Beach bumming with my sis (@shyviolence). I could live here. 

Thanks to the direction of Meredith Ibey Milliron and Joseph Schupbach, and to the make-things-happenness of Paul Durica of Pocket Guide to Hell, I got to channel Barbara Harris of the Compass Players in a one-night only recreation of one of their early performances at the Arts Club of Chicago. 

Pictured here clockwise are myself, Meredith Ibey-Milliron as Elaine May, Roger Payton as Andrew Duncan, Chris Rathjen as David Shepherd, Sean Kelley as Roger Bowen, Paul Durica as Fred Wranovic, Joseph Schupbach as himself, and in the middle, Nick Wagner rocking out as Severn Darden. 

I enjoy nothing more than recreations and excuses to make hair art, so thanks, friends!

I had a blast presenting to the campers at Anderson's Bookshop's YA All Access Camp at the Naper Settlement on Friday. I'd never been there before, and it's like stepping back in time, the kind of place where women in long skirts and bonnets walk around and show you how to churn butter and shear sheep. At least, I think that was part of the Settlement. It's also possible that a back-to-basics cult has set up shop there and I narrowly escaped brainwashing. 

As I expected, the campers were fantastic. What's not to love about preteens who choose to spend summer at a literature camp talking about YA books? We did some writing exercises, and the author potential ... Let's just say I should have been collecting autographs. 

While I do love talking to young people, like most writers I'm a bit of an introvert, and it takes a lot of energy. So I made sure to refuel immediately.