I went to Ash Canyon last night. As I put myself on the line with Comma Coffee about moving the ACP library there on Monday, Susan convinced me it would be a good idea to attend poetry night. I haven't been going much after the fracas over the journal. Anyway, it was nice seeing old friends and being around other lovers of the written/spoken word. Also, as I wanted to bring a poem, I rescued a page from one of my notebooks and printed it out. It was a piece I stumbled on the other day while doing something else, one of those scribbles you dash off only to promptly forget about it. Once it got on a nice, clean page however it looked respectable enough to read. I love Ash Canyon. There are damn few places or people who care about things like that.
Also, last night turned into a celebration of sorts as Ellen Hopkins, one of the old time regulars, just found out she is suddenly a "break out author" at Simon and Schuster. As she puts it, "an overnight success after fifteen years of hard work", well, not exactly an overnight success. Actually Crank is a bit of an anomaly. Apparently, most books either catch on fire right off the press or quickly smolder to death, but Crank has been out for over three years and is a grassroots, cross-over success. Look for it soon, front and center at both Barns and Noble and Borders. It's movin' up from the stacks.
As is an old Ash Canyon tradition, we went to the Fandango Casino after the meeting. The wine was flowing and Liz made a startling confession about the worst thing she's ever done. Whew! This woman has an all too rare quality, manners.
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| Liz |
Footnote: As a kid Liz and her friends watched the first nuke test from a hilltop in the Nevada desert. She died of radiation poisoning.
2 comments:
I'm so glad you went back. It is all there is, you know--a group of familiar faces that put up with you. I think that's as good as it gets.
And congrats to Ellen.
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