Siel Ju's Blog, page 7

Come say hi at the LA Times Festival of Books 4/21!

The LA Times Festival of Books happens this weekend — and I’d love to see you at a couple events on Saturday, April 21 —

First, a signing: I’ll be at the Red Hen Press Booth (Booth #182 by the Poetry Stage) from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm signing copies of Cake Time!

Then, the reading: I’ll be at the Smoking Hot Indie Lit Lounge (Booth #377) from 3 pm to 4:30 pm for a reading by USC PhD in Literature and Creative writing people. It’ll be me, Diana Arterian, Doug Manuel, Catherine Theis, and Liz John...

See you at Hollywood Hotel and the Last Bookstore

Just a reminder that I’d love to see you at a couple literary events coming up this month:

The Table Presents: Redemption
Sunday, April 15, 2018, 2:30 pm to 5 pm
Hollywood Hotel, 1160 N. Vermont Ave., Los Angeles
Free and open to the public!

L.A. Lit Fic – a book club with Siel Ju
(Facebook event page)
*We’ll discuss Scott O’Connor’s A Perfect Universe — and Scott will drop by at the end to answer Qs & sign books!*
Tuesday, April 17, 7:30 pm
The Last Bookstore, 453 S. Spring St., Los Angeles...

Cake Time celebrates 1 year — April 2018 giveaway

Has it already been a year? Around this time last year I celebrated the release of my first book, Cake Time — and haven’t stopped celebrating since.

And the celebration continues — with a Cake Time giveaway!

First, a bit about the novel-in-stories. When people ask what it’s about, this is what I usually say: It’s about a smart girl who makes risky choices about men and sex in Los Angeles. But here’s a slightly longer description:

Daring yet aimless, smart but slightly strange, Cake Time’s you...

The Table: A Reading series that mentors would-be lit event hosts

So you’d like to start a reading series — but don’t know where to start. Well, now there’s a reading series to help you with that!

The Table Reading Series pairs would-be lit event hosts in need of guidance with more seasoned mentors who have lit event organizing experience under their belt. From planning the reader line-up to budgeting to promoting the event, the newbies get the help they need planning one event for the series, while mentors get to pass on their knowledge and know-how. The...

Why There Are Words LA: A nationwide lit series comes to LA

Lots of cities have great literary reading series — and whenever I happen by one while traveling, I wish there were something like it in L.A. too. Other writers, apparently, have also had this same thought — then actually taken action to make it happen. One San Francisco-area reading series has now spread to seven cities across the United States, from Austin to New York to Los Angeles!

That series is Why There Are Words. Founded by Peg Alford Pursell in Sausalito back in 2010, the series cam...

Chat L.A. fiction with me and Scott O’Connor at LA Lit Fic book club 4/17

Thanks to everyone who came to the very first LA Lit Fic — a new book club on L.A. fiction hosted by The Last Bookstore and moderated by me. We talked about Woman No. 17  by Edan Lepucki, who came by at the end to answer questions, mingle over wine and cheese, and sign books.

Sad you missed it? Then get your ticket now for the next LA Lit Fic — so you have time to read the book! We’re reading Scott O’Connor‘s fantastic short story collection, A Perfect Universe. Published just a couple month...

Hermione Hoby on naivete, trust, and the gradations of love

Every month, I interview an author I admire on her literary firsts.

Does love exist? Can life matter? Would you try to change the past? These are basically the questions I ask the writers I interview, disguised — some better than others — as questions about writing.

And my latest interviewee, Neon in Daylight author Hermione Hoby, was game for all the oddball questions! Also, she taught me a new word. You know those moving walkways in airports that scoot you along like you’re a piece of lugga...

Neon in Daylight by Hermione Hoby — March 2018 giveaway

Move to the big city. Take weird risks. Fuck up. That, in short, is the plot of a lot of my favorite novels — the latest among the Hermione Hoby’s debut novel, Neon In Daylight.

This is a New York coming of age story in the age of Facebook, where you can “friend” anyone you happen to run across — and online stalk their whereabouts aimlessly. Because what else are you going to do if you’re new to the Big Apple and know pretty much no one? Why not obsess about a random teen who bums a smoke off...

Boxwalla’s Lavanya Krishnan on the politics of our pleasure reading picks

Every month, I interview an author I admire on his literary firsts–except this month, I’m interviewing a book subscription box creator.

There’s something strangely enticing about book subscription boxes. Sure, you can buy the books on your own, but you won’t get all the pleasures of having someone buy them for you — the expected yet unexpected package in the mailbox, the joy of unboxing a prettily-wrapped gift, the discovery of books you didn’t pick out for yourself.

With Boxwalla Book Box,...

LA Lit Fic: A new monthly book club party at The Last Bookstore

After blogging about all the great book clubs in L.A., I’m now taking the only logical next step. I’ve teamed up with The Last Bookstore to start a brand new book club on L.A. fiction!

Called LA Lit Fic, this book club will read novels by L.A. writers, or from L.A. presses, or featuring L.A. in a big way. The goal is to get L.A. people reading L.A. fiction — and meeting L.A. writers too!

At each monthly book club party, I hope to have the author her or himself drop at the end to answer burni...