Vroman's bookstore will be invaded tonight by the likes of blogger and first time author Mark Sarvas. Mark is the founder of Elegant Variation an award winning lit site.

The LAT did a little Q&A with him today:

Speaking of rivalries, I see that Steve Almond, who you've attacked in the past, called you, years ago, "a wannabe writer bravely dedicated to long-distance slander." Is that a fair comment?

No, because actually it's libel when it's written: He should learn the difference.

Nice.

Thanks to our sister blog GalleyCat for this. This is part of a promo? Maybe? It's Peggy Seltzer/Margaret B. Jones when she was still playing ghetto.

"I could tell you stories where you would cry and it'll stay with you forever."

True dat!

This photo isn't of the panel. It's of another panel we found on google. We were told not to take photos and we we're trying to not get thrown out.

Panelists at "Agent's Voices" this year were George Borchardt, Sandra Dijkstra, Bonnie Nadell and Betsy Amster (who by this point KNOWS we're stalking her). Kim Dower AKA Kim from LA was the moderator.

The first question was about the state of the publishing industry with the internet and other distractions. It was mentioned that today there's a lot of noise in the industry and it's 'very crowded'. Noting that hundreds of thousands of books are published every year, Nadell said,"It's not that hard to get a book published - it's hard to get attention."

When asked how the panelists find clients all of them admitted it was mainly through referrals. But unsolicited query letters were not discouraged. Amster said that she absolutely goes through the slush pile. "Enough to keep it interesting," she said.

Another trick disclosed was what we call in Hollywood 'buzz'. Writing for magazines and newspapers and (ahem) blogs can start it. "Publish things that have agents coming after you," Dijkstra told the standing room only crowd.

We think it's worth mentioning that this is yet another arena where a popular sex tape could benefit you. But don't call us...we'll call you.

As we reported before Peggy Seltzer's name was brought up again. As was James Frey's. Dower asked the panel,"Will you even consider memoirs anymore?"

All of them nodded yes. Then Dijkstra said,"Truth? What is truth? We have a government that's a complete lie!" Which drew applause.

The Q&A session as expected saw a flood of people rushing to the two microphones.

One man, a self-described new novelist said,"I have gotten rejection letters from half of you panelists." The crowd laughed and we heard one of the agents ask if he carried a gun. He then said he sent out 20 query letters and all of them were rejected. "Oh that's nothing!" A panelist said. "Surely you can try the other two."

Then Amster (who we found out through google - wants you to google her - which felt a little like a scavenger hunt and we're ready for the next clue!) responded to a question by saying that a lot of information can be found on publishersmarketplace.com. The crowd then gave itself away when suddenly 150 pens wriggled simultaneously.

A number of L.A. Observed bloggers, including Veronique de Turenne, will descend upon the L.A. Times Festival of Books this year to speak on panels on topics ranging from non-fiction to surf culture.

We'd give you more details, but we're multi-tasking this week and we've all seen how that is working out for us.

Instead, check out the schedule here.

Carly Milne is a lot of things: Author of Sexography -- a memoir about sexually coming of age. A sexual abuse survivor. A founder of Moxie, a female-content driven web network. A former editor at Yahoo! Canada. An former editor at Adult Video News, and, of course, a blogger.

Now she's a fundraiser -- a controversial one at that.

Milne tells FBLA what it's been like to from writing her way through the world to being written about.

1. How has the media's response to the book been? It's been incredible in some ways, and cautious in others -- and I understand why. When you tell someone you've written a memoirs about your sexual exploits and include that it discusses rape, abuse and assault, people tend to get a little uncomfortable and assume it's a really dark tale. Obviously part of it is, but what I'm really focusing on is how it's a story about survival and finding peace when you don't think there is any... and that's when I'm not recounting the awkward, amusing and downright funny parts of my journey, some of which I think I now wish I hadn't written! But I'm finding that after people read it, they really get it. The most amazing thing has been getting e-mails from survivors who say my story isn't only mirroring
theirs, but helping them change their lives. That blows me away.

2. What's been the most awkward question an interview has posed to you so far? There's not a lot left to feel awkward about when you write a memoirs about nearly every aspect of your sex life!

3. Do you have any book-signings planned? I'm going to be having a signing and launch party at Freddy and Eddy's (12613 Venice Blvd, 877-915-0380) on Thursday, April 24th from 8 - 10 p.m., and I may even get up the courage to read something if I've had enough wine.

John Minervini digs a little deeper into the pre-publication life of Peggy Seltzer, aka Margaret B. Jones, for Willamette Week. He moved in on the eco-activist tip that Kevin Allman had uncovered.

Seltzer was supposed to be the spokesperson for the movement to free Jeff "Free" Luers, but she wasn't exactly a wow. A nameless source said:

Her involvement basically consisted of manipulating people, lying, pitting people against each other, taking on more responsibility than she should have and then dropping the ball on everything completely.

There's so much more to this story than her tawdry little memoir. Wouldn't it be great if some investigative reporter took a look?

Earlier:
Peggy Seltzer/Maragaret B. Jones

Margaret B. Jones/Peggy Seltzer has been living la vida fake for the last 10 years, according to one-time pal, author Inga Muscio who got the bad news from her agent Faye Bender. She writes:

The weekend before last, Faye called me. She said, "Inga, I need you to sit down." This is when I found out that Peggy's entire life for the past decade is a lie. This elaborately constructed life/lie was in place long, long before Peggy ever gave me her writing. As far as I know, her daughter and baby-daddy also believe this life/lie. Everyone who has met her for the past ten years knows her to be the person she describes in the book.

Allegedly Seltzer spun the tale of being a member of the Quinault tribe, via her "bio-dad" and got checks. Hmmm--fraud investigation brewing? We sure hope so. The Quinault number about 2500 on their tribal rolls.

Muscio also writes that Seltzer's editor, Sarah McGrath, took the James Frey incident to heart:

Peggy and I spoke frequently throughout the three years she was working on the book. Not long after the James Frey scandal busted out, she calls me all pissed off. Sarah was "grilling" her about the veracity of her book and Peggy was absolutely indignant.

Muscio answers some more questions from Vanessa Juarez at EW.

Oh, and do read David Mills' comment on her blog--she'd better send him those stickers.

Earlier:
Margaret B. Jones/Peggy Seltzer

One of our favorite bookstores, the 114 year-old Vroman's in Pasadena,` has been named Publishers Weekly's Bookseller of the Year.

Congratulations, Vroman's!

Margaret B. Jones/Peggy Seltzer Scoreboard:

Chicago Tribune
Why they lie

Financial Times
Tall tales of the would-be victim

New York Times
Strong reporting nearly makes up for the initial flabbiness. No dog-pile of op-eds, but did they really need the lame spoof? Good letters to the editor.

Foundation Is Questioned After Memoir Is Exposed
Tracking the Fallout of (Another) Literary Fraud
Gang Memoir, Turning Page, Is Pure Fiction
A Refugee From Gangland
However Mean the Streets, Have an Exit Strategy

Los Angeles Times
Lots of columns and opinions, but with the exception of a couple of quotes from Seltzer's mom and Sandy Banks walking around the 'hood, not much news. Where's the former classmate, the former teacher? Never underestimate the power of googlebait for the MSM.

Caught lying? Shame on you
Authors Rita Williams, Samantha Dunn and Denise Hamilton on literary liars.
Why we fall for the fakes
Why would author label fiction as fact?
Margaret Seltzer's fake memoir
Fact and fiction on L.A.'s mean streets
Margaret B. Jones' foundation appears to be fake
Author admits gang-life 'memoir' was all fiction

Gordon Sayre, the professor at U of Oregon who taught Peggy Seltzer, semi-defends the practice of false memoir writing:

If Peggy's assertion that she had spent part of her childhood on the Quinault reservation was untrue, if the paper she had written about this experience was based on false premises, at least it was backed up by enough research to be convincing.

There's a moral assertion--lying is okay, provided you're good at it. Or else, a professor of Native American literature knows little or nothing about the lives of actual Native Americans.

He then segues into gassing on about the "real scandal" of young men in South Central, a subject on which he is no doubt, equally well-informed. This guy couldn't find his ass with both hands. Betcha Peggy got an A.

Tallulah Bankhead rounds up the book blurbs.

Daniel Mendelsohn explains why all this matters: stolen suffering, via Nancy Rommelmann's expansion on same.

Alas, no movie deal was in place before the news of the fakery broke, and unless the whole backstory is part of the package, there's not likely to be one.

Undercover Black Man has an excerpt from Inga Muscio's book which references Seltzer:

My friend has post-traumatic stress disorder, which is frequently exacerbated by the need, just about every weekend of her adult life, to attend funerals of friends shot down in gang warfare.

Those gang funerals! They just eat up the weekends.

Steve Huff points out that at least one of Seltzer's MySpace pals shares her email address--and thus, probably DNA. (That MySpace page has been modified --check the PDF.)

Earlier:
Margaret B. Jones/Peggy Seltzer