Another great night, last night, at Scape Gallery, to celebrate the publication of Aimee Bender and Michael Jaime-Becerra’s new novel. They both gave great talks and readings, books were sold and signed, there was snacks and wine and lemon cake. And the house was filled with writers. See for yourself.

Thanks to C.J. Bahnsen and Travis Barrett for helping with the photos when I wasn’t able. And check out our last event of the season on July 13. An Evening with Agents. More here. The event is sure to sell out so don’t wait too long to register. More details to come, very very soon.

Join us on Tuesday, June 8, for an evening with novelists Aimee Bender and Michael Jaime-Becerra.

Aimee Bender is the author of four books: The Girl in the Flammable Skirt, a New York Times Notable Book of 1998; An Invisible Sign of My Own, a Los Angeles Times pick of 2000; Willful Creatures, which the Believer selected as a best book of 2005; and a new one: The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake. Her short fiction has been published in Granta, GQ, The Paris Review, Tin House, and more, and has been heard on “This American Life” and “Selected Shorts.” She’s a graduate of the UCI MFA program and lives in L.A., where she teaches creative writing at USC.

Michael Jaime-Becerra is a native of El Monte, California, a working-class suburb of Los Angeles. In 2004, his debut collection of inter-related short stories, Every Night Is Ladies’ Night, was published by Rayo, the Latino imprint of HarperCollins. Ladies’ Night garnered glowing reviews from critics nationwide and was also named to lists of the year’s best books by The Washington Post and the San Francisco Chronicle. It was also awarded a California Book Award for a First Work of Fiction. In 2005, The California Report, a statewide radio program, named Jaime-Becerra one of ten Californians to watch in the next decade, a distinction that recognizes the unique nature of his literary voice, as well as his broad vision for California literature. His first novel, This Time Tomorrow, was published in 2010 by Thomas Dunne Books. He teaches creative writing at the University of California, Riverside.

To sign up for this event, click here.

Photo credit: Aimee Bender (photo by Max S. Gerber)

If you’ve taken a class with me, this will be familiar. Or if you’ve read my book, you will know why during at least once a class, I berate my students to stop offering disclaimers for their work. And I’ve probably even written about this here.

A little backstory: We always do freewriting at the beginning of class and, inevitably, one or more students preface reading their freewriting with something to the effect of, This isn’t very good, but here goes.

Now, while we all think at one point or another that what we’re writing stinks, I’m anti-verbalizing this negativity aloud. I even like to get at the thought; when you think what you’re writing isn’t very good, quiet the thought by writing some more, not moving away from your computer or tablet.

It’s nothing new: Negative thoughts influence you, well, negatively. We need to be our own biggest advocate, most enthusiastic supporter. And when you put yourself down, it’s like dousing your biggest supporter with a bucket of cold water.

I usually write on the board: NO DISCLAIMERS. In my private group, I penalize students a quarter for giving a disclaimer. I’m out to eradicate disclaimers, don’t you know.