In lieu of a more substantive post (which hopefully will come soon), I wanted to share some news:

--I am honored to have an essay about collateral damage in the powerful new book American Wars: Illusions and Realities edited by Paul Buchheit. All author proceeds will go to anti-war groups. Here are a couple of blurbs for the book:

The questions raised in these essays are the pertinent ones, and the answers developed should be pondered carefully.
*Mairead Corrigan Maguire, Nobel Peace Laureate

There are always alternatives to war, as the voices in this book testify. Let us listen to their voices of wisdom.
*Stephen Kinzer, author of 'Overthrow'

--Following the collateral theme, I recently found out that my short story "Collateral" (now available as a free download at Amazon.com) received a "Special Mention" from judges of the Pushcart Prize.

--My short story "Rapture" is part of a great new collection, You Have Time for This: Contemporary American Short-Short Stories, edited by Mark Budman and Tom Hazuka.

--My novel Self Storage comes out in paperback February 12th.

--I have a few events planned in the near future:

Thursday, February 7 @6pm, I will be moderating the "Coming to California" panel (featuring the amazing writers Chris Abani, Alex Espinoza, and Marisa Silver) at UCR Writers Week.

Saturday, February 9, 1-3pm, I will be part of The Business of Being a Writer panel at the Riverside Public Library

Saturday, February 16, I will speak and co-teach a workshop at the Johnston mini-college event, A Lifetime of Service and Community Activism

Tuesday, February 19 @7pm, I will read from Self Storage at the Borders in Torrance

Friday, February 22 @7pm, I will be reading poetry (and belly dancing in public for the first time in 14 years!) at the Inspire Hope benefit concert at Back to the Grind in Riverside. We will be raising funds for a family tragically affected by domestic violence.

Saturday, February 23 @5pm, I will read from Self Storage at one of my favorite bookstores, Skylight Books in L.A.

Saturday, March 8, 2-4pm, I will be teaching a workshop on Marketing for Writers at the Riverside Public Library

Friday, March 14-Sunday, March 16, I will be teaching a workshop on "The Embodied Voice" at the International Women's Writing Guild "Voices Conference" in Santa Cruz. I taught here once before and it was such a beautiful experience (and a beautiful setting!)

Hope to see you along the way!