Hi, generous Tuesday Funk fans! You may not be familiar with the name Terri Windling, but she is a major figure in the fantasy publishing world, as an author, illustrator, and especially editor. Health and legal issues have drained the Terri and her family of all financial resources, so the SF/fantasy community is doing what the SF/fantasy community does—banding together to help.

And they're helping by raising money with an online auction called Magick 4 Terri. Literally dozens of publishing professionals—people like Jane Yolen, Cory Doctorow, Holly Black, Ellen Kushner, Charles Vess, Barry Goldblatt—have contributed rare goods and services to be auctioned off to the highest bidder.

Your humble Tuesday Funk co-host has a slate of items up for auction, too—three signed, privately printed copies of my not-yet-published memoir The Accidental Terrorist. You might have heard me read from it on several occasions at past Funk episodes. The manuscript is making the rounds of editors' desks as we speak, but there's a way you, generous Funker, can lay hands on a copy well before anyone else.

All you have to do is bid.

The bidding starts at $100. The three highest bidders walk away with the books, and will also be mentioned the acknowledgment when a commercial edition finally comes out. The bidding has already begun, so what are you waiting for?

Oh, one more thing. The auction closes at 5:00 pm PST on Thursday, December 15th. That gives you just a little over 24 hours to get your bids in. Help Terri Windling, and don't delay. Bid now!

(Click here for more information about the bidding process.)

If you're curious to know more about The Accidental Terrorist, I did an interview about it on Air America back in 2009, when I was serializing an earlier draft as a weekly podcast. Listen to both segments of the interview below:

Doing Time with Ron Kuby, Part 1  (10:35)

Doing Time with Ron Kuby, Part 2  (07:49)

Chicago may be enjoying a brief respite from the bitter cold this week, but somehow we here at Tuesday Funk still seem to want to escape to Paris. We recently shared video of Suzanne Clores's adventures in the modern-day City of Light; now we're pleased to let Holly McDowell carry you away to the Paris of the 1830s in this long-lost segment from our June 21st reading...

And if you want to accompany us through time and space for more great adventures like this one, be sure to join us on Tuesday, January 3rd, when we present Stephen Markley, Lawrence Santoro, Christopher Sweet, and more!

It was a gale-force wind that struck Hopleaf this past Tuesday night. At least, that's what I gather from the way audience members kept telling us they were blown away. We never know quite how any given evening is going to go, but we're happy to report that this latest Tuesday Funk maintained the high quality we've come to expect over the past year. At least in this co-host's humble opinion. If you weren't there, let us tell you a little about what you missed.

Things started strong right out of the gate as Emile Ferris blew us away with a fierce primal scream of a poem. John Klima maintained the buzz as he led us on a trippy journey through three related dreams. And to round out the first half of the show, Hanna Martine raised temperatures with a teaser from her extraordinary paranormal erotica.

After a break for beer and a poem about Bill's trench coat came a high school reunion of sorts. After a powerful excerpt from Patricia Ann McNair's acclaimed new story collection, her former classmate Jody Lynn Nye led us on a funny and thrilling romp through the dark terrain of lycanthropy.

The fact that Patty and Jody go back so far was a synchronicity we didn't discover until after we'd scheduled them on the same bill, which is only one of the many great synchronicities that emerge from any given evening at Tuesday Funk.

But don't worry if you weren't there! We'll be posting video of everyone's performances over the coming days and weeks, so watch this space. And of course Tuesday Funk will continue bringing great readers together throughout 2012, starting January 3rd with strong work from Stephen Markley, Lawrence Santoro, Christopher Sweet, and more, plus another probable Poem By Bill.  Mark your calendar now, because the new year won't properly begin until you've been Funk'd.

This morning on WBEZ, Alison Cuddy of "Eight Forty-Eight" welcomed Patricia Ann McNair as one her guests. Patty talked about her new story collection The Temple of Air. Listen at the link below...

Author Patricia McNair mines Midwestern roots for inspiration

...and then be sure to join us tonight at 7:30 pm upstairs at Hopleaf to hear her read, along with our other guests Jody Lynn Nye, Hanna Martine, John Klima, and Emile Ferris. It's free!

Don't freak out on us, but we're turning 40! That's right. Tuesday Funk, the monthly Chicago reading series where good writing and good beer mix, is about to put on its 40th episode, and we'd like to invite you to celebrate with us. (We considered holding at episode 39 indefinitely, but in the end we decided that just wasn't dignified.)

In honor of the occasion, we'll have five terrific readers for you tonight, though we promised not to reveal which side of the over/under 40 divide they inhabit. And there's beer too—more varieties than we can count (owing to our advanced age). Please join us!

Our esteemed lineup tonight includes Jody Lynn Nye, Patricia Ann McNair, Hanna Martine, John Klima, and Emile Ferris. Plus, we'll throw in one of our patented Poems By Bill just for shits and giggles. So "like" us today on Facebook, arrive early, grab a beer from the bar, and get set for a evening of entertainment that will make you feel young again. Um, unless you're already young, in which case it will just make you feel tipsy.

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.

Tuesday Funk is pleased to announce the announcement by co-host Sara Ross Witt that she and Andrew Witt have welcomed Seamus Arthur Witt into this world. Seamus was born on November 17, and weighed in at 7 lbs 5 oz. All involved are doing well, though Seamus has sent us a note requesting that his mom be excused from hosting duties at Tuesday Funk for the month of December. We think that's fair, and look forward to seeing Sara at the mic again in 2012.

Congratulations to Sara, Andy, and Seamus!

A brand-new short story by your Tuesday Funk co-host William Shunn, "Stand Up," is available now at the group blog This May Get Awkward:

"Stand Up"

TMGA is curated by the estimable JD Adamski, an MVP of Tuesday Funk, and you should check it out on a regular basis. As for Bill's story, it's short.

"Yeah—mothers," said the comedian, running a hand through his sparse hair. "Don't you just hate 'em?"

Uncertain charges of laughter detonated here and there around the club. It was all in the delivery, and in the modest credit he'd accrued up to now with the audience.  [read more]

And for more bittersweet laughs, be sure to join us tomorrow night, on Tuesday, December 6th, when we present Jody Lynn Nye, John Klima, Hanna Martine, Patricia Ann McNair, Emile Ferris, and a new Poem by Bill!

Chicago, if you want to kick off your weekend in an appropriately heady way, might we suggest getting yourself down to The Hideout for December's edition of The Interview Show? Every month, host Mark Bazer welcomes a cross-section of fascinating guests, which tonight includes Alex Shakar, a Writers Workspace member and author of the acclaimed novels Luminarium and The Savage Girl.

Publishers Weekly calls Luminarium a "penetrating look at the uneasy intersection of technology and spirituality... Shakar's blend of the business of cyberspace and the science of enlightenment distinguishes the novel as original and intrepid... Shakar's prose is sharp and hilarious, engendering the reader's faith in the novel's philosophical ambitions. Part Philip K. Dick, part Jonathan Franzen, this radiant work leads you from the unreal to the real so convincingly that you begin to let go of the distinction." You won't want to miss hearing Shakar interviewed live on stage tonight.

With only four more days until our December 6th reading, we want to remind you how Tuesday Funk can transport you out of a cold and dreary Chicago winter to magical places like a summer in Paris. In this segment from our November 1st program, Suzanne Clores reminds us that the best-laid plan is sometimes no plan at all...

And if you want to tag along on more great adventures like this one, be sure to join us on Tuesday, December 6th, when we present Jody Lynn Nye, John Klima, Hanna Martine, Patricia Ann McNair, and Emile Ferris!

Emile Ferris grew up in Chicago and New Mexico. She received a BFA in visual art and an MFA in writing from the School of the Art Institute, where she also received the Toby Devan Lewis Emerging Artist Fellowship in 2010. 

Join us Tuesday, December 6th at 7:30 p.m. to hear Emile read an excerpt from her graphic novel "Dark Brothel" at Hopleaf's upstairs bar!