Good-bye and many thanks to the Wordsmiths Books.

One of our favorite independent bookstores Wordsmiths Books in Atlanta has closed its doors - read more here - and we are really sad to learn this. The staff at Wordsmiths were great lovers of writers and independent everything. They were always excited to host readings and had an endless series of fine authors pass through their store. They also invited TBWCYL, Inc. spokersperson Ben Tanzer to read at the store several times and for that we are eternally grateful. It can be hard to quantify the cost to a community when a space like this closes, but we know it is a loss and we know Wordsmiths will be missed.

The Wordsmiths Trifectorate.

Many thanks to our good friends at the always stellar Wordsmiths Books who, in partnership with new best friends BabyGotBooks, have invited us to read from Most Likely You Go Your Way and I'll Go Mine on September 9th when we will be down in Atlanta. They are calling the evening Most Likely You Go to Decatur and I'll Go Too and "Go Your Way..." author and TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer will be joined by not only storytelling rock stars Benji and Will, but alterna-funk rock stars The Extraordinary Contraptions as well. Sounds quite sublime don't you think? We agree, now please join us, won't you?

Looking for some Wordsmiths love.

We have been spending a lot of time lately focused on how much we love ourselves here at TBWCYL, Inc., and while self-love is very important, not to mention a primary focus of this blog, we thought that we should take a moment to look outside of our insulated little universe today and give a big shout-out to our good friends at Wordsmiths Books in Atlanta. They are great supporters of all things independent and they have been wonderful to Lucky Man and TBWCYL, Inc. spokesperson Ben Tanzer. They are however having a hard time with their finances right now, and so we hope that you will consider paying them a visit at their website and maybe even you know making a donation to the cause. Who knows, it might just change your life.

May include content which could be viewed as objectionable - Lucky Man rocks the Wordsmiths and receives big love in return.

Suffice it to say we couldn't have been more thrilled to see this notice posted by Wordsmiths in Atlanta prior to our Lucky Man reading during their "Story-time for Grown Ups" storytelling event last week. We also couldn't have been happier to see the killer turnout. And mainly we want to thank Wordsmiths and Russ Marshalek for their ongoing support. That said, despite getting stuck on the Marta in the not so cool 90 degree Atlanta heat, we had a great time reading at Wordsmiths' most excellent new store, are much appreciative, and for more details on the event, because you know, we like to be as humble as possible, we invite you to please take a moment to read Russ' dispatch on the Wordsmiths blog.

Story-time for Grown Ups, aka, Wordsmiths redux.

Man, the most awesome Wordsmiths Books in Atlanta, and the possibly awesomer Russ Marshalek are either gluttons for punishment or true literary visionaries. We say this, because they have invited TBWCYL, Inc. spokesman and Lucky Man author Ben Tanzer back to do a second Lucky Man reading. You may recall that we had less than a stellar turnout the first time around, ok, no one showed-up, but does this bother Russ, no way, hence Story-time for Grown Ups, in which we will be appearing this Wednesday night at Wordsmiths with a handful of local Atlanta writers and performers doing an adult reading thing. It should be way cool and for more information about the event you can take a look at what Russ has to say about it on the Wordsmiths blog. You can also come out and join us. No, you can, Totally. Just Tivo Top Chef.