Once again, I’ll be spending November writing a 50,000 word novel.  As of this writing, there are currently over 1,000 (1,080) participants from Pittsburgh.  Right now, five of us are busily writing at Panera Bread in Wilkins, and write-ins are happening all the time, all over the city.

Join in if you want, or watch as we attempt to beat both Sacramento and Philadelphia in a word-war that will be going on all month.

In the meantime, I’ll be back later tonight and all this week with Waffle Shop Week.  The good folks from CMU went a bit crazy with the uploads, and there’s all kinds of syrup-ey goodness to share.  And I’ll be back on Tuesday with another installment of PATransit Tuesday.  I’ll be chronicling some Christmas Creep, and later in the month, geeking out to Star Wars in Concert.

Enjoy the beautiful day everybody, catch you later!

With a forward by Randy Baumann (DVE) and an introduction by Rick Seback(Things that Aren’t There Anymore, The Strip Show), Zombies ate my Headlines is the first book published by the brilliant minds at Carbolic Smoke Ball.

So much praise has already been heaped onto this book, I really can’t add much more.  The book is a great read, I was laughing with just about every page.  The pace, was very well done as well, a good mix of longer stories, shorter snippets and even a few photo and caption articles as well.

The only bad thing I can say about the book isn’t about the content, but the physical book itself.  However it was printed, the type goes very close to the spine, making it difficult to read some articles.  A small gripe, but otherwise, a fantastic read that should not be missed.

The great thing is that even though it is Pittsburgh-centric, anyone, from any city, can pick the book up and get a good laugh.

More information about the book here, and it can be picked up at Barnes & Noble, Amazon, John Beth Booksellers, Bradley’s, or from the CSB website (purchased copies from CSB will be signed by one of the authors).

No, I’m not leaving metblogs, just writing about a fun event that comes around every year.  November is National Novel Writing Month, also known as NaNoWriMo.  This crazy event challenges amateur (and professional) writers around the world to write 50,000 words in 30 days.  The goal is quantity over quality: understanding you’re going to write crap, but for once, actually sitting down, undertaking a massive creative feat, and turning off your inner editor for a month of twists and turns through the story coming from your mind.

In total, the authors writing in Pittsburgh wrote over seven million words (7, 391,876 to be exact), placing it in 33rd out of over 400 regions.  That is a crazy number.  50,000 words is around 80 pages (single spaced in Word), I can’t even imagine seven million.

So now, after all the write-ins taking place Downtown and in Cranberry, Oakland and Monroeville, a kick-off party at the Waterfront and a Thank God It’s Over party at  Spaghetti Warehouse, the writers (including myself) find themselves with no pressing deadline, no excuse to consume mass amounts of caffeine and alienate themselves from friends and family (well, except the usual excuses).  And it is a strange feeling.  But it is nice to relax, and remember that there are other things to do besides write each day.  And in the meantime, until next November, I can breathe a little easier, as I wait for midnight on November 1 when I can start the mad dash towards 50,000 once again.

Want to read more about NaNoWriMo, or their sister project, Script Frenzy, check it out at the links.  And come November, join us!  It’s fun, free, and a great way to meet some really awesome people from around Pittsburgh.

Yesterday DC Comics launched a new line of manga-ish comics for teenage girls. It’s called Minx, and the very first of the books is drawn by Pittsburgh’s own Jim Rugg.

Comic fans know Jim for his Street Angel series. Now word of his fine work is spreading, thanks to the new comic, The PLAIN Janes. It’s a story about four girls who find themselves at the reject table at school — and all happen to be named Jane. I won’t tell you what happens next, but it’s good (the story is written by young adult author Cecil Castellucci).

This Saturday and next, from 3-5pm, Jim Rugg will be signing copies of The PLAIN Janes at New Dimension Comics (isn’t the special drawing he did for them cool? It’s one of the Janes). He’ll even do a sketch for you, they say.

Saturday May 19th: New Dimension Comics in Cranberry, Piazza Plaza, Cranberry Twp

Saturday May 26th: New Dimension Comics in Century III Mall, in West Mifflin

Being that tomorrow is the first Friday of the month, literary-types all around town are surely gearing up for the latest installment of the Gist Street Reading Series. For Gist Street newbies, the premise is this – every month, sculptor James Simon gives up his house to the public so that they can enjoy a reading in an atmosphere that feels like, well, home. Wine and munchies brought by attendees are spread into a lovely buffet and many handmade goodies and books are given out during the monthly raffle. All in all, it’s a really enjoyable evening – if you make it in the door. As one of my fellow bloggers already stated, the waiting line at Gist can be a bit daunting. Tomorrow night Michael Byers and David Young will be reading. Since Michael Byers used to teach here at Pitt, I imagine this one will be quite crowded.

I can’t make it tomorrow night but for those brave souls who can I have this advice – go early. REALLY EARLY. I might even suggest setting up camp tonight. Or, if you’re a true Pittsburgher, pack up the cooler, fire up the grill and start yourself a tailgate!

Someone just clued me in on group reading of local writers doing a reading in Cleveland.

“Let’s hear it for cross-urban pollination! A posse of Pittsburgh’s writers, more specifically some local authors on Pittsburgh’s Six Gallery Press, are driving up to Cleveland this Saturday for a group reading at Mac’s Paperbacks, in Cleveland Heights. Writers such as New Yinzers Kris Collins and Scott Silsbe, “Pittsburgh’s Rimbaud” John Thomas Menesini, novelist Dana Killmeyer, outsider writer Che Elias, and myself, will be joining Youngstown’s Noah Cicero, Cleveland native David Hoenigman, and the notorious Kane X. Faucher for the literary onslaught.”

Six Gallery Press Reading
May 5th 2007 at 5:00pm
Mac’s Paperbacks
1820 Coventry Road, Cleveland Heights

Yesterday we started an interesting discussion over at workabout spacing. Do you put one space or two after a period. Lynsie and I are both believers in 2 spaces. But others here disagreed. We have even taken the debate to google and found a video of someone strongly advocating for one space.
Apparently the two spaces were historically added when typing on a typewriter because typewriter spacing was so tricky. As the conversation continued through out the day we learned that computers now correct you for adding two spaces.
I thought of James’ (since I am writing about grammar I just had to pause for a consultation about how to correctly make James possessive) post about the governments involvement. I am just not sure I like Word having so much control over my writing. If I want to put two spaces after a period that is my prerogative.
For now Lynsie and I will stick to two spaces – double space forever, single space never.

Creative writing grad students at Pitt — including me — have gotten together to edit a new literary magazine, Hot Metal Bridge, named after this.

Fiction luminaries Michael Martone and Dan Chaon appear in the debut issue, and there are also two stories by writers who’ve never been published before. There’s an essay about snakes (insert Raiders of the Lost Ark reference here) from West Viriginian Simone Poirier-Bures. The debut issue also boasts new work from acclaimed poet Maurice Kilwein Guevara, who spent his formative years right here in Pittsburgh.

Pitt’s last literary magazine died a quiet death, so we’re particularly excited to have revived the tradition. If you have a moment for some new fiction/poetry/creative nonfiction, do check out Hot Metal Bridge.

Once again, the Gist Street reading series sold out on Friday night, turning away a pack of disappointed literary-types. Poet Terrance Hayes, who was on the bill, had to be rescued from the street. He teaches at CMU, so he must know the crowds-at-Gist-Street drill.

Like others, I’ve been locked out before, so I made like a crazy fan and was there insanely early. I got in. Whew!

Both Hayes and fiction writer Charles D’Ambrosio were impressive, and appreciated. D’Ambrosio is a hot commodity these days with his new collection of short stories, The Dead Fish Museum, and Pittsburgh is lucky to have a poet of Hayes’ stature right here in town.

But I can’t help but be sad that crowds are regularly turned away from these readings. Could Gist Street function in a bigger space? Or could Pittsburgh support another reading series or two?

Because you’ll never have enough bookcases, and in honor of Library Lover’s Month, I offer you a link to my favorite browser script. Next time you click through a link to Amazon.com, wouldn’t it be wonderful to know that you could borrow the book locally and then just request it online? Free?

Christina, who blogs over at Inner Bitch, cooked up this bit of delightful geekery – so you can see at a glance (INSIDE your Amazon window) whether Pittsburgh area libraries have a given book, and then click through the link to the library’s site to request it. Her blog post explains how to install it – you need to be using Firefox as your browser (either Mac or PC) and then you install the Greasemonkey extension, and then you can be running the library script. She explains it all, with helpful links:

“Taking a can opener to Amazon.com”

Have fun!