You may know 42 as the answer to the ultimate question of the meaning of life, the universe, and everything. But for Tuesday Funk it means the ultimate lineup of Julia Borcherts, Lauryn Allison Lewis, Margie Skelly, Dustin Monk, and Lillian Huang Cummins for our amazing 42nd episode. And if you hitch a ride on our literary starship, you'll have your pick of dozens of varieties of cold beer in our warm, cozy control room as we bring you an unparalleled evening of stellar entertainment.

The voyage gets underway Tuesday, February 7, 2012, 7:30 pm, in the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf, 5148 N. Clark St., Chicago. Arrive early, claim a berth on the upstairs deck, and grab a beer from John at the cash-only bar. We start seating at 7:00 pm and no earlier. Admission is always free, but you must be 21 or older. And come early or stay afterward for some great Belgian-style food downstairs.

Please bring plenty of friends, and become a fan of Tuesday Funk on Facebook so you never miss an invitation to our readings. Do you know where your towel is?

Tuesday Funk is proud and excited that the 70th World Science Fiction Convention will be coming to Chicago from August 30 to September 3rd, 2012!

It so happens that our September reading will take place Tuesday, September 4th, 2012, the day after Worldcon ends. We plan to put on an evening of great science fiction readings that night—a veritable Science Fiction Spectacular—which means we need us some great science fiction writers.

If you're a science fiction writer coming to town for Worldcon and you plan to stick around Chicago for an extra day or two afterward, and you'd like to be one of our five readers, please have a look at our guidelines page and drop us a line at tuesdayfunkchicago@gmail.com. We'd love to have you be part of our Speculative Fiction Spectacular. (In fact, today is the day that Worldcon hotel registration opens, so please keep us in mind as you make your plans.)

Please email us by Tuesday, May 22, 2012, to be considered for one of these five September slots. Decisions will be made by Tuesday, June 5, 2012, and announced at the Tuesday Funk reading that evening. In the past we've hosted such names as Jody Lynn Nye, Brenda Cooper, and Steven H Silver, and in the months to come we'll bring you Alex Shakar, Mary Anne Mohanraj, Richard Chwedyk, and more. Want to add your name to that roster? Drop us a line!

And if you're a science fiction fan, please mark September 4th on your calendar. It's going to be a terrific evening!

At our recent January 3rd reading, our guest Lawrence Santoro shared with us this evocative and shocking recipe for "Root Soup, Winter Soup." You may, in fact, be able to hear the gasps from our audience...

And if you enjoyed that, please join us for our next event on Tuesday, February 7, 2012, when we'll bring you great readings from Julia Borcherts, Lauryn Allison Lewis, Margie Skelly, Dustin Monk, and Lillian Huang Cummins.

If you were part of our standing-room crowd at Tuesday Funk this past January 3rd, you probably had not just your socks but your shoes blown off too. It was as strong an evening of readers as we've had at Hopleaf, and we've had some strong ones. (We've also ordered a few strong ones from Johnny at the bar, but that's a different, if simultaneous, story.)

The night started out with a bang as Christopher Sweet took us back to his college days and painted us a funny and discomfiting portrait of "El Amor Brujo." Holly McDowell explored the frustrations of being an ambitious girl in the France of yesteryear, with an excerpt from her novel Farah Minor. And co-host William Shunn showed that he's a "Stand Up" guy with a story about a most unusual comedy performance.

After a break for beer and a poem about Bill's cousin the burglar, we welcomed Lawrence Santoro to the microphone to lead us through a most unsettling recipe for "Root Soup, Winter Soup." Then Stephen Markley finished out the evening by attempting to explain to us (and to his idiot friends) what goes into a book about the process of publishing that book.

But don't worry if you weren't there! We'll be posting video of the evening's performances over the coming days and weeks, so watch this space. And of course Tuesday Funk will be back February 7th with work from Julia Borcherts, Lauryn Allison Lewis, Margie Skelly, Dustin Monk, and Lillian Huang Cummins. Be sure to be there, and strap your shoes on tight.

Come in out of the cold! Tuesday Funk has an amazing show full of warmth and cheer all laid out for its 41st big episode—and maybe a few laughs and chills on tap, too, not to mention all that great Hopleaf beer.

Our cozy yet crackling lineup tonight includes Stephen Markley, Lawrence Santoro, Holly McDowell, Christopher Sweet, and William Shunn, not to mention, if you're lucky, one of our patented bonus Poems By Bill. So "like" us today on Facebook, arrive early, grab one of dozens of varieties of beer from the bar, and get set for a evening of entertainment that will warm the cockles of your heart and make you glad to be alive in 2012.

Start your new year right with Tuesday Funk. Resolve to be there!

Hopleaf is at 5148 N. Clark St. in Chicago. The reading begins at 7:30 pm in the upstairs lounge. The lounge opens at 7:00 pm. Arrive early for a seat!

As always, the upstairs lounge at Hopleaf is cash-only and 21 and over. Remember also that no food can be brought in from the restaurant.

Hey, Chicago writers! Did you start the new year with a resolution to get going on that novel of yours, or on that major article? Do you need a quiet place to write as part of your freelance work, or do you just need to get out of the house to do some writing in the early morning or late at night? The Writers Workspace is here to help!

The Writers Workspace is your writing space, a clean, quiet place where you can get your work done in peace, away from distractions and all those little daily chores that conspire to keep you away from your keyboard. It's also a supportive community of writers who are always willing to chat about the challenges of the writing life over a hot cup of coffee in the kitchen or lounge.

Conveniently located on Broadway near the Bryn Mawr stop on the Red Line, The Writers Workspace is a place for full-time professional writers and for dedicated part-time writers alike. For a reasonable monthly or annual fee, you get access to your private writing paradise when you need it. Workspace members

include Alex Shakar, Terra Brockmann, Don Seiden, Maggie Kast, Zoe Zolbrod, Marianna Swallow, William Shunn, and many of the readers you've seen featured behind the Tuesday Funk microphone at Hopleaf.

Add your name to this distinguished membership roster and kick-start your writing ambitions for the year! The Writers Workspace is located at 5443 N. Broadway, next door to Graham Cracker Comics. You can schedule a tour and a complimentary work visit by calling 773-907-0336, or by dropping by the website at www.writersworkspace.com. Do it!

The Writers Workspace. Community when you want it—peace and quiet when you need it.

You know William Shunn as a co-host of Tuesday Funk, the guy who does those wacky poems every month. But he's also a blogger, a podcaster, a programmer, a designer, an inventor, a collector, a cabinetmaker, a bowler, a moviegoer, a foodie, a traveler, a tinkerer, a priest, an atheist, a curmudgeon, a felon, a photographer, a chauffeur, a skeptic, a rube, a ruffian, a layabout, a lurker, a dilettante, a poseur, a pundit, a primate, an ancestor, an earthling, an alien, a canvas, a convenience, an improvisation, an illusion, and occasionally a writer.

His latest project is a young-adult science fiction novel which currently goes by the name Waking Vishnu, and which you can read a very brief snippet from here. He also wishes you would bug him more about going to the gym.

Please join us to hear Bill read an actual short story on Tuesday, January 3, 2012, at 7:30 pm in Hopleaf's upstairs bar, together with our great lineup of Stephen Markley, Lawrence Santoro, Holly McDowell, and Christopher Sweet!

Holly McDowell was already a writer, an artist, a computer geek and a day trader before she moved to Chicago three months ago. Now, she's also a drinker of glögg, a frequenter of Hopleaf and, most importantly, a collector of boots and winter coats. Her serialized novel series, King Solomon's Wives, begins in 2012. Look for the first episode from Amazon.com and Coliloquy, on e-devices everywhere.

Hear Holly read on Tuesday, January 3, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. at Hopleaf's upstairs bar!

Award-winning writer and narrator, Lawrence Santoro began writing dark tales at age five.

In 2001 his novella "God Screamed and Screamed, Then I Ate Him" was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award.  In 2002, his adaptation and audio production of Gene Wolfe's "The Tree Is My Hat," was also Stoker nominated.

In 2003, his Stoker-recommended "Catching" received Honorable Mention in Ellen Datlow's 17th Annual "Year's Best Fantasy and Horror" anthology.  In 2004, "So Many Tiny Mouths" was cited in the anthology's 18th edition.  In the 20th, his novella, "At Angels Sixteen," from the anthology A DARK AND DEADLY VALLEY, was similarly honored.

Larry's first novel, "Just North of Nowhere," was published in 2007.  A collection of his short fiction, DRINK FOR THE THIRST TO COME, was published in 2011.

He lives in Chicago and is working on two new novels, "Griffon and the Sky Warriors," and "A Mississippi Traveler, or Sam Clemens Tries the Water"

Stop by Larry's blog, At Home in Bluffton at: http://blufftoninthedriftless.blogspot.com/ and his audio website, Santoro Reads, at: http://www.santororeads.com/Home.html

You can friend him at: http://www.facebook.com/lawrence.santoro

Join Tuesday Funk on January 3, 2012, at 7:30 p.m. at Hopleaf's upstairs bar to hear Larry read! 

This past December 6th, Patricia Ann McNair graced our podium to bring us this "Deer Story" from her new collection The Temple of Air, and it went a little like this...

If you liked that, please don't miss our next event which takes place Tuesday, January 3, 2012, and includes readings from Stephen Markley, Lawrence Santoro, Holly McDowell, Christopher Sweet, and William Shunn!