Pinch-hitting and Let's Play Two

A busy week ahead, starting with my pinch-hitting assignment tonight reading at the 3rd installment of the Lovable Losers Literary Revue.

I was called off the Losers bench when Newsweek's Jonathan Alter got called away at the last minute. Apparently, Alter's employer thought it more important for him to cover an historic speech by Sen. Barack Obama in Minnesota than to hang out with Losers in Wrigleyville. Trading me for Alter is akin to the Cubs' trading Lou Brock for Ernie Broglio, but it was the best we could do on short notice.

Stop by El Jardin at 7:30 and catch me reading a short Cubs historical humor piece, "Three Guys Named Moe." If that's not enough to pull you in, we've also got mystery writer D.C. Brod, Wall Street Journal writer and author Jonathan Eig, and free nachos.

This weekend, I'll be taking a cue from Cubs Hall of Famer Ernie Banks and playing a double-header at the Printers Row Book Fair in Chicago. I'll be signing books at the Chicago Writers Association booth Saturday and Sunday. My "official" signing time is 10-2 Saturday, but I'll be around all weekend in my capacity as the CWA's president. You can find the CWA at sidewalk tables 245 and 247, smack dab in the middle of the fair, sandwiched between the Good Eating Pavilion and the Heartland Stage. Download a map of the fair here.