• BASS: Total Science plays LA party Respect -- video
  
  Drum & Bass duo Total Science, whose birthnames are Paul Smith and Jason Greenhalgh, helped spread the genre to global audiences through a series of albums in the mid 1990s when DNB was in its early stages. This decade the English DJ/producers have continued driving DNB with their fast and fluid tracks backed by ripping basslines, many of which are mixed into the weekly DNB sets during the WORD’N’BASS Show. Total Science, who’ve recorded on top DNB labels like Breakbeat Science, Metalheadz and Good Looking among others, recently played the regular party Respect in Los Angeles -- which DrumNBass TV put online in crisp sound and video. Watch Now
  
• WORD: Embracing online exodus, Penguin launches website channels
  By BPM Smith
  
  Penguin Group USA launched a new series of online channels at its website today that includes video interviews, author readings, audio discussions of the classics and excerpts from its latest releases in a bid to grab the attention of readers who are increasingly on the Internet. Read More
  
• WORD: Scribd inks deal with Simon & Schuster to sell eBooks
  Press Release
  
  Scribd, the world's largest social publishing company, and Simon & Schuster, a leading global publisher, today announced an agreement to sell Simon & Schuster eBooks in the Scribd Store, an e-commerce destination and publishing marketplace launched last month to complement Scribd's already-popular platform for users' sharing their written works. At launch, nearly 5,000 Simon & Schuster eBook titles will be available on Scribd for purchase and download, making them readable on Scribd.com, computer desktops and various mobile devices. Read More
  
• WORD: Litquake welcomes Lewis Black June 28 in fundraiser event
  Edited Press Release
   
  For its biggest fundraiser of the year, San Francisco literary festival Litquake announced that comedian, actor, author and Daily Show contributor Lewis Black will perform on June 28 in the first of several Litfest events taking place through August. The performance is Black’s only Bay Area appearance to promote his bestselling book "Me of Little Faith" (Riverhead Books) that was just released in paperback. Read More
  
• BASS: Ripple, Dub Pirates, 16bit play Submelt party in Oakland June 6
  
  Party promoter Full Melt announced that a Breaks and beats event featuring nearly two dozen DJs from around the world is happening at SUBMELT, a rare 18-and-up event with three rooms of music, a juice bar, "heady" foods and massage chairs tonight (Saturday, June 6) at an underground location in Oakland, CA. Local beatmasters Plum Loco and Ripple (with MC Chronic), 16bit from the UK, Dub Pirates, Dr. Spook and Rastatronic are just a few of the DJs performing from 10 pm to 6 am Sunday. Call 530-575-6293 to get the location and further information.
  
• WORD: Marilynne Robinson wins 2009 Orange Prize for Fiction
  Edited Press Release
  
  American author Marilynne Robinson can add another major award to her growing list of accolades now that she's won the fourteenth Orange Prize for Fiction with her third novel "Home" (Virago). At an awards ceremony in London, hosted by Orange Prize for Fiction Co-Founder and Honorary Director Kate Mosse, Robinson received a £30,000 prize and the ‘Bessie,’ the award's traditional limited-edition bronze figurine. Read More
  
• BASS: Nervous Records tabs Oscar G for artist album 'DJ' (de'ja') - with audio
  Edited Press Release
  
  At a time when most dance labels are cutting costs, stripping back and going digital only, Nervous Records is doing the opposite with Oscar G’s new three-disc effort, "DJ" (de'ja'). Oscar’s project comes without the influence or suggestions of hit-making Nervous Records, the label said. WORD'N'BASS obtained samples of Oscar's latest House music tracks from his upcoming album, which includes a disc of new productions, a live mix and a DVD of Oscar G in concert. Read More
  
• WORD: Dennis Cooper kicks of Word for Word reading series in NYC
  Edited Press Release
  
  At New York City's Bryant Park Reading Room, acclaimed writer Dennis Cooper makes a rare appearance to talk with Tony O’Neill (formerly with the Brian Jones Massacre) about his new short story collection "Ugly Man" (Harper Perennial) that plumbs veins of dark humor amid the sex and gore his fans have come to expect. Other authors appearing through June include Christopher Buckley, Simon Van Booy and Monica Ali. Read More
  
• BASS: Voting, tour underway for fourth annual 'America's Best DJ' title
  Edited Press Release
  
  Pioneer Pro DJ and DJ Times magazine announced the launch of the fourth annual America’s Best DJ (ABDJ) competition and summer tour. The San Francisco Bay Area's DJ Shadow, Kaskade and Danny Tenagalia are among the top 10 in the ABDJ current standings while House music DJs Roger Sanchez (picitured) and SoCal's DJ Dan are making moves in the standings. Read More
  
• WORD: Authors Egan Gibson, Harwood read at SF Bay Area bookstores
  
  Two Bay Area authors are reading at local bookstores this week. Tanya Egan Gibson will read from her debut novel "How to Buy a Love of Reading" (Dutton) at A Great Good Place For Books in Montclair, located at 6120 LaSalle Avenue, this Thursday, May 21, at 7 pm. She'll follow with appearances in New York City during June. Checkout her website for more information... Seth Harwood, who first released chapters of his novel "Jack Wakes Up" via podcast before Random House picked it up, will do 7 pm readings at M is for Mystery in San Mateo on Tuesday, May 19 and Thursday, May 21, at Books Inc., located at 601 Van Ness in The City. "Jack" is about a one-time Hollywood star trying to cash in on his waning celebrity in San Francisco.
  
• BASS: DJ Ralphi killer going to prison
  
  The family of DJ Ralphi finally has justice. Former professional boxer "Fast" Freddie Cadena, a convicted felon and wife beater, copped a plea bargain for killing popular club DJ Ralph Falcon, according to New Jersey newspaper reports. Falcon, who was known on the club circuit as DJ Ralphi (pictured left), died on October 25, 2005, nine days after Cadena sucker punched him outside a club where he was performing. DJ Raphi left behind a four-year-old son. Meanwhile, Cadena, once a top boxing prospect who became a perp with four felony convictions on his record including assault, contempt of court, domestic violence and now manslaughter, faces up to 13 years in prison when he's sentenced in July. Cadena had recently gotten out of jail for beating the mother of his children when he killed DJ Ralphi -- who was dating the woman at the time.
  
• WORD: Elmore Leonard launches 43rd novel 'Road Dogs'
  
  Famed literary crime novelist Elmore Leonard today launched his latest novel "Road Dogs" (HarperCollins imprint William Morrow) at the Lincoln Square Barnes & Noble in New York City, where he kicked off a six city tour. Road Dogs has Leonard's trademark tight plot and snappy dialogue, and includes several characters longtime Leonard fans will recognize from his prior novels. Read More
  
• REVIEW: Brian D’Amato is back, and the Apocalypse is coming
  Review by BPM Smith
  DUTTON, 649 PAGES; HARDCOVER; $29.95
  
  After a hiatus of more than a decade, Brian D’Amato is finally back with his sophomore novel "In the Courts of the Sun" (Dutton) that is equal parts literary exodus, science fiction and thriller, and oh yes -- don’t forget about the Apocalypse that is coming in the not-too-distant future. Read More
  
• WORD: Poet Craig Arnold 1967-2009
  
  The mystery of what happened to award-winning poet Craig Arnold has been solved and unfortunately it's not good news. Arnold died after falling off a cliff while hiking on the Japanese island of Kuchinoerabu, according to the University of Wyoming, where he was a professor in the English Literature department.  Read More
  
• BASS: Peter Kruder releases ‘Visions Ltd’ EP
  Edited Press Release
  
  Peter Kruder, one half of the legendary duo Kruder & Dorfmeister, has launced a melodious EP through International Deejay Gigolo Records that marks his first 12" release in several years. The title track ‘Visions LTD’ is a soundscape of dance floor dreams -- soft yet progressive, a track that commands you to dance. Read More
  
• WORD: 7 Stories Press publishes Nelson Algren 'lost novel'
  Edited Press Release
  
  To mark Nelson Algren's centennial birthday, 7 Stories Press announced it has published "Entrapment and Other Writings," a book that includes a long-lost unfinished novel and previously unpublished or uncollected stories, poems, and essays. Read More
  
• WORD: ABA announces 2009 Indies Choice Book Award Winners
  Edited Press Release
  
  The American Booksellers Association announced the winners of the inaugural Indies Choice Book Awards. Formerly the Book Sense Book of the Year Awards, the new Indies Choice Book Awards reflect the spirit of independent bookstores nationwide through new categories and a broader range of winners and honor books. Read More
  
• AUDIO: BPM Smith mixes special 420 Drum 'N' Bass set
  
  Continuing the annual tradition here at WORD'N'BASS, BPM Smith mixed a special 420 Drum 'N' Bass set for DNB heads who are lighting up in their silk smoker jackets and green tinted shades. After a Star Encounters intro, BPM Smith keeps the beats slower than usual with producers Flytronix, Electrosoul System, D-Bridge, Calbre and some surprisingly chilled out Noisia -- against a backdrop of a DJ Hell interlude and spaced out effects throughout. This set's dedicated to the Martians of Earth. Listen Now
  
• BASS: Record Store Day celbrates indie stores, vinyl culture
   
  Today, hundreds of independently-owned music stores around America will participate in Record Store Day to celebrate the culture and unique place they occupy both in their local communities and nationally. In the San Francisco Bay Area, stores like Amoeba Records and Rasputin Music are going to be bustling as they play host to live music acts and promotional giveaways. Read More
  
• BASS: Christopher Lawrence, Thievery Corp and Crystal Method on Coachella lineup
  Edited Press Release
  
  Best known for rock headliners Paul McCartney, The Killers and The Cure, this year's Coachella music festival in SoCal has several top electronic music acts including Christopher Lawrence (pictured), Thievery Corp and Crystal Method playing this weekend. Read More
  
• BASS: DJ Take mixes ambient Downtempo set
  
  Los Angeles based DJ Take, whose birthname is Sweatson Klank, recently mixed a live set of Downtempo and broken beats where he works in a ton of effects from loops to flanger, echos and some subtle turntable scratching. This set, which originally ran at indie online radio site Dublab, is sure to inspire daydreams and visions of ice cold martinis, slippers and incense in an ancient forest. Watch for his upcoming mix cd called "Sweatson's Trajectory" that's set for release in May 2009. Listen Now
  
• WORD: Lisa McMann 'Fade' book tour hits SF Bay, ends in NYC
  
  Lisa McMann's nationwide book tour in support of her bestselling novel "Fade" (Simon Pulse) touches down in the San Francisco Bay Area this week, when she's appearing in El Cerrito and Petaluma. Fade has gotten considerable buzz for its romantic paranormal elements geared to teen readers. Read More
  
• BASS: Nic Fanciulli helms first installment of Global Underground's new mix CD series
  Edited Press Release
  
  The ever pioneering dance music record label Global Underground is proud to  present its brand new Global Underground DJ Series. This new sonic adventure is all about putting the power in the hands of the DJ to take the listener on a complete introspective musical journey across two discs. Read More
  
• BASS: The World of Drum & Bass reaches San Francisco
  
  The World of Drum & Bass, a party series that’s brought top DNB performers to venues around the world for 10 years, is touching down on The City this Friday, March 20 with a bevy of UK DJs including Chase & Status, DJ SS, Bailey, Kenny Ken, Influx and A.I. as they celebrate a decade of heavy bass. Playing alongside their offshore counterparts are several local DJs and MCs including Sharp, Sam Supa, The Colonel MC and Audio Angel. MC Tali, MC Biggie and Axiom MC will also perform at this massive gathering that Compression and Formation Recs will put on at Temple, located at 540 Howard Street. Pre-sale tickets for $20 are available at WantTickets.com. For a sample of what to expect Friday, check out The World of Drum & Bass Miami.
  
• WORD: Karen Dionne follows 'Freezing Point' momentum with new novel
  
  What sophomore slump? Just months after the launch of environmental thriller "Freezing Point," debut novelist Karen Dionne has a deal for her sophomore work after literary agent Jeff Kleinman sold her second environmental thriller "Boiling Point" to publisher Berkley, Karen told WORD'N'BASS.com. For Karen, the deal continues her dream of becoming a career thriller author focused on scientific and environmental issues. Read More
  
• BASS: A Sides headlines St. Patrick’s Day DNB party
  
  London-based DJ/producer A Sides, one of the true maestros in Drum & Bass, is playing San Francisco on St. Patrick’s Day (Tuesday, Mar. 17) at Underground SF, where he headlines a JungleCode/Shelter party with MC Duh holding down the mic. A Sides, who has released over 500 tracks since he began producing music in 1990, established Eastside Records in 1996. Since then the lablel has launched over 75 releases plus two compilation albums (Eastside Jamz Vol 1 & Vol.2) as well as A Sides' solo album "Follow The Groove." A Sides, who returns to The City for the first time in four years, has had his material released on many iconic labels such as Metalheadz, True Playaz, Liq-weed Ganja and Hospital, among others. Opening acts include The Heights, Big Sounds, and Jet and Noah playing a tag team set. The 21-and-up show runs from 10 pm to 2 am with just a $5 cover. Underground SF is located at 424 Haight Street. Wear green or you'll get pinched!
  
• WORD: Novelist Robert Arrelano launches 'Havana Lunar'
  Edited Press Release
  
  Fresh off the press comes "Havana Lunar," an intriguing Cuban noir novel by Robert Arellano that publisher Akashic Books describes as a literary crime novel on the last island of Socialism set during a period of intense desperation. Arellano has readings slated in New York City and San Francisco in support of this March 2009 release that is set during one hungry, hallucinatory night in the heart of Havana. Read More
  
• BASS: UK Dubstep DJ Reso plays SF club Paradise Lounge
  
  UK DJ/producer Reso, who has already smashed his way through the swathes of middle-of-the-road Dubstep producers to take his place as one of the scene's most original and technical artists at just 25 years old, plays San Francisco club Paradise Lounge tonight (Thursday, Mar. 12). His anthems such as the seminal "2 Faced Rasta" remix and more recently "If You Can't Beat 'Em" enjoy regular rotation from the likes of Rusko, Benga, N- Type and breaks icon Freq Nasty, Full Melt Recordings noted in a press release. Local DJs Ripple and Blackheart will open the 21-and-up show, which runs form 9 pm to 2 am. Presale tickets are available for $5 here. Cover is $10 at the door.
  
• BASS: DJ Hell to release new artist CD 'Teufelswerk'
  Edited Press Release
  
  Visionary artist and International Deejay Gigolo founder DJ Hell will release his masterpiece "Teufelswerk" (German for "Devil's Work") this April, the record label announced. Across 16 exquisite tracks divided into two themes, "Night" and "Day," DJ Hell weaves an intoxicating spell while collaborating with renowned artists such as Bryan Ferry, P. Diddy and Peter Kruder of the famous Kruder and Dorfmeister duo. Read More
  
• WORD: Marsal Lyon Literary Agency opens shop, reps genre fiction and NF
  
  In the latest case in which literary agents departed from an established house to form a new venture, Kevan Lyon and Jill Marsal have left Sandra Dijkstra Agency to start up Marsal Lyon Literary Agency LLC. Authors will be interested to know they've also put out a call for submisions. Read More
  
• WORD: ABA announces finalists for 2009 Indies Choice Book Awards
  Press Release
  
  The American Booksellers Association unveiled the finalists for the inaugural Indies Choice Book Awards, reflecting the spirit of independent bookstores and the IndieBound movement. Voting to choose the winners in seven categories is now open to the owners and staff at all ABA member bookstores. Read More
  
• AUDIO: The WORD'N'BASS Show's Internet stream is back
  
  The WORD'N'BASS Show, broadcast on 104.1 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2002, is once again streamed live on the Internet. The stream went on temporary hiatus due to technical issues, which did not impact the archived sets on BPM Smith's DJ page. During the program, he mixes Downtempo Electronica and Drum 'N' Bass sets from 10 pm to 12 midnight PST on Friday nights. Click here for more information about 104.1 FM as well as the full schedule of DJs and programs. Here is the real-time stream from the 104.1 FM studio, which broadcasts 24/7. Listen Now
  
• BASS: Volko and Prohypnol drop hardcore DNB, techno bass
  
  Hungarian record label Black Hoe Alimony announced its latest Drum & Bass releases Project:V8 is ready to conquer the global DNB and techno scenes. Two thirds of the brand new Hungarian formation -- Volko and Prohypnol -- appear with two serious cutthroat tunes. Read More
  
• WORD: American Booksellers Association to launch Indies Choice Book Awards
  Edited Press Release
  
  This spring, the American Booksellers Association will launch a new awards program -- the Indies Choice Book Awards. Indie booksellers will select winners in seven categories highlighting the type of books that indie booksellers champion best. The Indies Choice Book Awards, which supersede the Book Sense Book of the Year Awards, reflect the spirit of ABA member booksellers in the IndieBound movement and their dedication to handselling unique, thought-provoking, engaging fiction and nonfiction, children's and YA titles. Read More
  
• BASS: Kikumoto Allstars 'House Music' EP slated for release
  Press Release
  
  Heading up his forthcoming Gigolo album release,'House Music', coming in May 2009, Australia's Kikumoto Allstars brings his second single release to DJ Hell’s International Deejay Gigolo imprint: The‘House Music’ EP. Read More
  
• AUDIO: DJ Noah spins Drum 'N' Bass set
  
  DJ Noah is a resident with San Francisco crew JungleCode whose style is fast, fluid and dark with powerful bass lines. DJ Noah, whose birth name is Noah Krause, recorded a Drum 'N' Bass set at the JungleCode studio that WORD'N'BASS is pleased to share with readers. DJ Noah opens this set with the churning beats of longtime faves Psidream and Pacific, then settles into rapid fire DNB bombs ranging from American producers such as AK1200 and Gridlok to offshore counterparts Jade and Vicious Circle. Listen Now
  
• WORD: Jenny Gardiner inks Simon & Schuster deal
  
  Author Jenny Gardiner said yesterday that her literary agent Holly Root of the Waxman Literary Agency sold her humorous memoir, "Parrothood: Twenty Years of Caring for a Vengeful Bird Determined to Kill Me" to Simon & Schuster imprint Simon Spotlight Entertainment for hardback publication in spring 2010. Read More
  
• WORD: Yoko Tawada takes residency at Stanford University, reads Feb. 18
  
  Anticipating the arrival of "The Naked Eye," her latest novel in English, surrealist author Yoko Tawada is the current writer-in-residence at Stanford University, where she will do a reading this Wednesday, Feb. 18 at the Palo Alto university's Humanities Center at 7 pm, publisher New Directions announced. On the East Coast she'll read on March 24 at Cornell University during her residency, which runs from Mar. 20 to April 12. Japan's Tawada has often been compared to prose stylists like Kafka, with her major themes covering gender and cultural identity. The Naked Eye is slated to launch in paperback across the USA on May 26, 2009.
  
• WORD: Oakland author Yiyun Lee, Lisick, Maravelis top Bay Area literary events
  
  Oakland-based author Yiyun Lee, who has gotten big time buzz for her debut "The Vagrants: A Novel," (Random House), is the latest hot novelist to embark on a nationwide book tour. Bay Area fans -- and students? She's a professor at Mills College -- can catch her local appearance at Kepler's Books in Menlo Park, where she is signing copies on Monday, February 9, at 7:30 pm. Kepler's is located at 1010 El Camino Real… San Francisco author Beth Lisick, who remains on the meet-and-greet circuit for her book "Helping Me Help Myself" (HarperCollins), will appear at at Modern Times Bookstore, located at 888 Valencia Street, on Tuesday (Feb. 10) at 7:30 pm… Readers looking for a book party on Valentines Day can catch the launch of "San Francisco Noir 2: The Classics" (Akashic Books), featuring editor Peter Maravelis and select contributors at Ha Ra Room. The party kicks off at 875 Geary Street on Saturday, Feb. 14 at 8 pm, when they will hopefully serve liquor for those of us preparing to enter a Battle Royale at San Francisco's overbooked restaurants.
  
• WORD: 'Voices of A People's History of the United States' author Howard Zinn to hit SF
  
  Author Howard Zinn will host a performance of "Voices of A People’s History of the United States" (Seven Stories Press) with a sterling cast of readers and musicians including Benjamin Bratt, Josh Brolin, Stairwell Sisters, Diane Lane and Clarence Thomas on Thursday, February 26, event co-producer Haymarket Books announced. Read More
  
• BASS: Drum 'N' Bass DJ Klute plays San Francisco Feb. 6
  
  Klute, one of the brightest stars in global Drum 'N' Bass, is flying in from London and touches down at San Francisco club Fat City this Friday (February 6), where he is playing at the JungleCode party. The Commercial Suicide DJ/producer, well known for critically acclaimed albums such as "The Emperor’s New Clothes" and "No One's Listening Anymore," headlines a bill with fellow UK DJ Sage. Local talents DJ Bicolas and MC Duh are representing SF. The 21-and-up show happens from 10 pm to 4 am at Fat City, located at 314 11th Street at Folsom. Tickets are $15 at the door. Hit JungleCode.org for more information and limited $10 pre-sale tickets.
  
• BASS: New Amaning & Stunna 12" out on BS1 Records - with audio
  
  After making its long-awaited return to the Drum 'N' Bass scene with a relaunch and signing of producers such as Kubiks last year, BS1 Records is back with a hot new 12" from respected producers Amaning & Stunna who collaborated with renowned producer Blame on a two-side disc. Read More
  
• BASS: DJs, glam mark Chongolized Film Festival 09
  
  The Chongolized Film Festival 09 is happening this Saturday, January 31 at San Francisco's Delancey Street Screening Room, when long-awaited "A Hyphy Midlife Crisis" from budding director Ricardo Carpenter (pictured left) makes its theatric debut along with several films by local independent filmmakers. Ricardo said a DJ will spin before and after the screenings at this event, which has a "Hollywood Glam" theme in which attendees are encouraged to dress up like their favorite Hollywood celebrity. Other short films scheduled include "Greyhounds," "Cooking With Margarita," "That's Why You Never Drink Red," and Ricardo's previous film "Radio Rockers." Ricardo, a longitme Trance DJ who played under the name Chongo, describes the screening as "an exclusive private event" but says the public can join the fun with a $10 cover. The Delancey Street Screening Room is located at 600 Embarcadero in The City.
  
• WORD: Ireland's Sebastian Barry wins 2008 Costa Book of the Year
  Edited Press Release
  
  Irish author Sebastian Barry has won the 2008 Costa Book of the Year award for "The Secret Scripture" (Faber and Faber), a moving account of one woman's stolen life and her journey to reclaim the past.  The announcement was made Tuesday evening (January 27) at the InterContinental Hotel in central London. Read More
  
• Just weeks after joining Foundry Literary + Media, agent Stephen Barbara has already closed his first deal at the firm, and it includes the "a" word. Barbara announced to Publishers Lunch that he sold the worldwide rights to debut author Sam Munson's "The November Criminals" at auction to to Gerry Howard at Doubleday. Munson reportedly composed the novel for the University of Chicago's board of admissions, answering the application essay question: "What are your best and worst qualities?" The novel tells of the protagonist's dramatic senior year in high school that reveals he has no good qualities at all.
  
• WORD: Japan's Kazuko Shiraishi does poetry readings in NYC
  
  Japanese poet Kazuko Shiraishi will do two poetry readings in New York City this week in support of her latest book "My Floating Mother, City," New Directions Publishing announced. Shiraishi, who Donald Keene calls "The outstanding poetic voice of her generation of disengagement in Japan," will read at the following two events that the publisher is hosting: St. Mark's Poetry Project, Wednesday, January 28, at 8 pm with poet Ed Sanders. The Poetry Project at St. Marks Church is located at 131 E. 10th St. in NYC. She will also appear at Japan Society, located at 333 East 47th Street, on Friday, January 30 beginning at 6:30 pm. Jazz trumpeter Oki Itaru will accompany her recital, with the event moderated by Forrest Gander. See the two group's websites for further information.
  
• BASS: Christopher Lawrence remixes Enrique Iglesias #1 worldwide hit 'Hero'
  Press Release
  
  California DJ and producer Christopher Lawrence has remixed Enrique Iglesias's number one hit 'Hero' for the Latin megastar's 'Greatest Hits' album. The widely anticipated album was recently released in the the United Kingdom and Europe, with additional countries to follow. Christopher's impressive remix is the only one included on Enrique's album in these territories. Read More
  
• BASS: Ministry of Sound sets up residence in NYC's Ultra Lounge
  Edited Press Release
  
  Ministry of Sound, the world's most recognized and respected name in Dance Music, begins its flagship US Residency in New York Friday January 30. Top performers from around the globe are headlining the first fully produced residency by the UK brand, with costumes, visual design and music programming. Read More
  
• WORD: Litquake, Sketchfest partner to combine comedy and literature in SF
  Edited Press Release
  
  The S.F. Sketchfest is on! Litquake has teamed up this year with Sketchfest, the nationally-prominent comedy festival that takes place each January at venues around The City. Litquake said in a press releaase that it is co-presenting Celebrity Autobiography, the smash hit lit-meets-comedy event from New York City being performed here for the first time, in which an all-star cast reads hilarious celebrity memoirs live. Read More
  
• BASS: R3M, Enduser play San Francisco DNB events
  
  Fresh off its New Years Eve Drum 'N' Bass and fashion show blowout, Nickies in San Francisco's Lower Haight District has R3M headlining The Jungle Lounge this Wednesday (January 14). The free 21-and-up event, which happens every Wednesday from 10 pm to 2 am, will also have Reflex Crew residents Sharp, Monk, Lukeino and Eskae perform. Nickies is located at 466 Haight Street... Separately, Enduser of Washington, DC, is in San Francisco to play the January 15 Trauma Thursdays event at El Rincon that’s open to fans of DNB, Jungle and Dub age 18 and older -- an increasingly rare phenomenon for The City’s clubs. Local DJs Arson and Bonk will also hit the turntables from 10 pm to 2 am, with just a $5 cover. El Rincon is at 2700 16th Street at Harrison.
  
• WORD: Flux taps literary agent Diver's novel 'Vamped' for May release
  Edited Press Release
   
  Lucienne Diver, a long-time book addict who went to work for Spectrum Literary Agency fifteen years ago to feed her habit, says she has traded in her high-rise for a lake view and written a cheeky novel "Vamped" that publisher Flux has slated for release on May 1, 2009. Flux is a new imprint geared to teen and young adult readers. Read more
  
• Novelist Jayne Anne Phillips, on tour for her first novel in nearly a decade, will appear this Wednesday (January 14) at Kepler's Bookstore beginning at 7:30 pm. Her critically-acclaimed "Lark and Termite" (Random House) is described as a story of the power of loss and love set against the echoing ramifications of the Korean war, family secrets, dreams and ghosts -- yes, it's a "high-brow" novel. Kepler's is located at 1010 El Camino Real in Menlo Park.
  
• WORD: Costa Book Awards 2008 category winners announced
  Edited Press Release
  
  Costa, the UK's largest and fastest-growing coffee shop chain, announced the Costa Book Awards 2008 winners in the Novel, First Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book categories. The Costa Book Awards recognize the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. Read More
  
• WORD: Agents on the move -- Barbara, Stampfel switch NYC firms
  
  Two literary agents in New York City today started the New Year with a bang by changing firms and expressing their interest in signing new authors -- which is good news for budding novelists in search of representation. Stephen Barbara joins Foundry Literary + Media while across town Joanna Stampfel is at Nancy Coffey Literary & Media Representation, with both moves effective January 5, 2009. Read More
  
• AUDIO: BPM Smith mixes NYE 2009 Drum 'N' Bass set
  
  As the clock approaches midnight, BPM Smith cooks up a fresh set of Drum 'N' Bass to properly ring in 2009. In this special New Years Eve DNB mix, he merges Luke Slater's atmospherics with a white label DNB before transitioning to today’s finest producers from the UK, Brazil and Europe, including A-Sides, Koop and Chis Su, among others. Brace yourself for heavy bass bombs late in this set from the likes of Calyx, Laroque and Vital Elements. As always, this set is organically served, with no editing of the original mix performed live during the WORD'N'Bass Show. Listen Now
  
• BASS: NYE 2009 blows up San Francisco with House, DNB, Dubstep
  
  Every New Years Eve, San Francisco hosts some of America’s most decadent parties with world renowned DJs, awe-worthy visusals, and impressive sound systems. Kaskade, Ghislain Poirier, and Plastician are just some of the global DJs who have embarked upon The City to perform at NYE 2009 events. Meanwhile Drum & Bass-heads are heading to Lower Haight for an event with a fashion show and local DJs. Read More
  
• BASS: Dub and Breaks DJ FreQ Nasty drops Fabric mix; unreleased audio served
  Edited Press Release
  
  FreQ Nasty’s back and he’s pushing a new sound that’s destroying underground clubs around the world. Continually shape shifting under the wide umbrella of bass culture, FreQ Nasty forever stays one-step ahead of its ongoing hype-fueled evolution. From garage, breaks to dubstep FreQ Nasty’s at the forefront of the freshest beats around. Armed and ready for battle, FreQ Nasty comes at you with a hot new mix for Fabric and an exclusive free download of "Peacemaker (DUB)" -- a brand new track culled from his much-anticipated new artist album. Read More
  
• WORD: Akashic slates launch of 'San Francisco Noir 2: The Classics'
  Edited Press Release
  
  With 2008 coming to a close, publishers are starting to unveil their upcoming titles for the first quarter 2009. One short story collection that will appeal to San Franciscans is "San Francisco Noir 2: The Classics" (Akashic Books) that follows in the tradition of the publisher's prior edition and is edited by Peter Maravelis, who will make several appearances in The City and larger Bay Area starting next month. Read More
  
• WORD: 2009 Backspace Writers Conference announces dates, faculty additions
  Edited Press Release
  
  Backspace announced that registration has opened for the 2009 Backspace Writers Conference, which will be held May 29-30 at The Radisson Martinique in New York City, as well as a dozen new literary agent faculty members. Also, the Backspace Agent-Author Day kicks off the event on May 28 with small-group meetings that include query letter critiques and agents' comments on authors' opening pages using a "Two Minutes, Two Pages" format. Read More
  
• REVIEW: Behrouz spins a set of 'Pure' addictive House beats
  Review by BPM Smith
  NERVOUS RECORDS
  
  Every year a DJ will spin a mixed album that is so smoothly compiled with head bobbing tracks that it remains fresh despite getting constant play in my car stereo. San Francisco DJ/producer Behrouz has compiled just such an album in "Pure Behrouz NYC" that Nervous Records recently launched in stores across the USA. Read More
  
• WORD: Authors Richards, Bell, Grilikhes read in San Francisco
  
  Three local authors tell their San Francisco stories this week in The City. Rand Richards will discuss his book "Mud, Blood and Gold: San Francisco in 1849" (Heritage) at the SF Public Library on Tuesday, Dec. 2 beginning at 6 pm. He'll read at the Lower Level in the Latino & Hispanic Community Meeting Room. The SFPL is located at 100 Larkin Street... Janis Bell, author of the writer's guide "Clean, Well-Lighted Sentences," from W.W. Norton, appears on the same night at The Booksmith (1644 Haight Street) at 7:30 pm... Then on on Dec. 5, City College of SF's Phyllis Grilikhes will sign her book "To Set A Light In Every Tunnel" (Regent Press) at 6:30 pm at Books Inc., located in Opera Plaza at 601 Van Ness, in San Francisco.
  
• WORD: Penguin Group builds a school for children in war-torn Afghanistan
  Edited Press Release
  
  Thanksgiving officially kicks off the holiday season in the USA and we were pleased to find that book publisher Penguin’s American division is embracing the season of giving on a global scale. Penguin Group (USA) announced that it has built a primary school in Afghanistan, in partnership with the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the United States Association for UNHCR. Read More
  
• BASS: Ruby Skye announces Toys For Tots drive; Le Grande, Dubfire headline
  
  San Francisco nightclub Ruby Skye and Mixed Elements announced a banging Thanksgiving weekend lineup including Fedde Le Grande on Wednesday night, whose November 26 show has a Toys For Tots drive in which guests get half price tickets when they bring a new, unwrapped present. Dance music fans can get in the holiday spirit by attending the show and donating to this local charity, which provides gifts to children of local families who cannot otherwise afford them. House music aficionados who are staying in town during the long weekend can also catch Dubfire, probably better known as Deep Dish among longtime fans, who headlines on Saturday, Nov. 29. Both shows are 21-and-up and doors open at 9 pm with opening acts on the decks. For more information about Ruby Skye, located at 420 Mason Street in SF, check out their website.
  
• BASS: Cubist launches new 12 inch DNB with Zombie label
  
  Longtime indie Drum & Bass producer Cubist of Australia, whose album "A Night To Remember" got considerable buzz even without the marketing push of a record label, has signed with Grid Recordings imprint Zombie. The label announced that it has just released a banging new vinyl 12" by Cubist, whose birthname is Eden Krumins. Click here to listen to two tracks "Memory Lapse" and "Nautilus" featured on his latest album, which is available at many record stores worldwide that carry DNB as well as at the Grid Recordings website.
  
• WORD: Costa Book Awards 2008 shortlists announced
  Edited Press Release
  
  The Costa Book Awards announced that novelists Sebastian, Chris Cleave, Louis de Bernières and Patrick McGrath were among those shortlisted for its 2008 awards. The Costa Book Awards recognize the most enjoyable books in five categories -- First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children's Book -- published in the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. Read More
  
• WORD: Authors Neumann, Weinstein sign at SF bookstores
  
  His book's title alone made us have to announce the news that Osha Neumann will do a signing at San Francisco's Modern Times Bookstore Wednesday, November 19 at 7:30 pm. His book? The gritty coming of age tomb "Up Against the Wall Motherfucker: A Memoir of the Sixties with Notes for Next Time" from publisher Seven Stories Press -- sorry, we don't believe in self censorship so the title stays as-is. Also, for those of you who actually take lunch breaks, "It Came From Berkeley" (McNally Robinson) author David Weinstein will appear at Stacey's Bookstore on Thursday, Nov. 20 at 12:30 pm. Stacey's is at 581 Market Street, in the heart of downtown SF. Both authors are making a series of Bay Area appearances in support of their newly released titles.
  
• BASS: Christopher Lawrence and John "00" Fleming team up for 'Global Trance Grooves Vol 1: Two Tribes'
  Press Release
  
  Following a series of smash singles and collaborative sell out shows together, world renowned DJs John 00 Fleming and Christopher Lawrence (pictured left) have released a joint mix compilation "Global Trance Grooves: Two Tribes" on New York's Moist Music. A banging, take no prisoners trip into the powerful world of underground trance, "Global Trance Grooves" features tracks that both DJs sourced for their separate sets on opposing sides of the globe - yet reflects the parallels that both DJs share in creating their sound. Read More
  
• BASS: Lee Coombs drops critically acclaimed 'Lot 49' mix CD
  Edited Press Release
  
  Lee Coombs has been at the forefront of the electronic music scene for the better part of 15 years. He's released groundbreaking mix CDs, remixed the world's most acclaimed artists and knocked out dancefloor destroying productions considered classics years after their release. While often associated with the Breaks genre, this labeling does not begin to tell the entire story. A boundary-less approach is truly Coombs' trademark and he's famous for mixing up breaks, house, electro, techno and acid with dexterous assurance. Prime example: "Lot49 Presents: Lee Coombs." Read More
  
• WORD: Emile Griffith biographer Ross does book singing at boxing card
  Edited Press Release
  
  As a special treat for boxing fans attending Tuesday, November 11th’s "Bad Boys of Boxing" event at the Hard Rock Live in Hollywood, Florida, author Ron Ross will be on hand to sign copies of his critically acclaimed new book "Nine... Ten.. And Out! The Two Worlds of Emile Griffith" (DiBella Entertainment). Read More
  
• BASS: Don Rimini announces Fall tour dates in support of 'Kick N' Run' EP, has free mix
  Edited Press Release
  
  Parisian Jam Master Don Rimini and Delicious Gutter celebrate the release of the "Kick N’ Run" EP by announcing a massive international tour and offering a fresh new DJ mix just for the fans. Rimini’s month-long tour hits Europe and North America’s most critical markets including San Francisco. In many instances, this will be the first time for fans to get out and see Don Rimini live. Also, his "Come Get Dirty With Us" DJ mix is available for free download. Read More
  
• BASS: Tech Itch plays new San Francisco event LOWpass
  
  Longtime British Drum & Bass DJ/producion duo Tech Itch returns to San Francisco this Friday (November 7), where they’ll headline along with  Armanni, Breakage and Hive at the debut of a new regular event series LOWpass, local party promoter fSound announced. This 21-and-up show features three rooms of heavy bass and a bevy of local and international talent in the DNB, Dubstep and live electronic scenes. Kozee, AXIOM and Audio Angel are among the openers beginning at 10 pm at the event, which will have video effects and mixing and lasts till 4 am Saturday. The party is at Fat City, located at 314 11th Street at the corner of Folsom in SF. Longtime DNB fans will remember Tech Itch as Decoder back in the '90s.
  
• BASS: Moby 'This Is Last Night' virtual club event on November 3
  Edited Press Release
  
  Continuing a trend that began in 2006 when Paul Oakenfold and Sandra Collins played the first ever rave on Myspace, Moby is hosting a virtual club event to help  promote his latest album. The onine event, Last Night Remixed, sees the cream of the current electronic crop enlisted to remix tracks from 'Last Night', which is surely the most dance orientated Moby album this decade and is getting solid reviews (4 stars, The Sunday Times. 4 stars, Rolling Stone). Read More
  
• WORD: Ready, set, go -- NaNoWriMo 2008 has begun
  
  November 1 means hangovers and smeared makeup for many Halloween revelers, but for some 125,000 authors and wanna-bes it kicks off a month-long effort to write prose during the 2008 National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo). Here in the San Francisco Bay Area, NaNoWriMo subgroups have write-ins scheduled, author events, and even their own website for surviving one of those notorious crashes. Read More
  
• BASS: Genome headlines Still' Doin It Halloween DNB party
  
  Longtime San Francisco Drum 'N' Bass party Still' Doin It returns this Halloween weekend with a night of tasty old school classics featuring the return of one of San Francisco's DNB veterans. Genome, who lately has been making waves internationally with his Dubstep work as DJG, returns to his DNB roots with a bag full of classic tunes. Other DJs playing include Method One, Kuze vs. David Groper who will do a tag team set, and AX!OM MC will hold down the mic. This free 21-and-up party happens from 9 pm to 2 am on Saturday, November 1 at Anu Bar, located at 43 6th Street between Market and Mission Streets in SF.
  
• WORD: Novelist Jessica Brody promoting authors with ‘Free Book Friday’
  Edited Press Release
  
  Some of the brightest new ideas in book promotion are coming from debut novelists nowadays. Jessica Brody, author of "The Fidelity Files" (St. Martin’s Press - 2008) was searching for creative new ways to market her debut novel and collaborate with fellow authors. She noticed that free giveaways seemed to draw website traffic so she came up with the idea for FreeBookFriday.com, a site that is seeing traffic quickly rise by the week, the author announced. Read More
  
• WORD: The Library of America’s latest a must-read for ‘True Crime’ aficionados
  
  This fall, The Library of America presents "True Crime: An American Anthology" (October 2008; hardcover; $40.00), the first fully comprehensive collection of the true crime genre. Ranging from the seventeenth century to the present, from William Bradford to Dominick Dunne, True Crime assembles accounts of some of the most notorious criminal cases in American history. Separately, The Library of America, a nonprofit publisher, has recent and upcoming titles on tap from authors as diverse as Phillip K Dick, William Maxwell and Katherine Anne Porter. Read More
  
• BASS: Ripple, Lub Dub play ‘Bay Area Dubstep Vol. 2’ release party
  
  Full Melt Recordings announced that it is hosting a release party for its new album "Bay Area Dubstep Volume 02" tonight (Friday Oct. 24) in San Francisco at Jelly's, where two rooms of DJs, lights and visuals feature will Tribal House, Dub, Dancehall and of course Dubstep. Some DJs slated to hit the decks include Eskmo, Antiserum, Ripple, Lud Dub, and Kush Arora performing live with Juakali. This late night event is $15 before 11 pm, $20 afterwards. Copies of BIG UP Magazine & B.A.D. Volume 02 will be available at the party. Jelly's is at Pier 50 in The City.
  
• BASS: Surya Dub pres. West Coast's UMOJA Hi-Fi Sound System 15 Year Anniversary
  Edited Press Release
  
  Hot off last month’s epic Bug and Warrior Queen show, San Francisco crew Surya Dub isn't slowing down. We're extremely proud to present the 15 year anniversary of one of the West Coast's most endearing, beloved, and diverse crews, the Umoja Hi-Fi Sound System at Club Six in San Francisco Saturday, October 25. Read More
  
• AUDIO: BPM Smith mixes Downtempo set
  
  BPM Smith began mixing Downtempo and Drum & Bass in 2000. Since 2002, his Downtempo sets have traditionally kicked off the WORD’N’BASS Show, broadcast in the San Francisco Bay Area on 104.1 FM on Friday nights. In this latest Downtempo set he focuses the show on veteran beat producers like Tosca, DJ Cam, and Lemongrass as well as newly emerging artists like Idjut Boys and De Spira who are helping the lounge scene move in new directions. As always, this set is served chilled -- with no editing of the original live broadcast. New mix posted October 11, 2008. Listen Now
  
• WORD: Interview with Karen Dionne, author of 'Freezing Point'
  
  Karen Dionne established Backspace, a literary website and message board that has expanded to include one of the book scene’s most anticipated yearly conferences, in 2004. The Minnesota author shared her thoughts with WORD'N'BASS.com Editor BPM Smith about the environment, the nature of human faults, and thrillers as her debut novel "Freezing Point" launched this month with Penguin imprint Berkley. Read More
  
• WORD: Random House launches Winn Scotch novel 'Time of My Life'
  
  Allison Winn Scotch is a debut author no more. On Wednesday (Oct. 8) her second novel was published -- yes, that’s two novels in two years -- as Random House launched her sophomore title "Time of My Life" at bookstores across the USA. Allison says her latest is "much more than a story about a real life desperate housewife." Rather, it examines the lingering doubts many of us have about the paths we take in life. Is this a big theme alert? You’ll have to snatch a copy of Time to find out. Also, in an e-mail today Allison noted that The Weinstein Company is developing her second novel for the big screen. Congrats to Allison whose career has now officially taken off like a rocket. In New York City Allison will do a signing and reading next week, on Wednesday, October 15, at the Borders at Time Warner Center at 7 pm. Check out her website for more info.
  
• WORD: Authors Amirrezvani, Gaiman featured at SF Litquake events
  Edited Press Release
  
  Litquake, San Francisco's annual literary festival, is now underway at venues across The City with a weeklong series of author readings, presentations and parties. Here are some key Litquake events that readers will find interesting. Many Litquake events are free, so check out their website for a full list of events that range from formal author readings and workshops to the chaotic pub crawl with a literary flavor. Read More
  
• WORD: Litquake, ODC/Dance company combine fiction, performance art
  Press release
  
  Thursday and Friday, Litquake joins forces with San Francisco's ODC/Dance company for two unique performances at Project Artaud. On October 9, "Off Book: Stories That Move" pairs three authors with choreographers to create "page-to-stage" dance interpretations of original fiction: writers Michelle Tea, Alejandro Murguia, and Tess Uriza Holthe, paired with Scott Wells, Erika Chong Shuch, and Katie Faulkner. This night will also feature JoAnn Selisker's Off Leash: Who's a Good Girl?, an ironic performance piece that explores the relationship of man and canine. And on Friday October 10, Rosanna Gamson's Ravish presents a multimedia dance theater piece that examines the lives of the Brontë sisters, and the writing of works such as "Wuthering Heights" and "Jane Eyre." Tickets are available for both nights at www.odctheater.org.
  
• BASS: House, DNB, global beats among LoveFest 2008 Afterparties
  
  Thousands of electronic dance music fans, DJs, and industry participants are parading through San Fransisco’s Market Street today (Saturday, Oct. 4) to the Civic Center, where the fifth year of a tradition that started with LoveParade continues through LoveFest 2008. When The City shuts down the gridlock of bass-bumping floats, there are dozens of afterparties taking place in San Francisco. Here are some party announcements we received. Read More
  
• BASS: Tek-Thread headlines BADNB benefit party at El Rincon
  
  The last Bay Area Drum & Bass benefit party in support of this Saturday’s LoveFest float happens tonight (Thursday, Oct. 2) at San Francisco club El Rincon, where four-time US Battle Champion Tek-Thread headlines with Portland’s DJ Sense at the Trauma party. This event, which has a $5 cover and runs from 10 pm to 2 am, also features several local DJs like Eskae, Kinetik and R3M. El Rincon is located at 2700 16th Street. BADNB still has several volunteer positions to help with the float building and logistics from Friday through Sunday. Check out BADNB’s Myspace for more information. Separately, if you have a LoveFest afterparty to announce this weekend contact us.
  
• WORD: Karen Dionne has online launch party for novel 'Freezing Point'
  
  Debut author Karen Dionne came up with a unique way to launch her novel "Freezing Point," which Penguin imprint Berkley has available in bookstores nationwide beginning Oct. 3. Tonight she unveiled an "online launch party" that runs from Oct. 1-3 where a bevy of authors make virtual appearances including David Morrell, Douglas Preston, Lee Child and JA Konrath, among others. Karen has various promotional giveaways for those who sign her guest book including copies of her environmental thriller, Penguin mugs and DVDs of various flicks. Click here to enter the site and help Karen celebrate her new career as a novelist.
  
• WORD: Gail Konop Baker memoir ‘Cancer is a Bitch’ getting buzz
  Edited Press Release
  
  On Valentine's Day 2006, Gail Konop Baker found herself sitting topless in the oncologist's office. Married to a doctor and a health and fitness devotee, Konop Baker assumed she would know when her body rebelled against her. While her cancer turned out to be highly treatable, she chronicles the ups and downs of her transformation in "Cancer is a Bitch: Or, I’d Rather Be Having a Midlife Crisis," which Da Capo Lifelong Books launches on October 1. Read More
  
• WORD: National Book Foundation announces '5 under 35'
  Edited Press Release
  
  The National Book Foundation will recognize five young fiction writers at the "5 Under 35" celebration at Tribeca Cinemas on Monday, November 17, announced Harold Augenbraum, executive director of the National Book Foundation.  He noted that three of this year's young honorees were born outside the United States. A previous National Book Award Finalist or Winner selected each of the five writers as someone whose work is particularly promising, exciting and is among the best of a new generation of writers. Read More
  
• WORD: Matthew Quick debuts novel ‘Silver Linings’ with FSG imprint
  
  As the football season picks up steam, author Matthew Quick’s debut novel "The Silver Linings Playbook," a story about love, madness, and Kenny G set against a backdrop of a losing Philadelphia Eagles team could appeal to American readers. Farrar, Straus & Giroux imprint Sarah Crichton Books announced the novel has just launched at bookstores nationwide. Read More
  
• BASS: Alley Cat to tour North America this fall
  
  Former San Francisco Drum & Bass DJ Alley Cat, whose career has flourished since relocating to London years ago, says she plans to tour North America this fall -- perhaps as soon as October -- in her first homecoming tour in nearly three years. Alley Cat's mixed albums include "Crowd Control" and "No Formalities" (Skunkrock). She has signed with Break Beat Science’s booking agency, and party promoters interested in having her spin at their events can contact them at info(at)bbsbookings(dot)com. To hear some of her recent stylings, click here for a podcast mix she performed this summer. You can also find more info and hear some recent tracks at her Myspace.
  
• BASS: Compression reunites for BADNB fund raiser
  
  The San Francisco Drum & Bass party Compression is reuniting on Sunday (Sept. 21) to host a benefit party for Bay Area DNB at their old home, The Cellar. DJs spinning include Ivry & Sharp tag teaming the decks, DJ Havoc, 2 Cents and Canadub, among others, while Colonel MC and Audio Angel are holding down the mic. Doors open at 9 pm for this 21-and-up party. A $5 cover goes toward funding the BADNB LoveFest float. The Cellar, Compression’s weekly venue in past years but reconvening for one night only, is located at 685 Sutter at Taylor in downtown SF.
  
• WORD: Wesley Strick returns to Hollywood, sophomore novel status unknown
  
  Since WORD'N'BASS.com is now going on four years old, it's time to start a 'Where are they now?' series. Let's start off with the talented Wesley Strick. When Wesley made a fantastic debut with his novel "Out There in the Dark" (St. Martin's) that was set in World War II Hollywood, I felt it was a sign of promising things to come from the veteran screenwriter. Who would've guessed that his edgy noir story would also be his last? Read More
  
• BASS: Catz 'n Dogz debut album 'Stars of Zoo' out this fall on Mothership Music
  Edited Press Release
  
  The name is new, but chances are you’ve already heard Catz 'n Dogz. Previously, as 3 Channels, the best friend duo have already released red-hot club records on some of the most respected underground dance labels in the world including Trapez, Crosstown Rebels, Pokerflat, Boxer, dirtybird, Leena, Trenton, and their own imprint, Channels Recordings. After making underground techno for many years, the duo have now ventured into new territory. This time, as Catz n' Dogz, the boys have headed towards deep house without losing sight of their harder techno roots -- exploring lush organic soundscapes with live drums and instrumentation.  Read More
  
• WORD: Online community for supporters of indie book retail launches
  Edited Press Release
  
  The IndieBound.org community, a gathering place for supporters of indie retail businesses, has now launched, the American Booksellers Association (ABA) announced. IndieBound, a movement to celebrate independent bookstores and to encourage shopping locally, kicked off in June and has become a strong presence in nearly a thousand independent bookstore locations across the country. Read More
  
• WORD: Book tour kicks off Susan Wiggs new novel ‘Just Breathe’
  
  Bestselling author Susan Wiggs has released a new novel, "Just Breathe" (Mira), that the publisher notes is about big themes such as love, loss, second chances, and facing the past in order to create a new future. In Just Breathe, protagonist Sarah Moon returns to the hamlet of Glenmuir, California after suffering a devastating divorce. Read More
  
• WORD: San Francisco names Tamim Ansary 'One City One Book' author
  
  Since today is 9/11, it’s appropriate to note that the San Francisco Public Library named local author Tamim Ansary’s memoir "West of Kabul, East of New York" (Picador) as its One City One Book title. The day after the World Trade Center was destroyed, when many of us wanted vengeance more than anything, Ansary sent an e-mail to twenty friends discussing the attack from his perspective as an Afghan American. The message was forwarded until eventually reaching millions, and the sentiments of his earnest note are reflected in Ansary’s memoir. Copies are available here at the SF Public Library and in audio format. One City One Book is an annual citywide literary event that encourages the San Francisco community to read the same book simultaneously and discuss it in book groups and events throughout the City, in hopes that it will help make reading a lifelong pursuit and build a more literate society.
  
• BASS: Trance DJs Lawrence, Persequor play Digitally Imported today
  
  Fresh off his win at America’s Best DJ contest, Christopher Lawrence returns to the airwaves with the sixth installment of 'Rush Hour' radio on Digitally Imported today (Tuesday Sept. 9) with special guest DJ/producer Persequor. Persequor, whose birth name is Mark Sherwood, has a DJ style ranging from "epic Trance moments to deep dark techy beats," Lawrence noted on his website. In addition to DJing, Persequor has been producing cutting edge tech trance in recent years. Catch Lawrence and Persequor on DI’s Trance Channel today starting at 1 pm PST (San Francisco), 4 pm EST (NYC), 9 pm in the UK (London).
  
• BASS: Christopher Lawrence named 'America’s Best DJ'
  Edited Press Release
  
  Trance DJ Christopher Lawrence (pictured left) was named the 2008 winner of the America’s Best DJ contest on Tuesday, September 2, during a ceremony at Rouge at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas. Lawrence was presented with a gold medal and a gold-plated Pioneer DJM-800 mixer -- the only one in existence. Turntablist legend DJ Qbert took the silver, and DJ/rock star DJ Skribble took the bronze in a Las Vegas ceremony last week. Read More
  
• WORD: Marcus Sakey continues momentum with latest novel ‘Good People’ 
  
  Marcus Sakey, a novelist who has been on fire since his debut The Blade Itself emerged as a favorite of crime aficionados back in 2007, announced that  "Good People" (Dutton) -- his second novel to launch this year alone -- is now available in bookstores across the USA. Marcus plans a nationwide book tour in support of his latest work and future stops include Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Ann Arbor, Springfield, New York, and Atlanta later in the year. Marcus is being somewhat coy about the premise of his latest but it’s about a couple who stumbles on a life changing opportunity that "puts them square in the path of ruthless men." I've heard rumblings about a suitcase full of cash, drug dealers and thugs. So far the reviews are extremely positive. For more information on Marcus Sakey and his novels, check out his website.
  
• BASS: Bryan Harrison Band to play Nomad Cafe benefit in wake of Oakland robberies
  Press Release
  
  In the wake of a spree of "take-over style" robberies plaguing Oakland in recent weeks, one neighborhood and community has decided to come together in support of one of the small businesses victimized by this senseless violence. The Nomad Café (6500 Shattuck Avenue, Oakland), was robbed at gun point just after closing two weeks ago and will be the site of a benefit concert this Friday evening, September 5th from 7:00pm to 9:30pm, in support of those directly affected by the robbery. Read More
  
• BASS: "America's Best DJ" to be named Tuesday, Sept. 2 at MGM Grand Las Vegas
  Edited Press Release
  
  The country's top DJs will be announced Tuesday, Sept. 2, at the third annual America's Best DJ finals taking place at Rouge at MGM Grand, Las Vegas. The invite-only reception and presentation will take place from 7 to 9 p.m., followed by an open-to-the-public celebration from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., featuring some of the top-ranking America's Best DJ finalists spinning live. Read More
  
• BASS: Vital Elements, A-Sides launch new DNB tracks
  
  Two of my favorite UK Drum & Bass producers are Vital Elements and A-Sides -- whose tracks are often heard in my DNB mixes -- but their 12" vinyl releases always get snapped up fast when they occasionally trickle into San Francisco Bay Area record stores. Vital Elements just completed his debut EP for Grid Recordings that you can hear and purchase online, along with the latest from A-Sides, the record label announced. Read More
  
• WORD: Sarah Addison Allen launches ‘In My Dreams’ audio novella
  Press Release
  
  Charm. Grace. The everyday magic of everyday life. BelleBooks Audio presents "In My Dreams," by New York Times bestselling author Sarah Addison Allen, (Garden Spells, Sugar Queen.) This two-CD audio novella captures the same sweet and profound Southern mystique that has won the author thousands of devoted readers not only throughout her native South but across the country. Read More
  
• BASS: Armin Van Buuren to headline SF LoveFest; BADNB benefits
  
  The Fifth Annual SF LoveFest will take over downtown San Francisco on October 4, 2008 and Armin Van Buuren (pictured left) will appear in the festival and headline the Official After Party produced by Spundae & Skills, event organizers announced. America's biggest dance celebration will feature many of the biggest names in electronic music as well as the usual Bay Area Drum & Bass presence. Separately, BADNB announced they’re holding a series of benefit parties to cover the cost of their float from now through October. Read More
  
• AUDIO: BPM Smith mixes Downtempo and Electro set
  
  BPM Smith, who first hit the turntables in 2000 by mixing Downtempo and broken beats, returns to his roots with a chilled out set during the WORD‘N’BASS Show. Here he starts with Dub and Hip Hop producers like Zeb, Thievery Corporation and Oakland’s own Trinidad before ratcheting up the pacing to the smooth grooves of Ben Wa, Bjorn B and a remix of  Kruder & Dorfmeister, among others. As always, this set is 100% organic and unedited from the original live broadcast. New mix added August 12, 2007. Listen Now
  
• WORD: JA Konrath spins another liquor soaked tale in ‘Fuzzy Navel’
  
  Longtime novelist JA Konrath, an Anthony and Macavity Award finalist, told WORD’N’BASS.com that he decided to throw in some new angles with the latest installation of his Jack Daniels mystery "Fuzzy Navel" (Hyperion). "Lately I've been reading a lot of thrillers that seem to have forgotten how to thrill," Konrath said. "So I tried to do a book that begins with a bang and just keeps picking up speed, like a bobsled, or a runaway train." Read More
  
• BASS: Drum ’N’ Bass crew Redline holds 2-year anniversary party
  
  This Saturday, Aug. 9, San Francisco Drum ‘N’ Bass crew Redline will host a party at club Matador to mark their two-year anniversary. Resident DJs Ultraviolet and Kozee (pictured left) will play a tag team set under the pseudonym Tiempo Atractiva, while Los Angeles-based  talent Emu & Pawn are coming North for the event. Other performers include Dymphna, Lords of the Blackheart, and Julez the Huntress and MC Child holding down the mic. Makeout Sessions presents this 21-and-up event from 9 pm till 2 am at Matador, located at 10 6th Street between Market and Mission. If you RSVP at Going.com you can get in the party for free before 11 pm. Find out more about Redline and hear some of the crew’s banging tracks at their Myspace.
  
• BASS: France's Don Rimini cuts album with record label Delicious Gutter
  Edited Press Release
  
  Los Angeles-based record label Delicious Gutter announced that on on August 12 it will present some next level blitzkrieg heat. An EP's worth of intercontinental ballistic beats and sweat-soaked hooks, captained by the new jam master of the Paris underground. It's the "Kick 'N' Run" EP from Don Rimini. Read More
  
• WORD: Cosmo’s John Searles to keynote Backspace Writers Conference Aug. 7-8
  
  John Searles, the deputy editor of Cosmopolitan who oversees book coverage for the magazine, has been added as keynote speaker at the 2008 Backspace Writers Conference that kicks off this week in New York City, Karen Dionne said. The two-day event brings together literary agents, acquisitions editors, best-selling authors and publishing professionals for panels and networking at Radisson Martinique in Manhattan from August 7-8. Read More
  
• WORD: Nobel laureat Alexander Solzhenitsyn: 1918-2008
  
  Russian novelist and winner of the Nobel Prize for literature Alexander Solzhenitsyn has died at age 89, Russian news agency Interfax reported late Sunday (Aug. 3). Winning the Nobel Prize for literature in 1970 for his books "The First Circle" and "Cancer Ward" landed him worldwide acclaim, but his three-volume work "The Gulag Archipelago" about the Soviet prison camp system caused an uproar in his native Russia. In 1974, Solzhenitsyn was stripped of his citizenship, deported to West Germany and ended up in the USA. In an interesting local angle, he taught at Stanford University in Palo Alto before eventually settling in Vermont. Solzhenitsyn returned to Russia in 1994 but still has family who are American citizens. Learn more about Solzhenitsyn in his own words at the Nobel Prize website.
  
• WORD: Danielle Younge-Ullman hits San Francisco in support of novel ‘Falling Under’
  
  Debut author Danielle Younge-Ullman saw her raw, dark novel "Falling Under" published by Penguin Group imprint Plume today (July 30), and readers can meet her this week in San Francisco where she’s slated to sign copies at several venues. Later in August she’s hosting launch parties in New York City and Toronto. Read More
  
• BASS: Paul van Dyk returns to NYC, plays at Pier 54 Aug. 16
  Edited Press Release
  
  For five consecutive years Paul van Dyk's annual concerts in Central Park have been one of New York City's most anticipated live music events. In 2007, over 10,000 loyal fans from around the world descended upon New York City with the sole purpose of experiencing their favorite artist in this surreal environment. This year, van Dyk (pictured left) and Made Event leave the friendly confines of Central Park and travel west to the famed Pier 54 for a waterside dance music extravaganza on August 16 that's never been experienced before. Read More
  
• WORD: Kingsolver, Kirby among 2008 SIBA Book Award winners
  Edited Press Release
  
  The Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance (SIBA) announced that Sarah Addison Alle, Barbara Kingsolver and David Kirby are among the winners of the 2008 SIBA Book Award, celebrating the best of southern literature as chosen by the people who would know: independent booksellers throughout the US South. Read More
  

• WORD: Seth Greenland’s novel ‘Shining City’ launches
  

  "Julian Ripps was too fat to be reclining in a hot tub between a pair of naked women, unless he was rich or they were prostitutes." And so begins "Shining City," Seth Greenland’s (pictured left) sophomore novel that Bloomsbury USA launches today (July 8) after considerable momentum including a major film deal. Read More
  
• BASS: AK1200 and Gridlok tap George Clinton for DNB album ‘Autopsy’
  Edited Press Release
  
  With a meticulously and deliberately crafted sound harkening back to the early days of Jungle, AK1200 and Gridlok bring the world "Autopsy," a full-length, two-CD album that record label Project 51 plans to drop worldwide in September 2008. Birthed from their unshakable desire to bring Drum ‘N’ Bass back to the forefront of dance music, AK and Gridlok set out to deconstruct and rebuild the genre -- retaining only its signature elements. Read More
  
• Editor’s Note: Beginning June 22, 2008, WORD'N'BASS.com Editor BPM Smith is in Las Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker. WORD'N'BASS content will be updated upon his return.
  
• AUDIO: BPM Smith mixes Drum 'N' Bass
  
  BPM Smith enters the space age once again and cooks up his latest Drum 'N' Bass mix. Here he remixes Star Trek Voices with Electrosoul System during a dreamy intro, before dropping some fast and fluid bass bombs with producers like Chis Su, Klute, Bad Robot, Calyx & Kontrol, Total Science, and Noisia, among others. As always, this mix is 100% organic, with no editing of the original live broadcast. New set added on June 22, 2008. Listen Now
  
• BASS: Skibadee, MC Fun and Harry Shotta mix -- the iTunes audio
  
  UK Drum ‘N’ Bass label Grid Recordings said today that it released a free mix with Zen, accompanied by labelmates Skibadee, MC Fun and Harry Shotta (pictured left), performing a tag team set via Podcast. This set includes the hottest new dubplates from Grid and some forthcoming cuts from Zen’s new label Flipmode Audio. Podcasts are free downloadable shows available to your iPod through iTunes on PC and Mac, and are also compatible with iTunes-enabled mobile devices. To hear the Grid crew’s latest and greatest studio set click here.
  
• BASS: DJs Emery, Williams to spin Trance at Ruby Skye -- with audio
   
  European Trance DJ Gareth Emery, whose 2008 plans include a series of events broadcast via Podcast, two new mix compilations, and possibly a debut artist album, is playing San Francisco Club Ruby Skye on Friday, June 20. They say Gareth’s sound is "somewhere between House, Progressive and Trance, but always remains focussed on melody and groove." Also playing at the show is talented local Trance DJ/producer James Williams (pictured left). TicketWeb is selling $15 pre-sale tickets to this 21-and-up event, which rolls from 9 pm until 4 am. Ruby Skye is at 420 Mason Street in downtown. To hear James Williams’ set from last year’s SF LoveFest click here.
  
• WORD: Orange Prize awards ceremony, interviews -- the video
  
  Considering she opened as a 2/1 favorite at William Hill to win the Orange Prize, we’re probably the only ones who were surprised that Rose Tremain beat out two of our favorite North American authors 8/1 underdog Patricia Wood and 6/1 Heather O'Neill to win for her novel "The Road Home" (Chatto & Windus). The Orange Prize folks now have video of their swanky awards ceremony that took place earlier this month. If you’re like us and were unwilling to pay double for everything in British pounds during a trip to London, click here to watch Rose receive the prize and speak about her latest honors, check out the gorgeous "Bessie" sculpture and all the surrounding buzz.
  
• BASS: New Drum ‘N’ Bass events in North, South Bay
  
  Two new Drum ‘N’ Bass series began earlier this spring just outside the San Francisco Bay Area, with Releaded happening the third Thursday of each month in Petaluma and San Jose club Johnny V’s hosting DNB parties on Monday nights. On Thursday, June 19, Bay Area DJs Arson, Dexx, Strize, Hologram and Grace will play the Reloaded event at Club Coco’s, located at 21 4th Street in Petaluma. DNB-heads will get their first drink on the house. Meanwhile, check out Johnny V’s at 31 E. Santa Clara Street in San Jose from 9 pm to 2 am each Monday (including tonight), where resident DJs Orion and Tarzan play, among others.
  
• WORD: Oscar De La Hoya opens ‘American Son’ road show
  
  Oscar De La Hoya kicked off a nationwide book tour in support of his biography "American Son" last week in New York City. He’s currently traveling to several cities where fans can meet Oscar and get signed copies of the bio., which was co-written by Los Angeles Times reporter Steve Springer and published by HarperEntertainment. The bio. includes Oscar’s take on a career -- and the pitfalls of fame and money -- that began in 1992 with an Olympic gold medal and continues through his last fight in December 2008. Oscar’s remaining appearances include today (Sunday, June 15) at the Katy, Texas, WalMart at 1 pm and the Houston Barnes & Noble at Westheimer beginning at 7 pm; June 16 at Borders in Pico Rivera, Calif., at 7 pm; June 17 at 7:30 pm at Barnes & Noble in Los Angeles at Grove; and June 18 at the Huntington Beach Barnes & Noble at 7 pm. As previously reported, literary agent Luke Janklow of Janklow/Nesbit brokered a megadeal for Oscar’s book in a pre-empt with the HarperCollins imprint.
  
• WORD: American Booksellers Association announces IndieBound program
  Edited Press Release
  
  Responding to both the consumer shift toward shopping at independent retailers and the growing emphasis on the ideas of localism and sustainability, the American Booksellers Association launched IndieBound, a program to bring together booksellers, readers, indie retailers, local business alliances and others who believe that healthy local economies help communities thrive. Read More
  
• BASS: Fifth annual Memories Campout has DNB, Trance, Breaks
  
  In what’s become a traditional kickoff of the summer camping season for many Bay Area electronic music fans, the Memories Campout is holding their five-year anniversary event from June 27 to 29 Northeast of San Francisco where a bevy of DJs will play House, Breaks, Techno, Drum ’N’ Bass and Trance all weekend long. Read More
  
• WORD: Rose Tremain wins 2008 Orange Prize for Fiction
  Edited Press Release
  
  British author Rose Tremain won the thirteenth Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction with her tenth novel "The Road Home" (Chatto & Windus), the prize committee announced today. Tremain was presented with the 30,000- pound prize and the 'Bessie', a limited edition bronze figurine, at an awards ceremony at the Royal Festival Hall at Southbank Centre, London, hosted by Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction co-founder Kate Mosse. Read More
  
• WORD: Allison Winn Scotch novel goes to Random House, film rights to Weinstein
  
  Just weeks after the launch of her debut novel The Department of Lost & Found (William Morrow), the story of an ambitious 30-year-old woman who is diagnosed with breast cancer, author Allison Winn Scotch isn’t sitting on her laurels. "I am thrilled to announce that we have closed a film deal for my next book, ‘Time of my Life’… to The Weinstein Company on behalf of Meryl Poster, the former co-president of Miramax," she said in an email. Allison’s second novel, Time of My Life was earlier sold to Random House’s Shaye Areheart in a pre-empt. Allison’s literary agent is Elisabeth Weed with Kneerim & Williams. For more information about Allison check out her website.
  
• WORD: Interview with 'The Fidelity Files' author Jessica Brody
  
  Los Angeles native Jessica Brody is a former strategic analyst at MGM Studio whose debut novel "The Fidelity Files" -- about a woman living a double life as an inspector of men’s wandering eyes -- launches shortly with St. Martin’s Press. Jessica (pictured left) answered some questions with WORD'N'BASS.com Editor BPM Smith, touching on her experiences in the corporate world, the cheaters she's encountered, and how a writer's willingness to adapt could be the difference between a major publishing deal and lagging in the slush pile. Read More
  
• WORD: Agent Lucienne Diver joins The Knight Agency
  
  Literary agent Lucienne Diver, whose authors include Marjorie M. Liu, Roberta Gellis, Susan Krinard, Rachel Caine, P.N. Elrod and many others, told WORD’N’BASS.com she has joined The Knight Agency and is now based in Florida. Lucienne is a top agent representing commercial fiction, primarily fantasy, science fiction, mystery, suspense and romance. Although she has a pretty full client list, she said, "I’m always looking for something that will blow me away." Authors wanting to pitch her should be aware of her new contact information and submission preference via snailmail. Send a query letter, synopsis, the novel’s first 10 pages and an SASE to P.O. Box 2659, Land O Lakes, FL 34639. Luciene previously worked for Spectrum Literary Agency of NYC.
  
• BASS: DJs John Creamer, Stephane K launch boat party series in NYC
  Edited Press Release
  
  This summer, New York City will literally be engulfed by the sound of the planet's finest dance music with NYC-based promotion company Global Frequencies hosting the city's first-ever extended series of DJ boat parties every few weeks between May 24 and September 21. Local DJs John Creamer and Stephane K launch the party series on Saturday, May 24 aboard the 430-capacity Star Of Palm Beach. Read More
  
• BASS: DJs Chongo, Lantz are Peruvatwinz; ‘Hyphy... Crisis’ on tap
  
  Longtime San Francisco Bay Area DJs Lantz and DJ Chongo have a side project going with Lantz producing beats and Chongo whipping out some hilarious rap as the Peruvatwins. Also watch for Chongo (pictured left) to co-star in a new independent film "A Hyphy Mid-Life Crisis" later this year along with Bay Area rapper Mike Wright and high-profile model Gelusa Zaripova that's expected to hit the film festival circuit soon. Read More
  
• WORD: Sarah Michelle Gellar options film rights to ‘Lottery’
  
  Patricia Wood’s bid for an Orange Prize received a shot in the arm after actress Sarah Michelle Gellar optioned the film rights to her novel "Lottery" (Putnam). For Gellar, best known for playing the title role of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and currently with four films in production, Lottery is apparently a bid to assume more serious acting roles as her career matures. Patricia, who informed WORD’N’BASS.com about the deal on Monday, declined to disclose terms of the deal or whether other actors were attached. The UK version of Lottery is one of six titles nominated for the Orange Prize, whose winner will get announced June 4. Check out Patricia’s blog here.
  
• BASS: Tech Itch, Dieselboy, Moby play Detroit Electronic Music Festival
  Edited Press Release
  
  Detroit's Electronic Music Festival has become one of the most highly anticipated annual events for electronic music fans in Detroit and across the globe, and Movement 08 - coming May 24 to 26 at Detroit's Hart Plaza - is no exception. British duo Tech Itch (pictured left) and Dieselboy lead off Drum 'N' Bass talent while an impressive lineup of Techno artists like Moby and Ritchie Hawtin plus numerous new elements could make Movement 08 the most exciting, entertaining and innovative festival yet. Read More <>
  
• WORD: Patricia Wood gets Orange Prize nomination for ‘Lottery’
  
  Debut novelist Patricia Wood was the only American nominated for the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, the author told WORD’N’BASS. The Orange Prize, among the most prestigious literary titles in the UK, recognizes talented women authors whose work is published in Great Britain, and Patricia's novel "Lottery" made the cut. Read More
  
• Romance Writers of America announced it's hosting its 28th Annual National Conference at the San Francisco Mariott from July 30 to Aug. 2. Best-selling author Victoria Alexander is the Keynote Speaker, and Connie Brockway is the speaker for the Awards Lucheon. Suzanne Brockmann closes out the Conference as emcee for the 2008 RITA and Golden Heart Awards Ceremony. Check out the RWA conference website for information about the conference, hotel, transportation and event schedule.
  
• BASS: Starkillers has new album, DVD ‘Nervous Nitelife: Vegas’
  
  New York City underground House music label Nervous Records announced it’s teaming up with US-based DJ/production/remix team Starkillers and Austin Leeds on a new album and DVD "Nervous Nitelife: Vegas." Their collaborative CD is packed with exclusive Starkillers & Austin Leeds’ original productions and remixes. Read More
  
• WORD: HarperCollins launches Hamilton, Thomas novels; Judith Regan doesn’t hold grudge
  
  Author Masha Hamilton launched the third book of her career in April, a "wonderfully touching novel" about an American librarian who leaves Brooklyn to work for a relief organization in Africa that sends books on the backs of camels to forgotten villages, HarperCollins announced. Meanwhile, onetime television heart throb Heather Thomas has reinvented herself as a novelist, and you’ll never guess who’s helping promote her debut. Read More
  
• WORD: Andrea Portes novel ‘Hick’ set to become feature film
  Press Release
  
  Unbridled Books is pleased to announce that the film rights for Andrea Portes' debut novel, "Hick," have been sold to producers Christian Taylor of Taylor Lane Productions and Steven Siebert of Lighthouse Entertainment. Hick, which Unbridled Books released in May 2007, was a Los Angeles Times paperback bestseller, a Book Sense Pick, a Book Sense Reading Group Pick, and a Midwest Connections Pick. It earned rave reviews nationwide. Read More
  
• AUDIO: BPM Smith mixes annual 420 Drum ‘N’ Bass set
  
  It’s become a yearly tradition here at WORD’N’BASS to post a special 420 Drum ‘N’ Bass set and today’s no exception. BPM Smith makes a slow take-off with Banco de Gaia before launching into the heavy bass stratosphere with producers like Young Axe, Greg Packer, Kinetic and longtime favorite Photek, among others. Also listen for some white label surprises and a "Novocaine" chaser with John Rolodex & Synoflex in this smooth round of bass bombs. Listen Now
  
• BASS: DJ Times announces 2008 America’s Best DJ nominees, nationwide tour
  Edited Press Release
  
  As it celebrates 20 years of chronicling United States DJ Culture, DJ Times magazine kicked off its 2008 America’s Best DJ contest on March 25 at Miami’s Winter Music Conference by announcing this year’s top 100 nominees. For the second consecutive year, Pioneer Pro DJ will serve as title sponsor for the tour, which will culminate with a closing ceremony in Las Vegas early this fall. Read More
  
• AUDIO: BPM Smith mixes Downtempo and Electro
  
  The basslines are low and the energy is high in this BPM Smith Downtempo set, which marked his traditional kick-off of the WORD’N’BASS Show last Friday night. Hear chilled out producers like The Cinematic Orchestra, Jazzanova and UNCLE as well as Electro pioneers including Lorne, Midival Punditz, Petersky and a remix of Neotropic in this session of slow cooking beats. Listen Now
  
• WORD: American Lauren Groff shortlisted for Orange Broadband Award for New Writers
  Edited Press Release
  
  The Orange Broadband Award for New Writers, launched in 2005 as part of the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction, announced that American author Lauren Groff, as well as Joanna Kavenna and Lauren Liebenberg have made this year's shortlist. The three writers were chosen because their first works of fiction revealed signs of emerging talent and the evidence of future potential. Read More
  
• WORD: Novelist McMann signs in Arizona as ‘Wake’ gets ALA nomination
  
  Lisa McMann said her debut novel "Wake," which is already in its third printing after publisher Simon Pulse released the novel just over a month ago, was nominated by the American Library Association for its Best Books for Young Adults list, a compilation of the current year’s books with proven or potential appeal to teens. Lisa’s West Coast book tour is continuing this week with three signings in Arizona today through Thursday (April 8 to 10). She’s appearing with New York Times bestselling author Cassandra Clare, whose works include "City of Bones" and the recently released book "City of Ashes." Check out Lisa’s blog for her book tour times and locations.
  
• WORD: 2008 Backspace Writers Conference Aug. 7-8
  
  The 2008 Backspace Writers Conference will be held August 7 and 8 at the Radisson Martinique in New York City. Keynote Speakers at this year include Mark Tavani, Senior Editor at Random House, and New York Times bestselling author Lee Child. Cost for the conference is $355 for Backspace members, $395 for non-members, and includes the Thursday evening cocktail reception and awards presentation. Attendance is limited to 200. Check the conference website frequently for updates. Separately, the Mystery Writers of America is offering  a $50 discount off the registration fee to their members. MWA members should register according to the instructions on the conference website at the full price, and then contact Margery Flax at mwa(at)mystery writers(dot)org for reimbursement. The Radisson Martinique is located at 32nd and Broadway.
  
• BASS: The Antiserum and Ripple launch new Dubstep with Mode Recordings
  Edited Press Release
  
  Bristol, England-based label Mode Recordings announced that their latest 12" vinyl release, "MODE 06," which features two immaculately produced tunes from The Antiserum and San Francisco DJ/producer Ripple (pictured left) is now available in record stores worldwide. Read More
  
• BASS: SF Dubclash party features UK’s Caspa & Rusko
  Edited Press Release
  
  On Saturday, April 5, SureFire Productions and Full Melt Recordings join forces to present Dubclash, a sublow party of historic proportions at San Francisco club Jelly’s. The headliners of the night are the mighty Caspa & Rusko, two of dubstep's biggest producer/DJs. Also, the local line-up is a who's who of the San Francisco dubstep and dub scenes including Ripple, Sam Supa and other talents. Read More
  
• BASS: Klute launches new tracks ahead of sixth artist album
  
  Two of today’s finest Drum ‘N’ Bass producers have new tracks on tap this spring with Klute (pictured left) and SKC both releasing their latest efforts over the next two months, record label Commercial Suicide announced. April will see the launch of Klute’s first work since the massive world tour in support of his last album "The Emperors New Clothes." Read More
  
• AUDIO: BPM Smith mixes Downtempo and Electro
  
  In this latest Downtempo mix BPM Smith launches the WORD’N’BASS Show -- broadcast on 104.1 FM and streamed on the Internet Friday nights -- into orbit with producers like Dragonfly, Plaid and West Side Chemical while gradually bumping up the BPM to Electro and Breaks artists Starkillers, Aphex Twin and DJ Icey. Watch for an appearance by the legendary William S. Burroughs and get your latest taste of chilled out beats while they’re hot. Listen Now
  
• WORD: Novelist Lisa McMann hits SF Bay Area
  
  Author Lisa McMann will do a reading and signing of her debut novel "Wake" (Simon Pulse) at the Walnut Creek, Calif., Barnes & Noble on Tuesday, March 18 beginning at 7 pm. Lisa told WORD’N’BASS that Wake is a young adult novel about 17-year-old Janie, “who lives on the fringe and falls into a gruesome nightmare, one that chills her to the bone. For the first time, Janie is more than a witness to someone else’s twisted psyche.” B&N is located at 1149 South Main Street. On Wednesday, Lisa appears at San Mateo High School with Books Inc., where the indie store will sell Lisa’s autographed books on-site. Separately, publisher Simon Pulse picked up Lisa’s follow-up novel "Fade," which it plans to launch in February 2009. Check out Lisa’s website to see a Wake trailer and more information.
  
• BASS: DJ Fresh, Goldie, Photek play Ultra Music Festival; WMC highlights
  
  Drum ‘n’ Bass fans are in for a major treat during this month’s Ultra Music Festival in Miami, where many of today’s premier talents are set to play including DJ Fresh (pictured left) and American DJs AK 1200 and Dieselboy performing under pseudonyms. The UMF is just one of many events happening in Miami Beach during the Winter Music Conference from Mar. 25 to 29. In addition to the long-awaited 23rd Annual International Dance Music Awards, there's a bevy of private parties, workshops on everything from technology, remixing and editing, chances to present your demos to major record label execs, and countless networking opportunities. Read More
  
• WORD: Authors Richmond, Cojocaru, Sheikh host events in Oakland, SF
  
  San Francisco author Michelle Richmond, whose third novel "No One You Know" (Delacorte) is slated for publication in June, will sign copies of her sophomore work "The Year of Fog" this Wednesday (March 12) at Oakland’s A Great Good Place for Books beginning at 7 pm. Catch Michelle at 6120 La Salle Avenue... Separately, "Red Carpet Diaries: Confessions of a Glamour Boy" author Steven "Cojo" Cojocaru is hosting a fundraiser on Thursday to benefit the National Kidney Foundation at SF’s Club Mezzanine at 7 pm. Cover is $85. Mezzanine is at 444 Jessie Street... Also on Thursday beginning at 7:30 pm, local author Moazzam Sheikh will sign copies of "Idol Lover," a collection of sexually charged tales at Modern Times Bookstore, located at 888 Valencia Street in San Francisco’s Mission District.
  
• BASS: Sasha & Digweed to tour USA for first time in 6 years
  Edited Press Release
  
  Sasha & Digweed will kick off their first North American tour together in six years at the Winter Music Conference on Thursday, March 27 at Mansion. The duo will then appear again on Saturday at the Ultra Music Festival, and continue a month-long tour that will bring them to cities including San Francisco, NYC, and even south of the border. Read More
  
• WORD: Hunter S. Thompson fans get new book ‘The Kitchen Readings’
   
  If you’re thirsting for some bushwhacking tales about the late, great Hunter S. Thompson you’ll want to pick up a recent release "The Kitchen Readings - Untold Stories of Hunter S. Thompson" by co-authors Michael Cleverly and Bob Braudis (HarperCollins). The two writers - an artist and a cop - were friends of Thompson’s who visited often at his notorious "fortified compound" in Colorado. Read More
  
• BASS: Gabriel & Dresden , Zabiela headline Spundae 15 Year Anniversary
  
  Wow, have 15 years really passed since San Francisco party promoter Spundae did their first event? James Zabiela, a resident at popular Ibiza club Inside At Space, will headline Thursday (March 6) at Ruby Skye when the club kicks off two days of Breakbeats and House music to mark Spundae’s 15 Year Anniversary. On Friday, Gabriel & Dresden (pictured left) will play one of their energetic sets. The duo have ascended to the top of the club scene, and snagged International Dance Music Awards the past two years in a row. "We wanted to make an experience of new music, that people are going to remember, with maybe a couple things that they know from the past," said Dresden in a press release. Catch the fun and games at Ruby Skye, located at 420 Mason Street, beginning at 9 pm Mar. 6-7. Single night tickets are available at Ticketweb for $20 or both nights for $30. Checkout the Spundae website for more information.
  
• BASS: Oscar G. to release debut original artist CD ‘Innov8’
  Edited Press Release
  
  On April 22, NYC underground House music label Nervous Records will release Oscar G’s first-ever original artist CD, "Innov8." As one-half of landmark Miami-based Murk (along with partner Ralph Falcon), Oscar G. is known as one of the most versatile talents in all of dance music. Over the years, he’s produced some of dance music’s all-time biggest hits while also fashioning a style all his own as a DJ. Read More
  
• WORD: Variety Launches ‘The Biz’ social networking website
  
  If you’re looking to schmooze online with entertainment industry participants, a new "in" might have opened up now that leading entertainment news publication Variety launched an interesting new message board and networking website "The Biz." Read More
  
• BASS: Grid imprint Zombie signs SFR, releases new DNB tracks
  Press Release
  
  Another release, another continent as the Grid family continues to grow -- we welcome SFR to the fold, all the way from Cape Town, South Africa. This producer has been working away on his beats for a few years now, and with releases already on the legendary Trouble on Vinyl, he comes highly recommended. Read More
  
• WORD: Jon Clinch hits the road again, ALA Notable Book ‘Finn’ goes paperback
  
  Author Jon Clinch said the trade paperback edition of his highly-touted debut novel "Finn" (Random House), a mythic story about literary character Huckleberry Finn’s father, is slated for release on March 11. Jon kicks off a nationawide book tour tonight in Oregon to support the paperback release with the following dates and locations. Read More
  
• AUDIO: BPM Smith mixes Drum ‘N’ Bass
  
  The Martians are coming! BPM Smith mixes Drum ‘N’ Bass live during the weekly WORD’N’BASS Show, which is streamed on the Internet and broadcast on 104.1 FM here in the San Francisco Bay Area each Friday night. In his latest set, he opened the show by remixing a surprisingly jazzy track from longtime staple D.Kay, then dropped a series of bass bombs with producers like BSE, Jade, Nu: Tone, Noisia and Klute. Watch for intermittent spaced out effects throughout this mix, plus Morphine’s spoken word transition cut to DNB beats. As always, this freshly cooked mix is presented with no editing of the original broadcast. Listen Now
  
• WORD: HarperCollins to publish Oscar De La Hoya autobiography
  Edited Press Release
  
  HarperEntertainment, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, announced it has acquired an autobiography by boxing legend Oscar De La Hoya. To be called "American Son," De La Hoya’s book will chronicle his rise as one of the most-talked about fighters in the history of boxing, a frank and touching memoir about his pursuit and achievement of the American Dream. Read More
  
• WORD: Cezair-Thompson's 'The Pirate's Daughter' wins Essence Literary Award in Fiction
  Edited Press Release
  
  Unbridled Books is pleased to announce that Margaret Cezair-Thompson's surprise fall hit, "The Pirate's Daughter," is the winner of the first annual Essence Literary Award in Fiction. Winners were announced at a standing room only gala event in New York last week. Read More
  
• BASS: Cielo Announces 5 Year Anniversary Album on Tommy Boy, February DJ line-ups
  Edited Press Release
  
  In New York City, Cielo continues to celebrate their 5th anniversary year this month with an exciting array of DJ dates. The club will also be releasing the fifth installment in its critically-acclaimed compilation series in June 2008. The special album will commemorate the Cielo 5 Year Anniversary and for this release, Cielo will join forces with the ground-breaking label Tommy Boy. Read More
  
• WORD: Marcus Sakey book tour hits California
  
  Novelist Marcus Sakey has reached the West Coast part of a book tour in support of his sophomore work "At The City’s Edge" (St. Martin’s), a crime thriller set in the ghettos and ritzy neighborhoods of Chicago that the Chicago Sun-Times described as "a hyperrealistic look at our most downtrodden communities." Tonight (Wednesday, Feb. 6) Marcus will sign copies at The Mystery Bookstore in Los Angeles at 7 pm. On Thursday he touches down in the SF Bay, where he’ll do a signing at M is for Mystery, located at 86 East Third Avenue in San Mateo, beginning at 7 pm. With Marcus during the road show is novelist Laura Caldwell, author of "The Rome Affair" that was recently published by Mira Books. Click here to see Marcus' full nationwide book tour schedule.
  
• BASS: DJ Mag announces Top 100 clubs poll open for voting
  Press Release
  
  DJs worldwide are invited to shape DJmag's Top 100 Clubs Poll by simply voting for their top three clubs on the planet. While our long-running Top 100 DJs Poll offers clubbers the opportunity to vote for their favourite DJs, this is a chance for DJs to speak out - creating a definitive list of the best dance clubs and rave spots the world has to offer. Read More
  
• WORD: Plume announces launch of Francis debut novel ‘The Liar’s Diary’
  Press Release
  
  When new music teacher Ali Mather enters Jeanne Cross’s quiet suburban life, she brings a jolt of energy that Jeanne never expected. Ali has a magnetic personality and looks to match, drawing attention from all quarters. Nonetheless, Jeanne and Ali develop a friendship based on their mutual vulnerabilities. "The Liar’s Diary" by Patry Francis (Plume) is the story of Ali and Jeanne's friendship, and the secrets they both keep. Read More
  
• AUDIO: BPM Smith mixes Downtempo set
  
  It’s time to once again enter the chill out chamber, where lounge lizards relax and bass heads settle into ambient beats. Here BPM Smith kicks off his traditional Downtempo opening to the weekly WORD’N’BASS Show, broadcast on 104.1 FM in the San Francisco Bay Area and streamed live on the Internet each Friday night. This set includes producers like Air, Kid Loco, A Forest Mighty Black and Luke Slater, among others. As always, WORD’N’BASS.com presents this to you organically mixed and served fresh, with no editing of the original broadcast. Listen Now
  
• BASS: San Francisco's Miguel Migs returns with ‘Those Things Remixed’
  Edited Press Release
  
  World-renowned Bay Area DJ/producer Miguel Migs (pictured left) returns with "Those Things Remixed" on April 22. The CD features 14 unique interpretations of original tracks from Migs’ critically acclaimed 2007 album Those Things. The eclectic roster of artists recruited for remix duty ranges from British house duo Faze Action and Sade producer Cottonbelly to Swedish breakbeat artist Rasmus Faber. Read More
  
• WORD: A.L. Kennedy wins 2007 Costa Book of the Year
  Press Release
  
  Scottish author and stand-up comedian A.L. Kennedy has won the 2007 Costa Book of the Year award for her fifth novel, "Day," the story of a former RAF prisoner-of-war returning to Germany to confront his demons. The announcement was made Tuesday night at an awards ceremony held at The Intercontinental Hotel in central London. Read More
  
• WORD: San Francisco author Beth Lisick is back to ‘Help’ you
  
  San Francisco author Beth Lisick has a new book out called "Helping Me Helping You" from publisher HarperCollins. The former San Francisco Chronicle nightlife columnist’s latest work is about a year-long experiment in which she consults with multimillion-dollar-earning pros and national experts, not only reading their bestselling books but also attending their seminars and classes across America. Read More
  
• AUDIO: Lantz mixes Breakbeat set
  
  Lantz has spent more than a decade manning the decks at various club and underground events throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, mixing House, Drum ‘N’ Bass, and of course his specialty: Breakbeats. In recent years, Lantz has expressed his dedication to Breaks as co-host of the weekly NetAmp Webcast on PulseRadio.net. In this exclusive WORD’N’BASS set, he remixes classic tracks by Michael Jackson, Prince and Melle Mel & The Furious Five, in addition to Breakbeat cuts of contemporary producers such as Moloko. Listen Now
  
• WORD: William Hill releases latest odds for Costa Book of the Year
  Edited Press Release
  
  In the UK, where punters bet on book awards like Americans bet sporting events, oddsmakers William Hill have Costa Novel Award winner A.L. Kennedy as the odds-on favorite with her fifth novel, "Day," posted at 2-1. While it’s a UK-based company, Americans can bet at William Hill’s cultural and sporting events. Here’s the lines on several key contenders at the 2007 Costa Book Awards, whose winner will be announced on Tuesday, January 22. Read More
  
• BASS: Winter Music Conference discounted registration expires Jan. 18
  
  All DJs, producers, record label execs and party promoters who are attending this year’s Winter Music Conference can still get the cheapest available registration, but you’d better get on it -- the discounted registration rate of $305 expires today. Registration includes entry to WMC poolside events and full access to all panels, seminars, the Ultra Music Festival (UMF), the International Dance Music Awards (IDMAs) and exhibits. Your badge will also provide complimentary or reduced admission to WMC official nighttime club events. The WMC, widely considered the year’s most important conference for the electronic music industry, happens at the Miami Beach Resort & Spa from Mar. 25 to 28, 2008. Click here to register or find further information.
  
• WORD: Jenny Gardiner debuts novel 'Sleeping with Ward Cleaver’
  Edited Press Release
  
  Virginia resident Jenny Gardiner is poised to win the hearts of readers across the country with the release of her debut women's fiction book "Sleeping With Ward Cleaver" this February, Dorchester Publishing announced. Gardiner won the North American-wide 2006 American Title III contest sponsored by Dorchester Publishing, leading to her fiction debut with the firm. Read More
  
• BASS: Bay Area’s Christopher Willits, Ryuichi Sakamoto team up for ‘Ocean Fire’
  Edited Press Release
  
  Christopher Willits and Ryuichi Sakamoto’s new release, ‘Ocean Fire,’ is a sublime soundtrack for the ocean. It is an intense and stirring wash of cascading tones and textured harmony. Willits + Sakamoto surprise with rare form in this collaboration, creating a sound world unlike anything they have produced previously. Read More
  
• BASS: The Chemical Brothers earn Grammy nod for ‘We Are The Night’
  
  Widely considered one of the most influential groups in Electronic music, The Chemical Brothers have two big reasons for a cheerful holiday season. First, the electronic duo has been nominated for two Grammy Awards for work on their sixth album, "We Are The Night" that record label Astralwerks launched earlier this year. The album was nominated for Best Electronic/Dance Album, while a single off that album, "Do It Again" was nominated for Best Dance Recording. The Chemical Brothers earlier won two Grammys including for their track "Galvanize." Separately, the Chemical Brothers’ Ed Simons is reportedly expecting a child with British pop singer Lilly Allen.
  
• BASS: Van Buuren launches live album ‘Universal Religion 2008’
  Edited Press Release
  
  Dutch DJ/producer Armin Van Buuren, who received the yearly award for the #1 most popular global DJ in 2007 from well-known British magazine DJ Mag, has released a brand new album "Universal Religion 2008" that features his live set at Club Amnesia in Ibiza, Spain. In the influential yearly DJ Mag Top 100, a record-breaking 345,000 votes were cast by dance music fans from more than 220 countries. Read More
  
• WORD: Tom Waits releases lyrical biography ‘The Early Years’
  
  Singer Tom Waits, who garnered fame for his growling vocals and for the distinct poetry of his lyrics, has launched a book of his lyrics called "The Early Years," publisher HarperCollins announced. Since his first album "Closing Time" in 1977, Waits has developed somewhat of a cult following, and longtime fans will be pleased to find this book includes complete lyrics from his debut to 1983. HarperCollins notes the book, which also touches on his 1992 album "One from the Heart," is a celebration of both his words and of the artist himself, and that Waits’ lyrical biography adds further dimension to this gifted artist.
  
• BASS: Temple is this week’s hotspot for authors, Drum ‘N’ Bass
  
  It looks like Temple is the place to be this week in San Fransico, whether you're into heavy bass or literary events. Tonight (Tuesday, Dec. 11), author Eric Corey Freed hosts a book signing for his new title "Green Building & Remodeling For Dummies" (Wiley). Then on Friday, Metalheadz DJ and producer Doc Scott will will play his first San Francisco show in eight years when he headlines a night of Drum ‘N’ Bass along with local DJ Kuze. Popular DJ General Midi and several more turntablists will represent the Breakbeat front. Read More
  
• WORD: Marcus Sakey’s new novel ‘At The City’s Edge’ coming soon
  
  Novelist Marcus Sakey said his second novel, "At The City’s Edge," is slated for release on January 22, 2008 from publisher St. Martin's. His sophomore work, the second of a two-book deal that his literary agent Scott Miller of Trident Media Group closed at auction, is about a discharged soldier who returns from Iraq to find a similar war raging in his Chicago neighborhood. According to Sakey, "There’s corruption and politics and gang warfare and love and redemption and car chases and gun fights and Roman history, all the fun stuff." Fans can preview the first chapter on his newly revamped website. Separately, Sakey’s debut novel "The Blade Itself" is now available in paperback just in time for holiday shopping.
  
• BASS: Dieselboy returns to San Francisco tonight
  
  Dieselboy, one of America’s top Drum ‘N’ Bass DJs, returns to play San Francisco club Temple tonight (Thursday, Dec. 6), party promoter Compression announced. Also playing at the 21-and-up show are residents Ivry, 2 Cents, Manny Vibes and The Colonel MC. Cover is just $5. Temple is located at 540 Howard Street in downtown San Francisco.
  
• BASS: BS1 Records resumes DNB production with Kubiks
  
  After ceasing production for nearly a year and a half, Davide Carbone’s BS1 Records announced that it is kicking off "a new look, tougher sounding BS1 Records" with the involvement of longtime Drum 'N' Bass producer Kubiks. First up from the new BS1 stable is a 12" vinyl release from Kubik with "Mindreader," remixed by one of the leading producers this year, Heist, and backed with a B side track "No Return." Read More
  
• WORD: Women lead debut category in Costa Book Awards 2007 Shortlist
  
  Emigrant writers dominated all-female First Novel category shortlist as Costa, the UK’s fastest-growing coffee shop chain, announced the shortlists for the 2007 Costa Book Awards in the First Novel, Novel, Biography, Poetry and Children’s Book Award categories, recognizing the most enjoyable books of the last year by writers based in the UK and Ireland. Read More
  
• AUDIO: BPM Smith Drum ‘N’ Bass set
  
  BPM Smith, who began mixing Drum ’N’ Bass and Downtempo in 2000, has hosted the WORD ‘N’ BASS Show since 2002. In this latest mix, he churns out a fast and fluid DNB set that includes the latest breakthrough producers like Trei and Psidream while giving a nod to longtime artists from the UK such as Aphrodite and Klute. As always, this mix is presented “unfiltered,” served raw and unedited from the original live show. The program is broadcast in the San Francisco Bay Area on 104.1 FM and streamed live on the Internet every Friday night. Listen Now
  
• BASS: Mlle Caro, Franck Garcia to release ‘Pain Disappears’ on Buzzin’ Fly
  Edited Press Release
  
  After incubating nearly five years, Ben Watt’s Buzzin’ Fly Records is set to release its first-ever artist album Mlle Caro & Franck Garcia’s "Pain Disappears" on February 12, 2008. A magnificent blend of minimal house, experimental electronica and indie-pop, Pain Disappears is an essential piece of music and it’s positioned to be the crossover album of 2008. Read More
  
• WORD: Norman Mailer, 1923-2007
  
  Norman Mailer, a novelist as famous for arguing publicly with authors, political figures and feminists as his prolific writing, died on Saturday, Nov. 10 at age 84. Mailer, who was born in New Jersey on Jan. 31, 1923, exploded on the literary scene at age 25 when his semi-biographical novel "The Naked and the Dead" debuted in 1948 and became one of America’s greatest war novels. Over nearly six decades as a literary icon, Mailer won the Pulitzer Prize twice (for novels "Armies of the Night" and "The Executioner’s Song"), beefed with authors Charles Bukowski, Truman Capote, William Styron and Tom Wolfe, was associated with the Beat Generation, co-founded the Village Voice, and ran for Mayor of NYC with a platform of seceding the city into its own state and banning automobiles. WORD’N’BASS sends condolences to his family.
  
• WORD: Former S.F. Police Chief Earl Sanders' book 'Zebra' goes Hollywood
  
  Another week, another book snapped up by Hollywood. Former San Francisco Chief of Police Prentice Earl Sanders' 2006 book "The Zebra Murders: A Season of Killing, Racial Madness, and Civil Rights" was sold to DreamWorks and odds are you will see it on the big screen soon, literary agent Jessica Kaye of Beverly Hills agency Kaye & Mills told WORD'N'BASS.com. Read More
  
• BASS: Dubfire announces the launch of his new label SCI+TEC
  Edited Press Release
  
  Dubfire -- one half of the Grammy Award winning and four-time nominated electronic music duo Deep Dish -- is pleased to announce the launch of his new digital label, Science + Technology Digital Audio (SCI + TEC). The label will act as an exclusive outlet for Dubfire’s original productions and a home for up and coming artists from around the globe. Read More
  
• WORD: Cormac McCarthy wins Quills Award; charity auction begins Oct. 22
  
  Novelist Cormac McCarthy added The Quills Award to his ever-growing bag of loot, which has quickly filled to the brim thanks to his most recent novel "The Road" (Alfred A. Knopf). Also, The Quills Literacy Foundation said it is auctioning a selection of autographed 2007 Quill Award winner and nominee titles to raise funds for nonprofit organization First Book. Read More
  
• WORD: Updates on authors Satterthwait, Sakey, Cezair-Thompson
  
  An official release date isn’t yet finalized, but longtime novelist Walter Satterthwait tells WORD’N’BASS.com that his forthcoming book of short stories "The Mankiller of Poojeegai and Other Mysteries" will come out soon from publisher Crippen & Landru. Separately, we’ve got the latest updates on novelist Margaret Cezair-Thompson's road show and a smoking hot deal for Marcus Sakey that could see him clinking martini glasses with actor Ben Affleck. Read More
  
• BASS: BPM Smith mixes DNB live on the Internet Friday nights
  
  The WORD'N'BASS Show is now streamed live on the Internet from 10:30 pm to 1 am PST on Friday nights. In the program, which also broadcasts in the Oakland/Berkeley/San Francisco areas on the radio at 104.1 FM, WORD’N’BASS.com Editor BPM Smith mixes a Downtempo Electronica set followed by Drum ‘N’ Bass. Read More
  
• WORD: Jon Clinch’s novel ‘Finn’ nominated for Sargent Prize
  Jon Clinch, whose novel "Finn" garnered considerable buzz and sparkling reviews nationwide earlier this year, told WORD’N’BASS.com that his debut is among seven that were short-listed for the 2007 John Sargent Sr. First Novel Prize. The Sargent Prize, created by the Mercantile Library Center for Fiction as part of its mission to promote the art of fiction in the United States, includes a $10,000 cash award. Read More
  
• BASS: Sasha and Spooky play NYC’s Webster Hall Friday, Oct. 12
  Edited Press Release
  
  On Friday, October 12, Webster Hall and clubZone.com brings together two of the most creative forces in modern electronic music -- Trance and Downtempo DJ/producer Sasha and Spooky, a two-man DJ and production crew whose birth names are Charlie May and Duncan Forbes -- for an evening of sublime sounds enriched by New York City’s finest sound system. Read More
  
• WORD: Frank Beddor takes 'Seeing Redd' to bestsellers list with multimedia
  
  Author Frank Beddor, who has turned heads with his scintillating take on Lewis Carroll’s classic novel "Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland," has launched a bevy of multimedia offerings that could represent the next wave in author promotions. Check out some of the things he did for his latest novel "Seeing Redd" that has helped make it a smash hit -- his second book to hit the NY Times Bestsellers list in two years. Read More
  
• WORD: Major paperback deal for Cezair-Thompson’s ‘The Pirates Daughter’
  Edited Press Release
  
  Unbridled Books announced that it has sold the trade paperback rights for Margaret Cezair-Thompson’s surprise fall hit, "The Pirates Daughter," in a significant six-figure deal to Jane von Mehren at Random House. Cezair-Thompson’s latest novel was inspired by Errol Flynn’s accidental arrival in Jamaica in 1946. Read More
  
• BASS: Drum & Bass DJs Photek, Dieselboy return to San Francisco
  
  In a warm-up before next Saturday’s LoveFest, two of the world’s top Drum & Bass DJ/producers -- Photek and Dieselboy -- are playing at San Francisco club Temple tonight (Sept. 22), party promoter fSound announced. Local DJs Gridlok and Genome open the show, while MC Duh and MC Colonel will handle the mic at this event that commemorates SF-based DNB label Project 51. San Francisco Dubstep hosts a second room with JuJu, DJ Unya, Jus Wan and MC Child performing. The 21-and-up party runs from 10 pm to 4 am with a $15 cover. Temple is located at 55 Natoma in the SOMA District.
  
• REVIEW: The Cinematic Orchestra leaves SF basking in bass
  Review by BPM Smith
  
  The Cinematic Orchestra played Saturday night at Bimbo’s 365 Club here in San Francisco, and the UK-based troupe sure put on a euphoric show. After a rough patch in their very first song they recovered to do a fantastic set that combined tracks from their new album "Ma Fleur" with some old time favorites from "Man With a Movie Camera" that had catapulted them to cult status among American Downtempo fans and stoners worldwide. Read More
  
• WORD: Author Dave Eggers bags $250K for Heinz Award
  
  San Francisco author Dave Eggers, founder of the 826 Valencia writing laboratories as well as a publishing house for emerging writers, won $250,000 from The Heinz Family Foundation in its Arts and Humanities award category. Eggers is a novelist whose meteoric commercial and critical success led him into the worlds of philanthropy, advocacy and education, which helped make him one of five recipients of 13th annual Heinz Awards. Read More
  
• BASS: Downtempo band The Cinematic Orchestra plays SF on Saturday
  
  The Cinematic Orchestra, one of several breakthrough Downtempo Electonica bands that came to prominence in the late 1990s, is touring across North America in September to support two album released this year, "Live At The Big Chill" and their studio album "Ma Fleur."  They will touch down at San Francisco club Bimbo’s this Saturday, one night after their show at the El Ray Theater in Los Angeles. Read More
  
• BASS: Internet music reactions mixed to SoundExchange offer; kill date of Sept. 14
  
  It looks like many websites that stream Electronic music will survive the Draconian new royalty fees that the Copyright Royalty Board tried to push through earlier this year. Internet webcasters have until this Friday (Sept. 14) to accept a new deal from SoundExchange, the group responsible for collecting royalty fees and distributing them to various music industry companies. Read More
  
• BASS: Sasha launches new lable emFire, plans North American tour
  
  Longtime Trance and Downtempo DJ and producer Sasha announced the launch of his brand new label, Titled emFire, an imprint that will be an exclusive outlet for his own material, which has been co-produced with his renowned collective that includes Charlie May, Duncan Forbes and Barry Jamieson (aka COMA), a pseudonym that also provides the title for the first release. Sasha also announced a North American tour starting September 27 that will include stops in San Francisco, Los Angeles and New York City. Read More
• Barnes & Noble, which last month said it wouldn’t carry the upcoming O.J. Simpson book."If I Did It" due to "lack of customer demand," has pulled an about-face. The chain told The Associated Press that the ghost-written train wreck will appear on its bookshelves after all. As previously reported, new publisher Beaufort Books says that OJ will not financially benefit from the publication of "If I Did It," which retells Ron Goldman’s and Nicole Brown Simpson’s murders. Simpson now says he had little do with its creation but the ghost writer naturally disagrees.
  
• WORD: McCafferty’s latest novel ‘Fourth Comings’ captures angst of mid-twenties
  
  Megan McCafferty recently launched a new novel, "Fourth Comings," from Crown Publishing to continue her Jessica Darling series that‘s garnered praise for its refreshing and frank look at young adulthood. This latest installment follows Jessica, now a twentysomething woman trying to make it the world just after college. Read More
  
• BASS: See Trance DJ John Digweed free in San Francisco
  
  John Digweed, one of our very favorite Trance music DJs, will play at San Francisco club Ruby Skye on Friday, August 31 in what’s sure to be one of The City’s most fantastic shows this year. Digweed is touring North America in support of his new mixed album "Transitions Vol. 3," slated for release Sept. 18. Want to get in free? Read More
  
• BASS: Surya Dub hits Club Six tonight; free DNB at Madrone Lounge
  
  In San Francisco, a bevy of DJs will spin Drum & Bass, Dub, Dancehall and Global Beats at Club Six tonight (Saturday, Aug. 25). The two-room Surya Dub party, which features local spinmeisters like Maneesh The Twister and Roommate, as well as New York City’s Sub Swara and several others, kicks off at 10 pm. This 21-and-up show has a $10 cover. Club Six is at 60 6th Street between Mission and Market… Then on Wednesday, Aug. 29, check out the free Drum & Bass event "Infuzion" where DJs Jus Wan and Kinetic will play early sets during the DNB Happy Hour at Madrone Lounge in San Francisco’s Lower Haight District from 6 pm to 9 pm. Madrone Lounge is at 500 Divisadero near Fell.
  
• Audio: WORD’N’BASS Show now streamed live on Internet
  
  Until today, listeners of BPM Smith’s Drum & Bass and Electro mixes had to catch The WORD'N'BASS Show either live in the Oakland/Berkeley/San Francisco areas every Friday from 10 pm to 1 am PST on 104.1 FM, or an archived set in the audio section of this website. Beginning tonight (Friday, Aug. 24) at 10 pm, listeners worldwide can hear the show live on the Internet as well. In the program, BPM Smith churns out a Downtempo and Electro set followed by Drum & Bass. Listen Now
  
• WORD: Juice is served as Beaufort Books tackles OJ book ‘If I Did It’
  
  When Beaufort Books finalized a deal with the Goldman family for O.J. Simpson’s tell-all book "If I Did It," the publisher’s president Eric Kampmann probably figured enough time had passed to avert a repeat of that last year’s firestorm. In late 2006, HarperCollins destroyed 400,000 copies of the book, which retells Ron Goldman’s and Nicole Brown Simpson’s murders, as bookstores across the country refused to carry the title. Read More
  
• BASS: DJ Krush to release his first-ever DVD set, 3-disc ‘History of DJ Krush’
  Edited Press Release
  
  On September 18, acclaimed Japanese producer/turntablist DJ Krush will offer up his first ever DVD entitled "History Of DJ Krush." The collection encompasses a whopping three DVDs and features every DJ Krush music video to date along with two documentaries that follow DJ Krush’s path from the recording of his 1995 album "Meiso" through to his 2006 world tour. Read More
  
• BASS: Ambi-Sonic 4 year anniversary party features Downtempo Electronica
   
  Expect the lounge lizzards to be out in force tonight (Saturday, Aug. 18) when Ambi-Sonic celebrates its four-year anniversary in San Francisco with the finest in Chill Out music and local DJs spinning smooth lo-fi grooves, as well as some up-and-coming live Downtempo bands. Ambi-Sonic will also debut its new compilation album slated for release this fall. Performers include Mike Bee, DFTram, Saturnia, Cholophil, MAK, Traffic, Future BC, Jump/Cut, Fuzzpod and Submodern. The 21-and-up event runs from 8 pm to 2 am at Retox (formerly Sub-Lounge) near Potrero Hill. Retox is at 628 20th Street. Cover is $5 before 11, $7 thereafter.
  
• WORD: HarperCollins Publishers to make books excerpts available on iPhone
  
  In an effort to reach new readers, HarperCollins Publishers said it will make digital book content available for the iPhone platform, allowing readers to view pages of HarperCollins titles online. The publisher’s pilot program will initially include samples from 14 new books by authors such as Faye Kellerman (pictured left), William Lashner and David Mendell in an iPhone-compatible format. Read More
  
• On the Road: Beginning Saturday, Aug. 4, WORD’N’BASS Editor BPM Smith is traveling in Europe. New editorial and audio content will resume when he returns in mid-August.
  
• WORD: Debut novelist Patricia Wood hits publishing ‘Lottery’
  
  If you’re waiting for the next big thing in summer reading fare, look no further than Patricia Wood’s debut novel "Lottery," which Penguin Group imprint Putnam launched on August 2. Lottery’s premise -- what happens when Forrest Gump wins Powerball -- is so simple yet volatile it is generating considerable buzz as copies reach bookstores. Read More
  
• WORD: Author Steve Forte drums up publicity for card cheating book - by getting arrested
  
  Self-published authors are known to get creative to try and drum up media coverage of their books, but two-time author Steve Forte pulled off the mother of weird publicity stunts by getting arrested in Atlantic City. Forte, who published a book this year called "Poker Protection - Cheating and the World of Poker," faces charges of conspiracy and using cheating devices in a theft after allegedly robbing fellow poker players. Read More
  
• BASS: Hector Fonseca releases ‘New York Club Anthems Vol. 2’
  
  Talented DJ Hector Fonseca launched the second installment of "New York Club Anthems," a dirty Electro mixed album that includes tracks from producers Suzanne Palmer, The Starkillers and everyone’s favorite transsexual vocalist Amanda Lepore, record label Star 69 announced. Read More
  
• BASS: Drum & Bass producer SKC drops limited edition 12"
  
  We’ve snapped up just about every vinyl release we could find from Drum & Bass producer SKC in the past two years. The Budapest, Hungary-native’s pulsating, bass-heavy tracks are perfect when a D&B mix is hitting its mid to late peak levels, so when record label Commercial Suicide said it’s "very excited to announce another release from SKC" we got ready for another day of scouring Bay Area record stores for his latest. Read More
  
• WORD: Harry Potter 7 said to be greenest book in publishing history
  Edited Press Release
  
  The Harry Potter series has galvanized the world’s book industry into going green, from spurring the development of 32 new ecological papers, six for Potter exclusively, to igniting a shift where 300 publishers have adopted environmental policies that are helping to protect Canada’s Boreal forest among others, Vancouver-based environmental group Markets Initiative announced. Read More
  
• WORD: Roca book ‘The Gleason’s Gym Total Body Workout for Women’ goes paperback
  
  Simon & Schuster imprint Fireside has issued the trade paperback edition of professional boxing trainer Hector Roca’s popular fitness book ‘The Gleason’s Gym Total Body Workout for Women: A four-week Head-to-Toe Makeover.’ Roca, who wrote the book with Gleason’s Gym owner Bruce Silverglade, gained worldwide recognition after training actress Hilary Swank for her role in hit film 'Million Dollar Baby.' Read More
  
• Editor’s Note: Beginning July 2, BPM Smith is in Las Vegas to play in the World Series of Poker. WORD’N’BASS will get updated upon his return. Happy Fourth of July!
  
• AUDIO: BPM Smith mixes Downtempo and Electro set
  
  BPM Smith began mixing Downtempo, Electro and Drum & Bass in 2000. Since 2002, his Downtempo sets have traditionally kicked off a three hour live mix during the WORD’N’BASS Show, broadcast in the S.F. Bay Area on 104.1 FM. Last Friday he started the show with chilled out producers like Boards of Canada, Tarwater and Tommy Guerro, then transitioned to the quicker beats of Purple, Alchemy and Genetic. As always, this set is chilled without editing of the original live broadcast. Listen Now
  
• WORD: Nicholas Christopher launches ‘The Bestiary,’ to read in NYC
  
  Author Nicholas Christopher has his fifth novel, ‘The Bestiary,’ launching on July 3 at bookstores nationwide, publisher The Dial Press announced. The Bestiary is a lyrical story about a young Vietnam vet in search of a long-lost book detailing the animals left off Noah’s Arc, a journey that takes him from the tenements of New York to the ancient libraries of Europe. Read More
  
• WORD: Author Dave Zirin begins road show for ‘Welcome To The Terrordome’
  
  Author and journalist Dave Zirin is coming to Cody’s books in Berkeley on July 11 in support of his new book 'Welcome To The Terror dome - The Pain, Politics, and Promise of Sports’ (Haymarket Books), at 7pm for a signing and discussion. Zirin, who has covered sports for the San Francisco Examiner and whose debut book was the controversial 'What’s My Name Fool?', takes a provocative look at the heroes and villains of contemporary sports in his latest work. We hear he’s also reading at various bookstores in the San Francisco Bay Area and an announcement is on tap soon. Cody’s is located at 1730 Fourth Street.
  
• BASS: Klute’s US edition of ‘Emperor’ has more D&B, less Techno
  
  Drum & Bass producer/DJ Klute, in association with Commercial Suicide and Breakbeat Science, announced the release of the US edition of his runaway multi-platinum hit album 'The Emperor’s New Clothes.' The US edition comes as a 2 x CD pack but with an entirely different track listing than the UK version that’s in stores across the pond. In the announcement, Klute noted that the US edition has far less Techno than the original release. The album, which has 16 tracks in all, is slated to arrive at record stores across the US in July, or you can score a copy here at the Breakbeat Science website.
  
• WORD: Jane Green launches third novel in as many years with ‘Second Chance’
  
  Longtime Chic Lit author Jane Green launched a new novel ‘Second Chance’ from publisher Viking this month that has current events - a terrorist attack on an Amtrak train that kills a man - lead to a reunion of sorts for four old friends: a drunk actress, a suburban mother, an animal shelter director and a writer who cannot conceive children with his otherwise delightful wife. Second Chance is Jane’s third novel in as many years, and comes after ‘Swapping Lives’ and ‘The Other Woman.’
  
• BASS: DJ Alley Cat Drum & Bass set
  
  Former San Francisco DJ Alley Cat, who has released two studio albums and been the label manager for Skunkrock Productions since moving to London in 1999, continues using Europe’s abundance of Drum & Bass events to sharpen her mixing skills. Since moving abroad, she’s played venues in 18 European countries as well as all over the USA, Canada, South Africa and Israel. Alley Cat recently posted a new mix on her website that includes tracks by D&B staples such as Klute, Lomax, Spirit and many others. We like how she patiently ramps up the beats in an ever slow rise to 170 BPM. Listen Now
  
• BASS: House music producer Carl Kennedy to release ‘Ride The Storm’
  
  In December 2006 Carl Kennedy invited legendary singer/songwriter Andrew Roachford to record vocals for his new production of "Ride The Storm," the hypnotic cut from Roachford’s 1994 album "Permanent Shade Of Blue." The soulful voice and carefully crafted track won immediate attention from top tier House music DJs such as Pete Tong and recent International Dance Music Awards winner Roger Sanchez. Kennedy now has a vinyl release of the track slated for release on June 25, Wasted Youth Music and Effin Records announced. Read More
  
• WORD: Rachel Vater latest agent to join Folio Literary Management
  
  Literary agent Rachel Vater has joined Folio Literary Management, bringing the number of agents at one of New York City’s fastest-growing agencies to seven and raising the firm’s profile in the hot young adult (YA) market. Authors will be interested to hear Rachel is taking on new clients. Read More
  
• BASS: New S.F. Dub party kicks off with DJ Unya, Sam Supa; DJ SS plays Compression
  
  A new bi-weekly Dub party Brapdem! launches in San Francisco tonight (Wednesday, June 20) at The Transfer with DJ Unya, Enzyme, Antiserum and Sam Supa spinning from 10 pm to 2 am, Surefire Productions and One Ronin announced. The event, which has booked DJs through September, will continue on the first and third Wednesday each month thereafter. There is no cover charge for this 21-and-up event. The Transfer is located 198 Church Street... On Thursday catch one of the UK's premier Drum & Bass producers as DJ SS, a founder of the World of Drum & Bass, plays at Club Compression with MC Kay. Compression residents Sharp, Aye-n, Audio Angel and Colonel MC will also perform at the party, which runs from 10 pm to 2 am at the Cellar, located at 685 Sutter Street.
  
• BASS: Fan dies, Ornette Coleman collapses on stage at Bonnaroo Music Festival
  
  At last weekend’s Bonnaroo Music Festival in Manchester, Tennessee, where several top DJs including Sasha & Digweed, the San Francisco Bay Area’s DJ Shadow, and Oakland rapper Boots Riley were scheduled to perform, one fan reportedly died and jazz legend Ornette Coleman collapsed during his performance. Conditions at Bonnaroo were reportedly hot and dusty, and event organizers had issued a warning before the event about dry conditions "due to the fact that the State of Tennessee is experiencing a severe drought." Read More
  
• WORD: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie wins 2007 Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction
  Edited Press Release
  
  Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie has won the twelfth Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction with her second novel Half of a Yellow Sun (Fourth Estate). At an awards ceremony in London, oranizers presented the author with the £30,000 prize and the 'Bessie', a limited edition bronze figurine. Both are anonymously endowed. Read More
  
• WORD: First "Espresso Book Machine" unveiled at BookExpo America Convention
  Press Release
  
  At the BookExpo America convention in New York City, legendary publishing executive Jason Epstein and business partner Dane Neller unveiled the first "Espresso Book Machine," an ATM vending machine for books which will revolutionize publishing by printing and delivering physical books to consumers within minutes. Read More
  
• WORD: Celebrity journalist Anna David turns novelist with 'Party Girl'
  
  It seems the trend du jour is gossip reporters turning to the novel as a medium to express the underbelly of fame, decadence and excess. Anna David, who has written for tabloid staples like US Weekly, has a different spin in her novel 'Party Girl,' which HarperCollins launches this month. Read More
  
• BASS: Paul van Dyk returns to Central Park with ‘In Between’
  Press Release
  
  In what has become one of New York City's most highly anticipated annual summer concert events, Paul van Dyk returns to the famed Central Park on August 17th & 18th. This marks a record 5th consecutive year that Paul van Dyk has teamed up with Made Event for the production of this truly unique outdoor concert. Read More
  
• San Francisco LoveFest, America's largest dance event, is looking for volunteers, interns, and key players to help make the 2007 event happen from top to bottom, in both the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. Please contact organizers at info(at)sflovefest(dot)org if you're interested.
  
• BASS: Global Dubwize Vibes & Dread Bass Culture tonight at SF’s Club Six
  Press Release
  
  This month Surya Dub celebrates the CD Release of resident Kush Arora’s third album ‘From Brooklyn to SF’ with a series of shows including tonight, Saturday May 26, at San Francisco venue Club Six. Appearing alongside Kush is New York MC Juakali. And to round out the night are Special Guests Raz Mesinai (aka Badawi/Sub Dub) as well as Lady Ra (Beats Without Borders, Vancouver). Read More
  
• WORD: Andrea Portes to attend BEA events in support of ‘Hick'; more tour dates on tap
  
  With an eye on the BookExpo America conference in New York City, debut author Andrea Portes hit the Greenwich Village Barnes & Noble on Tuesday night for a reading, discussion and signing in support of her novel ‘Hick’ (Unbridled Books). Next week, Andrea will appear at several BookExpo America events beginning June 1 as her road show continues. Also, many of her nationwide tour dates were announced. Read More
  
• WORD: Backspace Writer’s Conference starts May 31; scholarship winners announced
  
  The annual Backspace Writer’s Conference will take place at the Algonquin Hotel in Manhattan from Thursday, May 31 to Friday, June 1. The event, which brings together best-selling authors, top literary agents and editors for a two-day, two-track event with panel discussions, workshops and socializing, will feature Publisher’s Lunch founder Michael Cader and author David Morrell as key note speakers. Read More
  
• WORD: Alan Greenspan to keynote annual BookExpo America conference
  Edited Press Release
  
  The former Chairman of the Federal Reserve Board, Dr. Alan Greenspan, will kick off BookExpo America’s (BEA’s) author events as Keynote Speaker on Friday, June 1, in New York City. Conference organizers had to move Greenspan’s appearance to a larger venue at the Jacob K. Javits Center convention Facility due to a very large audience expected for Dr. Greenspan’s appearance, the BEA said in a press release. Read More
  
• REVIEW: Klute’s ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’ has another dose of melody
  Review by BPM Smith
  COMMERCIAL SUICIDE
  
  After launching a fifth Drum & Bass album last month in the UK through his record label Commercial Suicide, Klute’s latest is now trickling into record stores across the US. ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes,’ coming on the heels of his memorable 2005 release ‘No One’s Listening Anymore,’ has everything you’d expect from a Klute D&B release: bountiful melodies, varied drum lines and the occasional bass bomb. Read More
  
• BASS: Roommate, Jus Wan play Grime City two-year anniversary party on Friday
  
  Two years ago, the B.I.G. Crew formed to launch the regular Grime City party with the goal of turning San Francisco into a city of grime -- of low end and massive beats. This Friday (May 18), B.I.G. Crew and SureFire Productions will present a two-year anniversary party with DJs Roommate and Jus Wan spinning Dubstep and Grime, along with residents Enzyme, Jamin Creed, and Emcee Child holding down the mic. This free night of beats happens from 10 pm to 2 am at Anu, located between Market and Mission at 43 6th Street in San Francisco.
  
• BASS: Grand National returns with sophomore LP ‘A Drink And A Quick Decision’
  Edited Press Release
  
  Recall Records is pleased to announce the highly anticipated release of Grand National’s sophomore album ‘A Drink And A Quick Decision.' The album will be released in a unique fan-friendly platform format with the digital version available on June 18th and a deluxe CD version available on September 10th. The deluxe CD package will feature bonus tracks and remixes not available on the digital release. Read More
  
• BASS: Internet radio could play on with Senators Wyden, Brownback bill
  
  Days after the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) pushed back the due date for newly inflated royalty payments to kick in for Internet radio broadcasters, two U.S. Senators --  Ron Wyden (D-OR) and Sam Brownback (R-KS) -- proposed legislation to keep Internet radio alive by vacating the CRB decision that could increase Internet radio sound recording royalties by 300 percent to 1,200 percent. Read More
  
• WORD: Winn Scotch debuts with ‘Lost and Found’ launch; Portes reading in SF Monday
  
  The 'Department of the Lost and Found,' an ambitious novel about a 30-year-old woman who is diagnosed with breast cancer, launched on May 8 from publisher HarperCollins imprint William Morrow, author Allison Winn Scotch announced. Allison, a longtime journalist whom The Literary Guild calls "a writer to watch," says her protagonist reevaluates life and reinvents everything about herself in this debut. Allison has a book signing at the Borders Books in NYC (10 Columbus Circle) this Wednesday, May 16, at 7 pm. Check out her website for more information… Meanwhile, Andrea Portes is reading her debut novel ‘Hick’ on Monday, May 14, in San Francisco. Catch her beginning at 8 pm at Bazaar Café, located at 5927 California Street.
  
• WORD: Interview with ‘Hick’ author Andrea Portes
  
  "The bartender looks me up and down. He has salt-and-pepper hair and piercing green eyes. I can’t bring myself to look at him." Those aren't exactly the comments of your typical thirteen-year-old, but Andrea Portes has a novel 'Hick'  that’s anything but routine. As Unbridled Books launched this gritty and engaging road novel, WORD’N’BASS.com Editor BPM Smith chatted with Portes about the lowlights of her first book tour, writing semi-autobiographical material, and why her mom wears sunglasses indoors. Read More
  
• WORD: Barbara Kingsolver goes narrative nonfiction with ‘Animal, Vegetable, Miracle’
  
  Best-selling novelist and essayist Barbara Kingsolver has an unexpected book launching today (May 1). In her first narrative nonfiction title, ‘Animal, Vegetable, Miracle,’ she describes her family’s adventures as they move to a farm and realign their lives with their surroundings, publisher HarperCollins announced. Read More
  
• AUDIO: BPM Smith special 420 Drum & Bass set
  
  BPM Smith, who began mixing Drum & Bass in 2000, has hosted the WORD'N'BASS Show, broadcast in the San Francisco Bay Area on 104.1 FM since 2002. Last Friday night he whipped out the heavy bass bombs to mark 420 with producers well known for emphasizing the lows such as Skc, Calyx and DJ Fresh. Also watch for BPM Smith's remix of Nu: Tone and a notoriously blunted track by A-Sides with MC Fats. Naturally he rounds off this extra long set with Big Bud. This mix is presented "unfiltered," with no editing from the original live broadcast. Listen Now
  
• WORD: ‘Ask A Ninja’ deal with Crown Publishing could mark new trend
  
  In what could be the first in a new trend for the book industry, video podcast ‘Ask A Ninja’ landed a book deal with Crown Publishing following an auction by literary agent Joe Veltre of Artists Literary Group. Douglas Sarine and Kent Nichols, the duo behind Ask A Ninja, will write the book. Read More
  
• WORD: Legendary novelist Kurt Vonnegut: 1922-2007
  
  Literary novelist Kurt Vonnegut has died at age 84 in Manhattan. Vonnegut, one of America’s most celebrated authors for his sardonic, oftentimes bizarre writing, died on Wednesday, April 12, weeks after sustaining a brain injury during a fall. Vonnegut’s debut novel Player Piano was published in 1952, and his best-known novel, Slaughterhouse-Five, came in 1969. When Vonnegut served in World War II, he was captured by the Germans and imprisoned in Dresden, a city American forces bombed to bits in a prolonged attack that killed over 100,000 people. Slaughterhouse-Five, widely considered one of the best American novels ever, was named after a freezer in which he and other POWs hid during the bombings. WORD’N’BASS.com sends condolences and best wishes to Vonnegut’s family.
  
• WORD: Debutant Henderson breaks in novel ‘Tap Root’ at St. Martin’s -- without an agent
  
  It’s not often a first-time novelist gets a major publisher to sign them without a literary agent. When they do, it sets off the ‘hot book alert’ sirens and we’ve got a feeling Susan Henderson’s debut ‘Tap Root’ could fit the bill. It's a coming-of-age novel set in the 1970s about a young girl who mistakenly believes her mother has gone missing, and must come to terms with their irrevocably changed relationship. Read More
  
• WORD: Interview with ‘Con Ed’ author Matthew Klein
  
  There’s a thousand roads an author can take to becoming a novelist. Charles Bukowski chose the bars and slaughterhouses of cities across America. Wesley Strick wrote Hollywood screenplays for nearly two decades before turning to novels. Most recently, Matthew Klein parlayed a decade of raising venture capital and start-up technology ventures into a debut with Warner Books. The setting of his novel, 'Con Ed,' will surprise nobody. His solid plot and convincing portrayal of Silicon Valley led WORD’N’BASS.com Editor BPM Smith to ask some questions about how life experience drives prose, the perfect con, and what happens when you go broke. Read More
  
• BASS: S.F.'s Gabriel & Dresden score two IDMAs, Tiesto is ‘Best Global DJ’
  
  At the recent 22nd Annual International Dance Music Awards in Miami Beach, Armin Van Buuren and San Francisco’s own Gabriel & Dresden each took two awards apiece, and Trance DJ Tiesto scored three awards to tie his results two years ago. Meanwhile, Drum & Bass has its first winner since the genre received its own category. Read More
  
• WORD: Bay Area author Dave Eggers, Kiran Desai to speak at PEN World Voices
  Edited Press Release
  
  PEN American Center announced this year’s theme, "Home and Away," and the program for its third annual PEN World Voices: The New York Festival of International Literature, which will draw 162 writers and cultural critics from 45 countries for 67 panels, lectures, tributes, readings, one-on-one conversations, and musical performances. America's only festival of international authors, World Voices will occur April 24 to 29 in various locations around New York City, including festival venues such as the Bowery Ballroom and the Morgan Library. Read More
  
• BASS: New Music Royalty Rates May Shut Down Internet Radio
  Edited Press Release
  
  The U.S. government, through the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), earlier this month made a determination of the royalty rates Internet Radio webcasters must pay the owners of sound recording copyrights to license the music they webcast for the years 2006-2010. The license is paid to SoundExchange, a nonprofit organization that collects royalty payments from digital music broadcasters and distributes them to rights holders. In an open letter, Digitally Imported Founder/Manager Ari Shohat appealed to the public to help keep Internet radio viable. Read More
  
• WORD: ‘Con Ed’ author Matthew Klein trades in venture capital  for pen and paper
  
  It’s been years since the phrase "dot-bomb" became America’s catch phrase for a minute. Millionaire tech execs in khakis seem to have disappeared from Silicon Valley and moved on to other projects, like writing dot-com novels about raising VC and collecting millions. Matthew Klein is one such technology exile, and his novel Con Ed just debuted with Warner Books. What’s that, you say tech schemes aren’t sexy? Throw in the world’s greatest con man, a hot wife of a billionaire who wants to nab a big score, the Russian Mob and a cold-blooded Vegas tycoon. That’s sexy times-two. Look for an exclusive interview with Klein next week here at WORD’N’BASS.com.
  
• WORD: Delacorte Press announces 26th Annual Contest for a First Young Adult Novel
  Edited Press Release
  
  Authors who write young adult novels have a contest to enter that could see them making their publishing debut with Delacorte Press Books, a division of Random House. The publisher announced that for the twenty-sixth year running, it will hold a contest with the prize of a book contract (on the Publisher’s standard form) for a hardcover and a paperback edition. Read More
  
• BASS: D&B label Grid Recordings launches Allsorts imprint with Electrosoul System
  
  After a 2006 that saw Drum & Bass label Grid Recordings expand its musical horizons with the launch of the Liquid Allsorts series, it has kicked off a new imprint Allsorts with Russian producer Electrosoul System (pictured left). The imprint launch comes after releases last year from artists such as DJ Marky & Bungle, A Sides, Heist and Electrosoul System. Read More
  
• BASS: 2007 Haight-Ashbury Street Fair petition drive underway
  Edited Press Release
  
  Organizers of the Haight-Ashbury Street Fair are asking the public to show its support for the 2007 event by signing and circulating this petition, which will lobby city officials to grant a permit for the annual street fair that features arts and crafts, food booths, two musical stages -- and a platform that in recent years has brought Drum & Bass to the masses. Read More
  
• WORD: O.J.’s ‘If I Did It’ gets second life on judge's ruling, publishers ready auction
  
  Publishers, start your engines -- and get your pocketbooks ready. Just four months after HarperCollins put O.J. Simpson’s book ‘If I Did It’ on the chopping block along with Judith Regan’s head, a judge reportedly ordered that its rights must be sold at auction to help satisfy a civil judgment against the alleged killer. Read More
  
• BASS: Sasha & John Digweed to play Miami’s Mansion during Winter Music Conference
  Edited Press Release
  
  Since Sasha and John Digweed played a few shows together in 2006 and have at least two scheduled this year, it’s safe to say that the breakup of Trance music’s most accomplished duo is over. Sasha & Digweed will host their own night at Mansion in Miami during Winter Music Conference on Thursday, March 22. Read More
  

Click here to view archived news.