If you're in the Raleigh area, this weekend is a great one to head over to Quail Ridge Books.

Tonight at 7:30, Lee Smith will read from The Last Girls and The Christmas Letters, both out from Algonquin Books this year. Smith has won the O. Henry Award twice for her fiction, and is Professor Emeritus in English at N.C. State. I wish I could have been there when she was teaching; she's incredibly smart and funny, and her writing always gives you a warm feeling all over.

And on Sunday at 4:00, Reynolds Price will read from Noble Norfleet, which came out from Scribner earlier this year. Price is highly regarded in both academic and literary circles, and has been a Professor in English at Duke University for the past 40 years. He has won the Faulkner Award and the National Critics Circle Award.

So I'll be heading over to Quail Ridge tonight, after having a couple of drinks with co-workers at the Carolina Ale House. I'm also going to try to see Die Another Day tomorrow during the day. Yay! A busy weekend!

Now Reading:
Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Stories Out to Publishers:
11