Events

  Sarah Terez Rosenblum is a writer whose work has been featured in Pop Matters, The Chicago Sun Times and The Shepherd Express. When not writing, Sarah supports herself as a figure model, spinning instructor, and creative writing teacher at Chicago’s Story Studio. Rosenblum’s debut novel is HERSELF WHEN SHE’S MISSING. Meet Andrea: tightly wound, hotter than she gives herself credit for, mid-20s, teacher. Meet Jordan: a liar who believes her own lies, LA skinny, ocean eyes, early-40s, perpetual undergraduate student. When the two meet outside a concert, their connection is instantaneous -- and Andrea can’t believe her luck. But some things are indeed too good to be true, and it’s not long until Jordan’s secrets (for starters: she’s married, she routinely steals money from her places of employment, she’s never told the story of her past the same way twice) begin to undermine Andrea’s own identity. Andrea is fully aware of the farce -- the beguiling, attractive, spellbinding farce -- that is Jordan, and goes so far as to dub her “the Criminal Mastermind.” And yet, in spite of everything, she can’t seem to let her go. The first time Jordan leaves her, Andrea’s so broken up she flees Los Angeles for Chicago, swearing she’ll never look back. But when Jordan makes her way to the Midwest, plopping herself at Andrea’s door and claiming she’s become selfless, they go to the movies. Told in lists, 3x5 note cards, and even the occasional screenplay, HERSELF WHEN SHE’S MISSING is a quirky, utterly memorable tale of a girl desperate to be loved. By the time we realize Andrea’s version might be unreliable, we’re too caught up to care. Andrea is as endearing as she is unstable, as charming as she is obsessive, and we can’t wait for her next list.  Hailing from the rough-and-tumble deserts of southern Arizona, where one doesn’t have to bother with such trivialities as “coats” or “daylight savings time,” Anna Pulley is a freelance writer living in San Francisco. She tends to put quotes around things unnecessarily and spends altogether too much time justifying the artistic merit of limericks. She has written reviews of everything from bars to restaurants to films to theater to sex toys, in addition to writing several different sex and relationship columns for the Chicago Tribune’s RedEye, AfterEllen,  Centerstage Chicago, and Chicago Now. She also writes a weekly social media etiquette column for SF Weekly, and her work has appeared in Mother Jones, The Bay Citizen, Salon, and The Rumpus. She was recently a guest on Dan Savage’s podcast, talking about why lesbians are so confusing. Plus, one time Amanda Palmer asked her out on Twitter, with Neil Gaiman’s blessing.