Grub Street Rag, 7/16/07 (posted late!)

the grub street rag. (Re)writing Boston since 1997.

* Transformable Grub gossip
* Fluid Grub events
* Summer workshops begin this week


"The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon."

-- Robert Cromier


grub street gossip.
Welcome to the Grub Street Rag, a newsletter of the Boston literary scene sent out every Monday by the life-size wax figures at Grub Street's world headquarters. As always, if you are receiving this e-mail in horror, please advance to the bottom of the page to unsubscribe yourself.

6- and 10-week workshops begin this week
This is it, people. Our 6- and 10-week workshops begin this week, and a few of them still have spots available. If you're itchin' to be scribblin' this summer, check out the descriptions for Memoir II, Fiction I, Forms of Poetry, Not Now I'm Writing or our Daytime Exer-Series courses. View the whole schedule, and call us at 617.695.0075 and get yourself registered before time runs out.

And then Grub was ten
On July 27th, join us on the lawn outside Grub Street's headquarters (and inside our office) for barbecue, beer, word games, music, birthday games even a 10-year old would love, face painting, ten-minute tarot, and a reading extravaganza from our 10-year anthology, Hacks. Click here for all the details--if you sign up in advance, your name will be listed on our website and entered into a raffle for free seminars and Grub memberships.

Join us to celebrate Darci Klein's new book
At the 2005 Muse and the Marketplace, Grubbie Darci Klein participated in the Manuscript Mart and met literary agent Sorche Fairbank, who loved her (then-unfinished) memoir so much she signed her on as a client. Now, we're celebrating the recent publication of Darci's dazzling memoir, To Full Term: A Mother's Triumph Over Miscarriage, with a reading and book party at Porter Square Books. Join us for the reading and head over to Christopher's afterwards to raise a glass to Darci's success!

SOFTBALL DEPARTMENT (Brought to you by regular sportscaster, Chris Castellani)
Thunderstruck
Grub Street Word-Slingers 8 TSL Marketing 19

MEDFORD - It was a dark and stormy day at Tufts Park, but for once a ray of hope shined through for the Word-Slingers: they had finally encountered a team as bad as they were. Their opponent's starting pitcher, Some Girl Named Jess, was pulled in the first inning after loading the bases on three walks. Sure outs sailed between the legs of the shortstop or were thrown over the head of the first baseman. By the end of a very long first, Grub was in the lead, and the rain was passing them by.

Either the poor play of TSL inspired the Word-Slingers, or they bloomed at just the right time. Strange things happened - like a home run (from Some Guy Named Dan, who joined the Word-Slingers for one game because they were short a player) and the team's very first double-play. They had a swagger. The Jens (Dupee and LaVin) hit screaming line drives into the outfield, able first baseman Michael Borum went 4-4, shortstop Tom Champoux Jeter-ly gobbled up grounders, pitcher Chris Castellani recorded two strikeouts (one swinging, one looking), and Diana Beaudoin reached base twice.

In the dugout at the bottom of the fifth, the Word-Slingers up 8-5, captain and left-fielder Becky Tuch smiled upon her team with pride. She was about to witness their first victory.

Then the wilting began. First a walk to Some Girl Named Megan. Then balls popping in and out of Word-Slingers' gloves, both at home plate and in the outfield. Then longball after longball after longball from TSL. They got seven runs in the fifth. Seven more in the 7th. The swagger defected, and the Word-Slingers hung their heads in despairing disbelief. They never scored again.

After the game, as TSL gathered on the mound for an exuberant team photo, someone suggested that Grub Street change their name to the Expletives. That sounds about right.

Next game is Sunday, 7/22 at 6pm at Tufts Park vs. The Unexpectables. And because you never know what can happen, expect the - oh, forget it.

Cheers,
Whitney, Chris, Paige and Sonya

Welcome to the end of the e-mail, where, like a flamingo in stilettos, we offer you the chance to win a prize. This week, we're setting ourselves apart by NOT having a quiz question about The-Book-That-Must-Not-Be-Named. Instead, here's a chance to wow me with your memories: What book did you read as a child (fantasy or not) that had the biggest impact on you, and why? I will arbitrarily choose my favorite response. Email your answer to Whitney. Winner receives a gift certificate for ice cream at J.P. Licks.

Answer to last week's quiz: Inman Square is featured in David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest. Winner: Filip Tufvesson.