I am so freaking excited about this! I’m going to be reading at the legendary San Francisco reading series, Writers With Drinks, this Saturday, June 8! Writers With Drinks won “Best Literary Night” from the SF Bay Guardian readers’ poll six years in a row and was named “Best Literary Drinking” by the SF Weekly. The spoken word “variety show” mixes genres to raise money for local worthy causes. The award-winning show includes poetry, stand-up comedy, science fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery, literary fiction, erotica, memoir, zines and blogs in a freewheeling format.

This is something of a big deal: here are just a few of the things people have said about the Writers With Drinks reading series:

BEST VARIETY HOUR, 2013 — Our host, the astonishingly vivacious Charlie Jane Anders, writes about science fiction for io9.com. But Charlie doesn’t hold with genre limitations. WWD features writers from all walks of life … although sometimes you have to check their websites to figure them out, because Charlie’s brilliant and hilarious introductions are also highly fictionalized. WWD is practically an institution: It’s been running since 2001.

-San Francisco Weekly, “Best of San Francisco” Issue

The result is a blend of high- and lowbrow humor, literature and culture that accomplishes what Anything That Moves and Other Magazine once did: defy categories, bring together communities and expose people to new modes of expression. Much of the series’ success results from the well-connected Anders’ ability to mix literary luminaries and newly discovered talents… Not to be overlooked are Anders’ innovative author introductions, which stitch together current events and self-commentary.

-San Francisco Chronicle, Feb. 11, 2010

Back in 2001, writer Charlie Jane Anders set out to create a new kind of reading that jettisoned the idea of a hushed audience hanging reverentially on each carefully-crafted word, replacing it with a lively cabaret night drawing writers from a smorgasbord of genres — poetry to sci-fi to comedy to kids books. On a recent evening, heavyweight storyteller Tobias Wolff mixed it up with slam poet Taylor Mali, New York Times bestselling novelist Lev Grossman and NPR contributor Andrew Lam. Since San Francisco doesn’t slack when it comes to local and national celeb authors, Writers with Drinks often sparkles with names like Lemony Snicket, Armistead Maupin, Andrew Sean Greer, Ayelet Waldman, Vendela Vida and Michelle Tea. So stop in, listen to some fierce words, and chase it with stiff drink.

-JetBlue.com.

So I’m pretty darned excited to be doing this! And I’m in good company — the other readers at this Saturday’s event are Jane Ciabattari, Annalee Newitz, Terry Bisson, Hiya Swanhuyser and Jade Cho. If you’re in the San Francisco Bay Area on Saturday, I hope you can come by! (It’s not a bad idea to get there early, btw — it does sometimes sell out.)

CITY: San Francisco, CA
DATE: Saturday, June 8, 2013
TIME: 7:30 to 9:30 PM, doors open at 6:30
LOCATION: The Make Out Room, 3225 22nd. St., San Francisco
EVENT/ HOSTS: Writers With Drinks
TOPIC: I’ll be reading from my new erotic fiction book, “Bending: Dirty Kinky Stories About Pain, Power, Religion, Unicorns, & More”
OTHER PERFORMERS: Jane Ciabattari, Annalee Newitz, Terry Bisson, Hiya Swanhuyser and Jade Cho
EVENT URL: https://www.facebook.com/events/128268974043306/
COST: $5 to $10 sliding scale, all proceeds benefit the Center for Sex and Culture