the librarians, Kiwanis, and community put on a show, in Ambler

We talked about LOVE—but also, mainly, love—in a gorgeous theater in downtown Ambler last night. I have Lauren Smyth, Cheri Fiory, Anne Frank, the Kiwanis Club of Ambler, the Upper Dublin and Wissahickon Valley Public Libraries, Kristine Weatherston, Kristine's Temple documentary film students, those Ambler-ites who shared their stories out loud, Ann Tetrault of Manayunk's The Spiral Bookcase, my husband, my father, and a wide community of others to thank for this evening in which a light mist accumulated outside and time unspooled within.

I believe, as a writer, in opening one's arms. In saying, This world belongs to all of us, and I want to hear your story, too. And oh—we heard their stories.

Ambler is a town worthy of the recognition it is now receiving—bakeries, upscale restaurants, family restaurants, two theaters, two libraries, kind people. I will always be grateful for the invitation that brought me there, and I do plan to return.

Don't think I'll ever see one of my book titles up on a marquee again. I'm keeping that memory.

Read more...

LOVE is chosen as the 2015 Let's Discuss It book by Upper Dublin and Wissahickon Valley Public Libraries

... and we're going to have a lot of fun talking about Philadelphia as an artistic canvas on November 5 at the Ambler Theater. We've invited Temple University student filmmakers to join us, and we're inviting the community (you) to share your memories of Philadelphia, which we'll stitch together in a virtual storytelling quilt. (Enlarge the poster above, and you'll see how you can share your stories.) I'll be reading as well from Love: A Philadelphia Affair.

I hope you'll join us. I've heard only good things about last year's event, which featured Matthew Quick.

Deep thanks to Lauren Smyth and Cheri Fiory, who reached out to me with this extraordinary invitation, and to Kristine Weatherston of Temple University's Department of Media Studies and Production, who gamely responded to my request for work from her students. Kristine and some of her students have also agreed to join us that evening.

Finally, thank you to the Kiwanis Club of Ambler.

Read more...