The Streetwise Cycle

If you enjoyed the ten minute version of Terry Wolverton's talk at the party (or if you missed it), you can hear the full half-hour version over here on my website. 

Don't forget to check out the Future of Publishing Think Tank website with our map of Southern California indie lit outlets (booksellers, publishers, reading series, etc.). 

The interview originally aired on Indymedia On Air on KPFK radio in Los Angeles on March 14. 

 

Singer-songwriter Alanna Lin (a.k.a. Fascinoma) wrote a lovely song inspired by The Streetwise Cycle and performed it live at the party. 

Listen to the song here: 
   

Click over to the Fascinoma page on Bandcamp.com to download the mp3 and read the lyrics. 

From The Streetwise Cycle song: 
   
   Ain't got gasoline to start your car 
   Pure man power drives your shopping cart 
   No cash money but you got your heart 
   Streetwise, sleep tight 
   Your policy is right 

   No one wants you 
   To know their name 
   Cuz you might be the only one they blame 
   Give away anything you got to eat 
   Streetwise, sweet life    
   Now you may go in peace

I had such a great time at the book launch party last night! Thank you to everyone who came - we filled the house at the Echo Park Film Center!

Here are a few photos from the event. If you have photos to share, please send them along.

You can find much more about me and my book on my Facebook page. 

If you'd like to buy a copy of The Streetwise Cycle, it's available on Amazon and Lulu, or you can download it for your favorite e-reader. 

Tomorrow night, put on your reading shoes and make your way down to the Echo Park Film Center for The Streetwise Cycle book launch party!

Click here for all the details. 

In the meantime, enjoy some photos I took in January of the amazing new library in Alexandria, Egypt, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina. 

Zoë Ruiz makes envelopes. She creates them from unusual materials and in unexpected ways. Since I'm lucky enough to know Zoë and her work, I asked if she would make a set of envelopes based on The Streetwise Cycle. 

Using printouts of each story in the cycle, Zoë has created envelopes that reflect on her experience of the book. They will be on display as part of the book launch party on March 26.  

It's all part of the DIY, lo-fi, multidisciplinary principles of the book and my personal aesthetic. 
 

Zoë studied creative witing at UC Santa Cruz, as well as Spanish literature and feminist studies. Currently she lives in LA where she works at a literacy nonprofit. Her writing has appeared in Utne.com and The Rumpus, and one of her zines is in the Special Collections Department at Occidental College Library. Her most recent blog is Fishes and Honey. 

Just in case you can't get enough of the cool Echo Park vibe, or if you want to hang out with me and some other literary-minded folks after The Streetwise Cycle book launch party...

...join us after the book launch at the El Prado Bar for the unofficial official afterparty! Why the El Prado? 

• They carry local brews  
  
• People give it good reviews 
• You won't have to move your car to get there

The El Prado is a quick five minute walk from the Echo Park Film Center. Hope to see you there!

   

Composer Bruce Bennett is currently working on a piece of music to accompany The Streetwise Cycle. I'm delighted that I'll be able to use a piece of his music at the party to accompany moving images and text associated with the book. 

Bruce is an active performer of improvised music, and as a composer, his works have been played by a wide range of groups and artists, including the Arditti String Quartet, the Avenue Winds, the Berkeley Symphony, Del Sol String Quartet, Earplay, Tom Dambly and Michael Zbyszynski.  

Bruce's interests and activities include compositions and improvisations for live, interactive, electroacoustic music; conducting; the free-atonal music of the Second Viennese School; the music of the post-World War II European avant-garde; contemporary American and European avant-garde; and the Frankfurt School, particularly Adorno's writings on aesthetics and mass culture. 

Listen to his work or read more at Bruce's website. 

Update #2: Don't worry if you missed the interview. You can hear it online right here.

Update! Indymedia On Air has been moved to 8:30 pm today. Listen in tonight! 

Here's a quick preview of my interview with author Terry Wolverton about independent literature. In this clip, she talks about how changes in the corporate structure of publishing has changed our literary culture. 
  

Listen to the full interview on Monday, March 14 at 2:30 pm on KPFK, 90.7 FM in Los Angeles, 98.7 FM in Santa Barbara, or online at kpfk.org. 

You'll also get to hear from Terry at the Streetwise book launch party. Hope to see you there! 

The Streetwise Cycle is a proud DIY, independent book by an independent author. It's also part of a larger "indie lit" movement of authors, publishers and booksellers who are doing an end-run around the big New York publishing houses to sell our books directly to our readers. 

I've invited author Terry Wolverton to the book launch party to talk a bit about indie lit: What it is, Why it matters, and How readers can get involved. 

When it comes to literature, Terry has just about done it all. She's the author of eight books, including poetry, novels, nonfiction and a novel-in-poems. Her new novel, Stealing Angel, will be published later this year. She's also edited 14 literary anthologies. Terry spent 13 years at the Woman's Building as an artist, student, teacher and Executive Director. She is the founder of Writers At Work, a creative writing center in LA, where she teaches fiction, creative nonfiction and poetry. She also is an Associate Faculty Mentor in the MFA Writing Program at Antioch University Los Angeles. 

If you care about books, whether you're a writer or reader, you'll want to hear what Terry has to say. 

I didn't pick them because their band name is a punctuation mark - that's just a literary bonus. Ampersand will be busking live outside the Echo Park Film Center before the program begins. 

Ampersand is Rachel Garcia and Thu Tran. They met in the winter of 2006, as students at San Francisco State University, at an open mic night. Tran's songwriting is influenced by pop and folk. Garcia's vocal styles are based in jazz and the blues. It all comes together to create Ampersand’s cheerfully soulful "city folk" sound. 

Ampersand's music ranges across themes and styles, and they always strive to make good-hearted, positive music. Their music is a hybrid of different influences and inspirations, reflecting their diverse musical and cultural backgrounds. 

Get a preview of Ampersand's music on MySpace, follow them on Twitter and become their best friends on Facebook. 

Or come hear them at the party on March 26!