Lip Service West at This Year's Litquake

Found out yesterday that Lip Service West will again be participating in Litquake (http://www.litquake.org/) (the City, October).  Last year, we were part of the Litcrawl, which has like over 50 bars and venues participating, where, like its name implies, you basically hop bar-to-bar (and coffee shop and bookstores, too) to hear different readings.  Some are even held in alleys.  It's an eclectic affair.  Like Miami's International Book Fair (where I participated in Lip Service down there), Litquake is one of those brief times in the life of a writer where writing (and reading) actually matter.  The 9-day festival is crammed with various events.  Last year, Justine and I saw Tom Waits, Steve Earle, and Patti Smith, among others, pay tribute to Lawrence Felinghetti and City Lights Books, and this year the Czar of Noir, Eddie Muller, who read for LSW last year, will be interviewing Denis Lehane, a fellow FIU alum (whom I've never met and have absolutely nothing in common with).

I am trying to bring the Lip Service Miami folks out for this year's reading and have, like, a melding of the two, which would be a lovely juxtaposition (I'd exemplify this contrast by showing the two websites, the black, red, and downright scary LSW versus the aqua, pink, and brightly hopeful Miami, but they've recently redone their website, which can be found here (http://www.lipservicestories.com/), and it's not nearly as...colorful (though, personally, I like it much better).

I am hoping to bring out Lip Service founder Andrea Askowitz (http://andreaaskowitz.com/?cat=11), author of My Lonely Miserable Lesbian Pregnancy, co-producer Esther Martinez, and Sean Kennif (Etre the Cow [http://www.etrethecow.com/]), which I can then pair with LSW's usual fare of junkie woe, criminality, and general mayhem (currently Tom Pitts and Greg Kim are on board to represent the Left Coast contingency, and I may actually read at this one, too).

Mark your calendars.  October 15th, San Francisco.  Somewhere in the Mission, Valencia Street, around 6:30 p.m.  If this all comes together, it's going to be a helluva show.  And it may just finally bring balance to The Force.