Politics & Prose Launches District Lines

My favorite part of the District Lines launch event was when I heard a cashier at Politics & Prose tell the next person in line that the store was out of copies of the anthology, but more would be printed in ten minutes. Thanks to Opus, Politics & Prose’s print-on-demand machine, copies really were hot off the press.

The anthology is filled with work by local writers and artists. Stories written by three of my friends made it into this first edition (I felt like a celebrity-by-association!) The stories are pure Washington City. Gina Sangster describes the quiet dignity of Effi Barry on the number 30 bus. Nathan Blanchard recalls the supernatural tendencies of Exit 33 off the Capital Beltway. Diana Viega writes about waiting to hear Ms. Angie sing on one D.C. night that’s so hot, “it feels like the devil is doing push-ups outside.” I love the stories in District Lines.

Another issue of the anthology is coming out in January. Submissions are due October 1. I may submit a story, too, if I can find some inspiration in a squirrel infestation or cherry blossom petals on rainbow flags or the jazz music that drifts through the walls between my rowhouse and that of my next door neighbor.