I'm not sure anyone can read to the end of this, but I thought I'd paste the entire Litquake schedule here, sort of as an excuse for why I have not been more active lately! Litquake is my baby - founded almost ten years ago with a handful of other writers, for fans of the written word in the SF Bay Area. We've grown from one afternoon and 20 authors, to 8 days, 450 authors in more than 75 venues... God, I'm really tired.... ;)

I hope you'll come out and support other Red Room authors, who number in the legion, this year!

xx Jane

Running October 3-11, this year's festival will feature 450 authors in more than 60 venues across the Bay Area. Since you're a supporter of Litquake, we thought you might want to check out the schedule for this year, so you can plan to attend as many events as possible. Some of the ticketed events are expected to sell out, so get your tickets now! Meanwhile, the entire schedule is below! Or you can go here: http://www.litquake.org/the-festival/for additional information.

Litquake 2008!

Friday, Oct. 3 - Porchlight and Litquake present Suckered: Writers Confess a Profound Lack of Judgment - an all-star (seriously - check out these Hollywood names) version of the Porchlight storytelling series, presented at the Herbst Theater. Participants include: Adam Savage, co-host of the Discovery Channel's Mythbusters and co-author of Mythbusters: The Explosive Truth Behind 30 of the Most Perplexing Urban Legends of All Time; author and columnist Jonathan Ames; SF man of the arts, author and film producer Robert Mailer Anderson; always-sharp political comedian and author Will Durst; satirist and Alternadad author Neal Pollack; actress (Joan of Arcadia, Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants) and poet Amber Tamblyn; East Bay author and spoken word firebrand, April Sinclair; Cintra Wilson, the sharp-tongued columnist and author of the forthcoming book Caligula for President.

Where: Herbst Theater - 401 Van Ness Avenue San Francisco, CA 94102

When: Friday, October 3, 2008, 8pm

Tickets: $25; VIP (includes an exclusive after-party with participants) $100.00

Ticket Purchase: www.cityboxoffice.com

Saturday, October 4, 11 am-5 pm

Off the Richter Scale, Day One

San Francisco Public Library's Koret Auditorium (Main Branch, 100 Larkin Street). FREE.

Come and hear almost 50 writers who'll shake up your literary world! A whirlwind tour through the Bay Area's best, from fiction to poetry, journalism to memoir, graphic novels to essays. Check here for names and details: http://www.litquake.org/the-festival/opening-day/

Followed by a reception for authors at Books Inc. in Opera Plaza from 5-6 p.m.

Saturday, October 4, 3 pm - Kathleen Norris at Kepler's

Kepler's, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park. FREE

Kathleen Norris discusses Acedia & Me: A Marriage, Monks, and a Writer's Life.

Saturday, Oct. 4 - A Night of "Intimacy" With the San Francisco Writer's Grotto

8 p.m. The Jewish Community Center of San Francisco, 3200 California Street

$22 General Admission/$20 JCCSF Members

Followed by reception 9:30-10:30 pm

Tickets available at: http://www.jccsf.org/content_main.aspx?catid=537#2550

Grotto Nights is back with "Intimacy" - a sensational, multimedia extravaganza of tight genes, body fluids, and misplaced affections. The evening will feature authors Mary Roach, David Ewing Duncan, Elizabeth Bernstein, Stephen Elliott, Laura Fraser, and Jennifer Traig, filmmakers Caveh Zahedi and Jay Rosenblatt, music by Marc Capelle, plus an audio documentary by Jennifer Durban and art by JD Beltran, Emily Korson, and Jan Blythe. Come and get under the covers with us for an evening of literary and artistic hanky panky.

Sunday, October 5, 12:30-4:30 pm

Off the Richter Scale, Day Two

San Francisco Public Library's Koret Auditorium (Main Branch, 100 Larkin Street). FREE

Another 30+ writers who'll deliver the reading goods - in genres that include poetry, mystery, human nature, and academic writing. Check here for names and details: http://www.litquake.org/the-festival/opening-day/

Followed by a reception for authors at Books Inc. in Opera Plaza from 4:30-6 p.m.

Sunday, October 5, 3 pm

An Afternoon with Author and Filmmaker Neil Gaiman presented by The Booksmith

Kabuki Sundance Theaters, 1881 Post Street at Fillmore

$28 General Admission includes a signed, 1st edition copy of The Graveyard Book

Tickets available at The Booksmith (415) 863-8688Famed author and filmmaker Gaiman will read a chapter from his new book, The Graveyard Book, followed by a live Q&A with the author. Including a sneak preview of the upcoming film version of Gaiman's novel Coraline!

Sunday, October 5, 7 pm

Barely Published Authors

Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St. FREE

21 and over

Readings by the best up-and-coming masters of prose in the Bay Area. Featuring: David Gleeson, Cris Hammond, Jocelyn Mangan, Joshua Marcus, Diana Orgain, Beverly Parayno, Susan Shea, Todd Zuniga

Monday, October 6, 3-5 pm

Getting Your Book Published:

An Industry Panel

San Francisco State University Downtown Campus, 835 Market St., Room 607. FREE

Hear insiders' accounts of the publishing process. Learn everything from why your query letter may not be working to what, exactly, narrative nonfiction really is. Bring your questions. A co-production with the Foundation Center. Space is limited; register in advance at foundationcenter.org/sanfrancisco/sf_october.html.

Featuring: Moderator Janet Camarena, Counterpoint editor Roxanna Aliaga, agent Dena Fischer, Jossey-Bass editor Karen Murphy, MacAdam/Cage Editor-in-Chief Pat Walsh.

Monday, October 6, 5:15-7 pm

First-Time Authors Reveal All

San Francisco State University Downtown Campus, 835 Market St., Room 607. FREE

Get the nitty gritty on the process from manuscript to agent to editor to book from a panel of four authors whose first books are just out this year. Bring your questions. A co-production with The Foundation Center. Space is limited; register in advance at foundationcenter.org/sanfrancisco/sf_october.html.

Featuring: Moderator Elise Proulx, Andrew Foster Altschul, Alan Black, Philip Kearney, Shawna Yang Ryan

Monday, October 6, 6 pm

East of Istanbul: Voices from the Muslim World

Mechanic's Institute Library, 57 Post Street

Free admission for Mechanic's Institute members; $12 for non-members; tickets at the door only

Doors and café open at 5:30 pm

More information: http://www.milibrary.org/events.html#1

Authors from Afghanistan and Iran will present readings from their books and discuss what it means to have emerged from Muslim nations. How does one's country of origin influence an American writer's work? Featuring: Moderator Sandip Roy, Anita Amirrezvani, Persis M. Karim, Niloufar Talebi and San Francisco's One City One Book author, Tamim Ansary

Monday, October 6, 6 pm

Scandal, Intrigue, and Drama in California History

Co-presented by the Commonwealth Club and co-sponsored by the California Historical Society and the SF Museum and Historical Society. The Commonwealth Club, 595 Market Street, 2nd Floor. FREE for Commonwealth Club members; $12 for Litquake e-newsletter subscribers (bring a copy of our newsletter with you) and historical society members (order by phone); $18 for non-members; $7 for students with ID. Tickets available at http://tickets.commonwealthclub.org/; (415) 597-6705.

Pre-event wine and cheese reception starts at 5:30 p.m.

Truth really is more intriguing than fiction. California was built on big personalities, intrigue, scandal, and drama. Now, ripped from the headlines of our past, these shapers of our Golden State come to life in three groundbreaking new books. The authors reveal the new details they discovered to turn history into a great story.

Featuring: Moderator Julia Flynn Siler, Frances Dinkelspiel, Ethan Rarick, Rick Wartzman

Monday, Oct. 6 - Opium Magazine's Literary Death Match

Sponsored by the San Francisco Chronicle

The Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell Street.$15 Admission

Advance Tickets: rickshawstop.com/catalog

21 and over

Doors open at 7:30 p.m., show is at 9

The wild and woolly LDM returns! We can't promise the evening will including a beer-tossing competition, but the contest for best writer/performer will be fierce! Featuring: Comedian Debi Durst, Author Daniel "Lemony Snicket" Handler, Believer editor Andrew Leland, NYT-bestelling author Tom Perrotta ("Election," "Little Children"), Stanford teacher and short story maven Eric Puchner, and Katherine Taylor, author of the acclaimed "Rules for Saying Goodbye."

Tuesday, October 7, 10 am-12:15 pm

Kidquake-Grades K-5

The Koret Auditorium and Latino Room, San Francisco Public Library, Main Branch, 100 Larkin Street. FREE

Join children's authors and illustrators for one of two days of readings and special workshops designed to help fuel the imaginations of children, grades K-8. This first morning is for K-5 classes; middle school classes meet on the second day (Wednesday).

Grades K-2 Authors: Jim Averbeck, Lisa Brown, Ina Cumpiano, Kathryn Otoshi, Dashka Slater

Grades 3-5 Authors: Brad Herzog, LeUyen Pham, Lissa Rovetch, Steve Seskin

Workshop Leaders: Amanda Chiado, Andrea Alban Gosline, Grace Marie Grafton, Steve Seskin

Tuesday, October 7, 12:30-1:30 pm

The Center for the Art of Translation presents a Litquake-edition Lit & Lunch Reading

111 Minna Gallery, 111 Minna St. Sliding scale donation.

To order lunch in advance, visit catranslation.org

Lit & Lunch is San Francisco's first and only reading series to focus on international literature and translation, featuring prominent poets, authors, and translators reading and discussing their work. Here, Katherine Silver reads and discusses her PEN Translation Fund award-winning translation of Senselessness, Salvadoran writer Horacio Castellanos Moya's novel about a boozing, sex-obsessed writer employed by the Catholic Church to proofread a 1,100 page report on the army's massacre and torture of indigenous villagers.

Tuesday, October 7, 6-7:30 pm

Litquake and Poetry Flash present A Sacred and Profane Poetry Reading

Grace Cathedral Chapel, 1100 California Street. FREE

Join us for this rare appearance by five dynamic and accomplished poets - including the U.S. and California Poet Laureates! - for a reading on sacred and profane themes at Grace Cathedral's stunning chapel.

Featuring: Dan Bellm, Jane Mead, D. A. Powell, U.S. Poet Laureate Kay Ryan, California Poet Laureate Al Young

Tuesday, October 7, 7 pm

Dennis Lehane at Books Inc.

Books Inc. Opera Plaza, 601 Van Ness Avenue. FREE

Author Dennis Lehane discusses his new novel, The Given Day.

Tuesday, October 7, 7:30 pm

Ariel Sabar at Kepler's

Kepler's, 1010 El Camino Real, Menlo Park. 650.324.4321. FREE

Ariel Sabar discusses My Father's Paradise: A Son's Search for his Jewish Past in Kurdish Iraq.

Tuesday, Oct. 7 - Litquake's Tribute to Tobias Wolff

Litquake will bestow the now-annual Barbary Coast Award for contribution to the Bay Area literary scene to Tobias Wolff. Co-presenting the evening is the Contemporary Jewish Museum, whose gorgeous confines we are fortunate to use for the evening!

736 Mission Street (between Third and Fourth Streets)

Admission $25; $20 for Museum members

Tickets available online from the Contemporary Jewish Museum: http://www.thecjm.org

Doors open at 7 pm, show is at 7:30

Featuring: KQED's Michael Krasny as emcee, Tom Barbash, Dave Eggers, Stephen Elliott, Adam Johnson, Tom Kealey, Graham Leggat, Ann Packer, Tom Perrotta, George Saunders, Vendela Vida, Word for Word Performing Arts Company

Wednesday, October 8, 10 am-12:15 pm

Kidquake-Grades 6-8

San Francisco Public Library's Koret Auditorium and Latino Room (Main Branch, 100 Larkin Street). FREE

Join children's authors and illustrators for one of two days of readings and special workshops designed to help fuel the imaginations of children, grades K-8. This second morning is for middle school classes.

Featuring: Gennifer Choldenko, Ying Compestine, Betsy Franco, Ellen Klages

Workshop with 826 Valencia

Wednesday, October 8, 12:30 pm

Susan RoAne at Stacey' s

Stacey's, 581 Market St . FREE

Author Susan RoAne discusses Face to Face: How To Reclaim the Personal Touch in a Digital World.

Wednesday, October 8, 6 pm

Leslie T. Chang at Book Passage

Book Passage, The Ferry Building, FREE

Author Leslie T. Chang discusses Factory Girls.

Wednesday, October 8, 7 pm - Either/Or: Original Shorts

Varnish Fine Art, 77 Natoma St. FREE

21 and over

Litquake asked six authors to conjure, write, and then read short stories on the theme of "Either/Or." All stories were written especially for the event and will be read in public for the first time.

Featuring: Andrew Altschul, Sean Beaudoin, Nona Caspers, Ben Greenman, Matthew Iribarne

Wednesday, October 8, 7 pm

Stephen Elliott's Progressive Reading Series

The Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St. $10-20 sliding scale.

21 and over

http://progressivereadingseries.blogspot.com/

For the second year, Stephen Elliot brings his politically minded Progressive Reading to Litquake.

Authors use their soapboxes to benefit progressive political causes! Featuring: Christopher D. Cook, Will Durst, Joe Loya, Lisa Margonelli, Ishmael Reed, and Ellen Sussman

Wednesday, October 8, 7 pm

Not Your Mother's Book ClubTM presents the Kick-Ass All-Girl Graphic Novel Panel

Books Inc. Opera Plaza, 601 Van Ness Ave. FREE

NYMBCTM is a monthly literary salon for teenagers in the Bay Area that also offers weekly online author interviews, online contests, and in-school author events. Check out the website at notyourmothersbookclub.com.

Featuring: Moderator Shaenon K. Garrity, Cecil Castellucci, Devin Grayson, LeUyen Pham, Trina Robbins

Wednesday, October 8, 7:30 pm

The Booksmith presents Armistead Maupin talk and booksigning for The Berlin Stories by Christopher Isherwood

The Booksmith, 1644 Haight St. FREE

Maupin will read from his introduction and discuss his friendship with Isherwood. A book signing will follow, with recordings of vintage German cabaret music.

Wednesday, October 8, 7:30 pm

City Lights presents the Launch of Mattilda Bernstein Sycamore's So Many Ways to Sleep Badly

City Lights Booksellers, 261 Columbus Ave. FREE

Thursday, October 9, 6:30 pm

Battling for the Environment: Stories from the Front Lines

Co-Presented by the Commonwealth Club

Commonwealth Club, 595 Market Street, 2nd Floor

$12 for Commonwealth and Litquake e-newsletter subscribers (bring a newsletter with you); $20 general; $7 student. http://tickets.commonwealthclub.org/;

The fight for the environment doesn't stop at the edge of Antarctica's icebergs. In fact, the front lines stretch from the WTO and South Korean farms to our shopping bags and gas tanks. Our panel of leading authors will not only explain what is happening to the environment around the globe, but also how we are being directly affected at home and how each of us can play a part in our struggle to save the environment.Featuring: Moderator Jane Kay, Sebastian Copeland, Claire Hope Cummings, Thomas M. Kostigen, Jerry Mander, Christie Matheson.

Thursday, October 9, 7:30 pm

Steampunk: Victorian Elegance Meets Science Fiction

Variety Preview Room, The Hobart Building, 1st Floor, 582 Market St.@ Montgomery Street. FREE

Cash bar benefits Variety Children's Charity

SF in SF: Science Fiction in San Francisco, Tachyon Publications, Variety Children's Charity, and Litquake present an evening celebrating all aspects of Steampunk - impossibly fantastic adventures you'll never forget. Steampunk is Victorian elegance paired with modern technology: steam-driven robots, souped-up stagecoaches, and space-faring dirigibles, all fueled by gaslight, romance, mad scientists, and oh-so-trim waistcoats. Lounge and doors open at 6:30 pm; readings followed by Q&A moderated by author Terry Bisson.

Featuring: Kage Baker, Joe R. Lansdale, Rudy Rucker

Thursday, October 9, 8 pm

Off Book: Stories That Move

The evening also features JoAnn Selisker's Off Leash: Who's a Good Girl?

Project Artaud Theater, 450 Florida St . Admission $20 at the door; $18 in advance: $15 for seniors and students. Tickets available at http://odctheater.org or 415-863-9834

A special collaborative event between ODC Dance Theater and Litquake featuring dance interpretations of original fiction works. This evening of "page-to-stage" performances combine text and movement by pairing Litquake commissioned authors and ODC Theater commissioned choreographers. Pairings: Michelle Tea with Scott Wells; Alejandro Murguía with Erika Chong Shuch; Tess Uriza Holthe with Katie Faulkner.

Off Leash is a creative fiction performance piece that explores the behavioral contortions and spectacle required if indeed we were to walk and talk with the animals - particularly, the hound.

Thursday, October 9, 7 pm

Nightclub

The Hemlock Tavern, 1131 Polk St, FREE

21 and over

Featuring: Bob Calhoun, Alan Black, Jack Boulware, Michael Disend, Beth Lisick, Michelle Richmond, Sylvie Simmons, David Henry Sterry.

Thursday, October 9, 7 pm

Curtis Sittenfeld, author of American Wife, at Books Inc., Palo Alto

Books Inc., 55 El Camino Real #74, Palo Alto. FREE

Author Curtis Sittenfeld discusses American Wife.

Thursday, October 9, 7:30 pm

The Booksmith presents Lewis Buzbee

The Booksmith, 1644 Haight St. FREE

Lewis Buzbee discusses Steinbeck's Ghost.

Friday, October 10, 5 pm

Elizabeth Bennet Lives: Fabulous Femmes of Fiction

The Bubble Lounge, 714 Montgomery St.

FREE/$5 - $10 suggested donation

Jane Austen's greatest heroine is the inspiration for the now-annual Litquake "women's night." All of the authors created fantastic female characters in their books: strong, nimble-minded, fearless - and of all ages, nationalities, and ethnicities. Have a glass of champagne and listen to tales of Lizzie's worthy descendants! With Emcee Jane Ganahl, Litquake co-founder and author of Naked on the Page.

Featuring: Samina Ali, Meg Waite Clayton, Kathi Kamen Goldmark, Kim Green, Diane Johnson, Kim Wong Keltner, Martha O'Connor, Lalita Tademy, Cameron Tuttle, Lolly Winston

Friday, October 10, 7:30 pm

The Future of Food: Raj Patel in Conversation with Molly Watson

Sponsored by the California Academy of Sciences

California Academy of Sciences , 55 Music Concourse Drive, Golden Gate Park

Admission $20; $17 for Academy members; Tickets available at 888-670-4433.

Doors open at 7 pm

Enjoying food in the 21st century is becoming thornier and thornier. Should we go organic, get vegan, and buy local? Does biodiesel save the air but starve whole populations? Why are the poorest Americans the most obese? Join writer, activist, and academic Raj Patel in conversation with Molly Watson as Litquake delves into the future of food - and be among the first to see the brand new headquarters of the California Academy of Sciences.

Friday, October 10, 8 pm

Off Book: Stories That Move

ODC Presents Rosanna Gamson's Ravish

Project Artaud Theater, 450 Florida St . Admission $20 at the door; $18 in advance: $15 for seniors and students

Tickets available at http://odctheater.org or 415-863-9834

Ravish is an evening-length dance theater piece that re-imagines the creative hothouse in which the Brontë sisters wrote their brand of intense fiction. Ravish examines the forces that resulted in works such as Wuthering Heights and Jane Eyre.

Saturday, Oct. 11, 6 to 10 p.m.

The Annual Lit Crawl in the Mission District!

Three phases (6-7 pm; 7:15-8:15; 8:30-9:30 pm) will carry you through our version of the traditional pub crawl. All Lit Crawl events are free; see specific venues for age restrictions. New This Year:

Visit Clarion Alley throughout the Crawl for music, readings, Open Mic, and the grand finale: The Six-Word Memoir Readings & Memoir Slam! Again, too many names to list here, but you can find them here: http://www.litquake.org/the-festival/lit-crawl-2008/