makeout Room on 22^nd Street in San Francisco. These are the brainchild of author Stephen Elliot and they raise money for progressive political candidates. Jane Smiley, Jonathan Franzen, Jason Roberts, and others will read. It's usually hot, smoky, and smokin'.

Joshua Braff, a comic author if I ever saw one, will read from The Unspeakable Thoughts of Jacob Green at the Magnes Museum on Russell Street in Berkeley at 6:30 p.m. on July 13. I am planning on going. Somehow summer seems a wonderful time to listen to authors.

Check this out: Lisa Okhun, another comic writer (and a member of my writing group, North 24^th) has just started a blog, “That’s Empress to You.” It’s about being a divorced mother in a technological age and it’s funny, funny, funny.