Laurie Stolarz, author of Bleed, stops by with her literary soundtrack. The Soundtrack to My Latest Book: Little Earthquakes by Tori Amos. One song title that would make a great book title: Crucify. This would apply to the book I’m currently working on. It’s a companion book to Bleed, which is due out next fall. Coincidentally, I do need a title for this book. Hmm…thanks for the idea. Stolarz, a native of Salem, MA, says that, despite the subjects of some of her writing, she isn’t a witch but that “witches do exist in Salem as well as all...

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At 113 pages, Janet Thornburg’s Rhubarb Pie is about as skinny a story collection as you’ll find, but what this debut collection lacks in length it makes up for in charm. The book opens with the story of a lesbian from San Francisco who lands in Willa Cather’s hometown of Red Cloud, Nebraska, for an annual conference celebrating the life and work of the famously unfriendly writer. Jeanette Pierce quickly regrets her choice of community housing for the conference when she realizes she’s staying next door to a hair salon. Pierce gets caught up in a madcap adventure involving...

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Savannah Knoop, a.k.a. Leroy’s foil, on Larkin Street. Hair: black. The look: slightly upscale grunge. Just read: that potboiler I promised myself, by way of a New Year’s resolution. The title: The Light of Day, by Graham Swift. Featuring: a woman who murders her husband after he ends his affair with a young Croation refugee, a private investigator who falls in love with the murderess, a lesbian daughter who comes to terms with Establishment dad over braised duck. Here, Swift (read an interview at Identity Theory) takes a break from his generally more literary oeuvre to tackle the crime/detective...

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