"Game of Thrones" Parenting Lessons + Appearing at LA Times Festival of Books

This essay for Salon was a year in the making, believe it or not: when you count contacting the editor, pitching something that doesn't work, drafting the piece, editing, and re-editing, these things often are. So please check out the whole thing. You don't have to know Game of Thrones to like it; one of the fun things about it was that the editor hadn't seen the show, so it appeals to people who haven't.



In other news, there's a lot going on but the thing that I would love for you to keep in mind (please) is that on September 25, 2012, my next book The Other Normals will be published.



There's a Goodreads contest going on now where you can win an advance copy.



Also, I don't want to get too geeky about this, but Permanent Midnight is one of my favorite books of all time, so I am excited to announce this event:


where: Andrus Gerontology Center, University of Southern California, 699 Exposition Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90089
when: Saturday, April 21 at 10:30am

I will be on a panel with April Smith and Jerry Stahl!

The "Page and Screen" panel will be moderated by LA Times Arts + Entertinment writer Steven Zeitchik. You will need a ticket to enter the panel. Tickets are available here. You might want to get some in advance. I will be signing books after the panel.