There are plenty of reasons to mention Dylan Landis and Mary Otis in the same breath. Both write wonderful short stories–dense with careful language, close observation, complex emotion, and a certain mystery. Both were mentored by much-loved teacher, writer, and Santa Monica Review founder Jim Krusoe. Both have connections to Tin House magazine: Mary’s 2007 collection Yes, Yes, Cherries was published by their book division; and the magazine was an early believer in Dylan’s work, publishing two of the stories from her recent collection, Normal People Don’t Live Like This. And the two will appear together, Thurs Nov. 19, 7pm at UCLA’s Hammer Museum.

I’ve been fortunate to become friends with both, and asked them to write a little about the other and throw in some choice quotes from the other’s work:

• Dylan on Mary: The first thing I love about each story Mary Otis writes is that it breathes: her sentences have the same cadences, nervous laughs and tiny stunned silences as her characters–her inner ear is that finely tuned. A second thing I love is that her people get things wrong while trying to get them right; it can leave you weeping, especially in a story like “Unstruck.” A third thing I love is that whatever she describes, it’s always fabulously unfamiliar, as if you’ve never quite seen the world before.

• A Mary Otis sampler: Then he kisses her and her insides unfurl, suddenly beautiful, like a lush bolt of fabric thrown out upon a table (from “Unstruck”). / A woman wearing a business suit hurried by, pulling a piece of luggage that was stamped Useless if Delayed (a passer-by at an airport, from “Triage”). / Iris pretends to wash the pavement with her hair (a frustrated child in “Five-Minute Hearts”).

• Mary on Dylan: There are many things I love about Dylan Landis’ writing, but particularly the blend of elegance and danger. Emotion in her stories is always beneath the surface. Her prose causes me great delight–the beauty of her word choices, her unique and compelling character descriptions. Dylan once mentioned to me something about not starting to describe something until she can “see the grout in the tiles.” I love that, and it’s evident in her writing. Dylan looks long and deep at things, and the precision of her description floors me.

• A Dylan Landis sampler: The Gospel of Angeline Yost is graven into desks with house keys and the blood of Bics; it is written in the glances of girls—low arcs of knowing that span the hallways and ping off the metal lockers (from “Rana Fegrina”). / She had the clipped walk of a person who pared herself to the essentials: muscle, bone, an eye for quality, calcium tablets for the nails, one pair of pumps, polished (from “Normal People Don’t Live Like This”). / Leah, home from school early, caught her mother in the act—fingers rustling in a Whitman’s Sampler, the box all bristly with pleated cups (from “Hate”).

If for some reason you can’t catch this must-attend reading, Dylan is doing two other readings this week: Tues 11/17 7pm at Cal State Long Beach (click on her name above for info); and then Sun 11/22 4pm at Village Books in Pacific Palisades (which includes a discussion on mother/daughter issues such as eating disorders, divorce, and teenage sex).

• A couple of real good readings at UCLA’s Hammer Museum: Wed 11/18 7pm, Tin House regular Yiyun Li; and Thurs 11/19 7pm, in a terrific pairing, two wonderful women and amazing short story writers, Dylan Landis and Mary Otis
• Dylan will be reading again later that week, Sun 11/22 4pm, at Village Books in Pacific Palisades; also at Village Books, LA Times film critic Kenneth Turan, Thurs 11/19 7:30, with a new book about Joe Papp and the Public Theater
• A good month also at the Central Library’s ALOUD Reading Series: Thurs 11/5 8pm, an evening with Orhan Pamuk (this event not at the Library, but at the Aratini/Japan America Theater); Mon 11/9 7pm, Rita Dove; and Tues 11/17 7pm, memoirist Mary Karr with her latest, Lit
• The last show of the year for the Chinatown reading series Vermin on the Mount, Sun 11/8 8pm, featuring Blake Nelson and Alex Espinoza among others
• The year’s last show, as well, for the New Short Fiction Series, Fri 11/18 8pm, a book launch for author Daniel A. Olivas’ new collection, Anywhere But LA
• Sat 11/14 4pm, Tod Goldberg reads from his new collection, Other Resort Cities, at Westwood’s Mystery Bookstore
• Stories Bookstore/Cafe in Echo Park co-sponsors Amiri Baraka, accompanied by live jazz, Sat 11/14 5pm, at The Echo
• Skylight Books in Los Feliz celebrates National Bookstore Day, Sat 11/7 2-4pm, which will feature folks from other area bookstores, including Doug Dutton of Dutton’s Books–a great way to celebrate bookstores past and present; Sat 11/14 5pm, Patrice Weitz with her debut, College Girl (Nick Flynn describes the novel’s heroine as “a philosopher of heartbreak and redemption”); and Sun 11/22 4pm, Michelle Huneven with her memoir Blame (10% of proceeds go toward the substance abuse center Phoenix House)
• And finally, at Book Soup: Thurs 11/5 9pm, intriguing for the title alone, Empty the Sun, a novel by Joseph Mattson (also reading at Vermin that Sunday), which includes a CD of music that inspired the book; Sun 11/8 1:30, Jonathan Safran Foer, with Eating Animals; Sun 11/15 6pm, noted rock critic Robert Hilburn (the only journalist to visit Folsom Prison with Johnny Cash) presents Corn Flakes with John Lennon: And Other Tales from a Rock ‘n’ Roll Life; and Mon 11/16 7:30, Book Soup takes care of sales at a rare local appearance by Barbara Kingsolver, reading from her new novel The Lacuna (this event is hosted by Writers Bloc and takes place at the Writer’s Guild)

• I attended a good reading the other night at Skylight Books, featuring selections from Dzanc’s new Best of the Web 2009 anthology. There are selections from some of the more established online journals like failbetter and Juked, print journals like AGNI with online companions–and still others like Toasted Cheese and Hot Metal Bridge that are new to me. Dzanc is fast becoming a force in independent publishing–under their own imprint, as well Other Voices, Black Lawrence, Monkeybicycle, and their new online mag The Collagist.
• One of the featured readers was Lou Mathews, whose nominated story “Huevos” was published last year in failbetter. It’s also a Halloween story, which makes it timely–though not for the faint of heart, and not one to read to the kids.
• Great review (and well-deserved) in the LA Times the other day of Dylan Landis’ new collection Normal People Don’t Live Like This.

Finally, a few late additions to my October Literary LA Calendar:

• At Stories Bookstore/Cafe in Echo Park: Sat Oct 24 7-10, spooky stories, spooky sounds, pumpkin-carving, fortune-telling & more; Tues Oct 27 3pm, indie music faves Tegan & Sara will meet fan and sign merchandise
• Sun Oct 25 6pm, Tongue & Groove at the Hotel Cafe presents “The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly” with Rachel Resnick and Seth Greenland among others
• Finally, Sun Oct 25 3pm, Tod Goldberg has the official release party for his new collection, Other Resort Cities at Borders in Westwood

This month’s installment of the New Short Fiction Series (which presents fiction by West Coast writers in dramatic readings by local actors of screen & stage) features work by Andrew Roe. Andrew has some impressive publishing credits, with stories in journals that include Tin House, One Story, Glimmer Train, Failbetter, Night Train, and the Cincinnati Review. Two new stories were published in the last week alone! He has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Click on his name to visit his blog, where you’ll find links to a number of the stories.

Pieces will be read by Series founder Sally Shore; Alain Benatar (Passions); Mathew Thomas Lange (Truth Hall); and Lynne Oropeza (Magnolia, X-Files). The show is at the Beverly Hills Public Library, 444 North Rexford Drive. Show at 8, doors at 7:30. $10 donation, free parking.

… is a very cool site I’ve written about before. They invite editors of online journals, or print journals with online content, to nominate a favorite story from their archives. When a story is chosen, the editor introduces both the journal and the story, and a guest reviewer writes a short review, followed by a short bio. So you get introduced to a journal you may not know, and likely two writers as well. And it’s all about celebrating great short stories.

This month, I review Raleigh Holiday’s “Artificial Light,” a story published in Wag’s Revue.

• At Skylight Books in Los Feliz: Mon 10/5 7:30 - Kathryn Ma and her Iowa Short Fiction-winning All That Work and Still No Boys; Wed 10/7, 7:30 - Francine Prose with a new book about Anne Frank; Tues 10/13, 7:30 – James Ellroy, Blood’s a Rover; Wed 10/14, 7:30 - popular UCLA Extension instructor Les Plesko with a new novel, Slow Lie Detector; Sat 10/17, 4pm - Skylight Salon: the well-read staff present favorite small-press titles, with wine & snacks; Tues 10/20, 7:30 - Dzanc, one of my favorite indie presses, with their 2008 ‘Best of the Web’ anthology

• Echo Park’s Stories Bookstore/Cafe has a number of regular events, including poetry on the 2nd and 4th Friday–sign up for their newsletter to get the whole scoop; this month’s events include Lydia Lunch, Tues 10/6, 8pm; they open early and serve good coffee and a range of breakfast & lunch items

• Book Soup in West Hollywood is packed this month: Sat 10/3, 2pm - Francesca Lia Block with Pretty Dead; and at 7:30, Sarah Schulman with her new futuristic novel, The Mere Future; Sat 10/10, 5pm - Dan Fante, 86′d; Mon 10/19, 7pm - Sarah Vowell, The Wordy Shipmates; Sun 10/20, 7pm – Robin D.G. Kelly with a new bio of Thelonius Monk

• Additionally, Book Soup is selling books at a number of big-time author appearances at various locations: Tues 10/6, 7:30pm - Nick Hornby at Skirball; Fri 10/9, 8pm - Margaret Atwood at Royce Hall (UCLA Live); Sun 10/18 5pm – E.L. Doctorow at Writers Bloc; Thurs 10/29, 8pm – Robert Crumb, Royce Hall, UCLA Live

• Tues 10/6, 8pm - Word Theatre presents stories by Dan Chaon, with the author himself reading from his new novel, Await Your Reply

• Fri 10/9, 8pm - the New Short Fiction Series presents the stories of Andrew Roe

• At The Hammer at UCLA this month: Tues 10/6 7pm – Michelle Huneven; Thurs 10/15 7pm - Jean Thompson

• At Vroman’s in Pasadena: Tues 10/6, 7pm – Dan Chaon with his new novel, Await Your Reply; Thurs 10/15, 6pm – Jane Smiley, The Georges and the Jewels; Tues 10/20, 7pm – A.S. Byatt, The Children’s Book

Last night I went to a wonderful reading at Diesel Bookstore in Brentwood: Dylan Landis, reading from her new novel-in-stories, Normal People Don’t Live Like This. As a writer working on a novel-in-stories myself, one also centered on a difficult and complicated female character, and who’s been exposed to some of Dylan’s work, I have been keenly awaiting the arrival of this book.

Dylan read from the story “Underwater,” which revolves around, among other things, a charged friendship between the main character, teen-aged Leah, and her bad-girl friend Angeline. When Angeline brags to other girls how smart Leah is, “Leah glows as if Angeline has put a match to her.” They have one kind of dynamic in a group: “but when they are alone together Angeline is a knife under folds of silk and Leah can’t look away.”

More on Normal People Don’t Live Like This after I’ve had a chance to read the book cover to cover. Some of the stories have been previously published in journals like Tin House, Bomb, Night Train, Santa Monica Review, and St. Petersburg Review. The book has been praised by writers like Janet Fitch (White Oleander) and Elizabeth Strout (the Pulitzer-winning Olive Kitteridge).

• Skylight Books in Los Feliz has a busy month, including: 9/7 7:30 – Candacy Taylor, Counter Culture: The American Coffee Shop Waitress; 9/10 7:30 – poet Kim Addonizio, Lucifer at the Starlite; 9/11 7:30 – Peter Gadol with his locally set novel Silver Lake; Sat 9/19 4pm – Skylight Literary Salon (wine & cheese & booktalk), this month looking at indie Graphic Novels; 9/20 5pm – Eileen Myles and her essay collection The Importance of Being Iceland; 9/24 7:30 – Stephen Elliott with his latest, The Adderall Diaries; plus two events featuring new titles from Chronicle Books, who regularly put out beautiful books; check the website and sign up for their newsletter

• If you haven’t yet visited Stories Bookstore/Cafe in Echo Park, this month presents a couple of good opportunities: an Open House Sat 9/12 6pm; or stop in Mon 9/14 7pm during the Taste of Echo Park; more events TBA; visit the website and sign up for their newsletter

• On Fri 9/11 8pm, the New Short Fiction Series features stories by Bibi Brock Davis, a long-time Contributing Editor at California Homes who has recently turned her hand to fiction, and with considerable success: winning the Southwest Writers Competition, and appearing in two University of California/ Irvine anthologies; become a fan on Facebook and help spread the word about this lively performance series; Beverly Hills Public Library, 444 N. Rexford Drive

• At Book Soup in West Hollywood: 9/3 9:30 – founding father of Black American cinema Melvin Van Peebles with Confessions of a Ex-Doofus Itchyfooted Mutha; 9/17 9:30 – David Cross, I Drink for a Reason; 9/27 4pm – Tao Lin, Shoplifting from American Apparel

• At Pasadena’s Vroman’s Bookstore: 9/3 7pm – Michelle Huneven with Blame; 9/15 7pm – California historian Kevin Starr with his latest, Golden Dreams

• I haven’t written too much here about Diesel Bookstore and their new store in the Brentwood Country Mart at 26th and San Vicente–in part because they’re just down the street from the old Dutton’s, and that’s still a fresh wound. But on Tues 9/22 7pm, they’re hosting an event that’s at the top of my September calendar: Dylan Landis reading from her new short story collection Normal People Don’t Live Like This. Her stories have been published in places like Tin House and Bomb; Vanity Fair recently hailed her characters as “blessedly extraordinary”; and 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout declares the book a “wonderful, intriguing, and original debut.”

• Last but not least, on Sun 9/27 6pm at the Hotel Cafe in Hollywood, Tongue & Groove closes out the month in style with a line-up that includes my teacher and mentor Lou Mathews

I don’t write to music. For me, silence is the mother of sound, as to dancers and actors stillness is the mother of movement (and stillness can bear some fine fruit to the writer as well). But music stirs me in unique ways. And song, with its particular marriage of music & word, has a singular ability to jar us, transport us, and set us down in unexpected territory. So I often turn to music and song for beginnings, or just to be shook from old stale patterns. I wrote here recently about a newly-published story inspired by a Jen Trynin lyric. And one of my favorite stories-in-progress is bookended with lines from a Throwing Muses song (no one need suffer writer’s block with Kristin Hersh around).

Joe Henry is a songwriter’s songwriter–and a writer’s songwriter. You’ve likely heard his lyrics: sister-in-law Madonna re-recorded his song ‘Stop’ as ‘Don’t Tell Me’ (Tell the bed not to lay like the mouth of an open grave/ Not to stare up at me like a calf on its knees.) Outside that he’s little known, if in certain circles widely revered. His new CD Blood From Stars is his best since 2001’s Scar, his other masterpiece. Though one review declares it his most jazz-influenced recording (true, it features jazz luminaries like Marc Ribot and Jason Moran), it is the blues that animates Blood. No major songwriter since Dylan has so relentlessly mined the blues–and its core tension between repetition and variation. (Which listeners of Charles D’Ambrosio’s recent craft lecture at Tin House will recognize as essential to fiction as well.)

The music is amazing, as are the lyrics, some of Henry’s best:

• Now there’s a cut on my cheek that I can’t leave alone / I reach it to find just how close to the bone / Does my skin and my blood allow me to dare / To live in the word of my every prayer
  
• True revelation is a thug and it comes with narrow grey eyes not the rolling of drums / It may take your hand but is seeking your thumbs
• and from his liner notes, describing an antique marching drum used on the CD: I know that sounds like thunder. Or a great sack of walnuts dropped on the hood of a Crown Victoria. Or like Fats Waller taking a fall down a flight of stairs into a damp alley, bottle caps stuck to his heels…

One of my favorite new online journals, Five Chapters, each week serializes a new short story over five days. (This spring they moved to WordPress, with a much-improved design.) From the start, founder Dave Daley (a former Details editor) has attracted some impressive names. (More from Dave HERE in a good interview with Dan Wickett of the Emerging Writers Network.) They end the summer with a flurry: fifteen stories in fifteen days, starting today. Featured authors include Lori Ostlund (winner of this year’s Flannery O’Connor Prize), and Tod Goldberg (whose collection Other Resort Cities is due soon from Other Voices).