1. Too many damn readings…and ours is one of them!

Thursday March 1: Joyland and Dzanc reading at Quimby’s, 7PM, FREE

There is a goofy amount of cool events going on Thursday night. There’s the Rumpus and 826 fundraiser, the Pank party and poets, including Joyland alumni Kate Durbin, taking over a goth club restroom. Our event—featuring fiction from Jeff Parker, Kevin Chong and Chicago’s Eugene Cross and Megan Stielstra—will strategically start sharply at 7PM and as MC I promise to keep the event moving if you make us your starting point.  Thank you to Quimby’s for hosting the event and Dzanc for co-curating.

2. Conference and book fair

They’ll be lots of Joyland faces around the conference itself. Look for Vancouver editor Kevin Chong, Joyland author Megan Stielstra, and contributors aplenty.   During my bartending days I learned that staying in place for 10 hours was a good way to meet everyone in a room at least once, so I’ll be holding down table E23 at the book fair for the week. You’ll be able to buy copies of Retro super-discounted, along with books from our editors and our table co-sponsor ECW Press.

3. Online programming

This week on Joyland look for a special AWP-set story from Megan Stielstra. We’ll also have a fantastic story from one of New York’s best emerging writers, Leopoldine Core. I might post that live from the book table if you’re interested in seeing me struggle with our rich text editor, tapping the keyboard firmly and chanting under my breath: What the fuck? What the fuck?

4. Being broke at a luxury hotel

I’ve actually survived this as a visiting artist a few times before.  Simple tricks include making use of the suite gear, like the coffee maker and fridge, and shopping for food outside of the hotel district. If the hotel charges an absurd amount for wireless—as the hotel in Chicago does—sign up for Boingo or another hot spot service.  The nice thing about an overpriced hotel room is that once word spreads that you have a suite, friends will actually want to visit you. I already have San Francisco doom band Castle stopping in while on tour.