Children's Book Authors

📚 Do you love reading, but wish you had a structure and a community to share your insights with? Join our small circle of curious minds (just 4 members per gathering) as we come together for an hour of focused reading—in the calm setting of a library or the cozy atmosphere of a café. Here’s how it works: First part: Quiet reading on your own—bring a book you’re exploring, whether it’s philosophy, history, psychology, literature, or anything meaningful to you. Second part: We regroup and each person shares key takeaways, insights, or questions sparked by their reading. This sparks a structured yet free-flowing conversation around ideas, perspectives, and personal reflections. Why join? Add structure to your reading habit. Discover new books, authors, and ideas through others’ choices. Build real connections by sharing and listening deeply. Socialize around something meaningful instead of small talk.

**Please Note: Go Gay DC is helping to spread the word about this event as a community service, but is not running the event.** To register, please email pfitzgerald@democraticwoman.org or telephone 202-232-7363 Ext. 402 (voicemails will also be accepted). *** Join us for an inspiring celebration of Nicholas Benton and Lou Chibbaro, Jr., two trailblazing LGBTQ+ journalists who have spent decades reporting on the front lines of social, cultural, legal, and political change in America. From covering the challenges and triumphs of LGBTQ+ communities to chronicling major milestones in the fight for civil rights, Benton and Chibbaro have shaped the conversation and amplified voices that matter. This program will explore their journeys, the evolution of LGBTQ+ journalism, and the ongoing fight for equality and justice. Benton and Chibbaro will also examine the various factors causing many news outlets to cease print publication and their energetic efforts to continue publishing their work both in print and online. While much progress has been made, their stories remind us that the arc toward justice is long—and the work continues. EVENT DETAILS: * Remarks and Q&A, in-person and via Zoom. * 6 p.m. complimentary hors d'oeuvres and cash bar; 6:30–7:30 p.m. program followed by book signing. * Zoom only: $10. In-person: members: $20, nonmembers: $30 plus tax. Benton’s latest book, "Please Don't Eat Your Children, Cult Century, and Other Essays," will be available for purchase at the event. *** Nicholas F. Benton is a longtime local journalist and pioneering LGBTQ+ rights activist whose work has had lasting impact on both community journalism and social justice. He is best known as the founder, owner, and editor of the *Falls Church News-Press*, an independent weekly newspaper he launched in 1991 that has become the paper of record for the City of Falls Church, Virginia. Through more than 1,600 consecutive weekly editions, Benton has championed hyperlocal reporting, civic transparency, and citizen engagement. Benton’s activism began in 1960s Berkeley, California, where he earned a Master of Divinity degree and became an early leader in the gay liberation movement. He co-founded the Berkeley Gay Liberation Front, wrote the first editorial for *Gay Sunshine*, and contributed to feminist and LGBTQ+ publications. He is also the author of several books examining the cultural and historical role of LGBTQ+ communities. Guided by the principle that journalists serve “the readers and the truth,” Benton has consistently advocated for equality, public education, and inclusion. His work has earned numerous honors, including “Hero of Pride” and “OUTstanding Virginian.” *** Lou Chibbaro Jr. is a senior news reporter for the *Washington Blade* and a pioneering journalist in LGBT news coverage. He has reported on the LGBT rights movement and community continuously since 1976, first as a freelance writer and later as a staff reporter, joining the *Blade* in 1984. Over nearly five decades, Chibbaro has chronicled LGBT-related developments across major institutions, including the White House, Congress, the U.S. Supreme Court, the military, law enforcement agencies, and religious organizations. Chibbaro has covered LGBT participation in U.S. presidential elections and has reported as a credentialed journalist at Democratic and Republican national conventions since 1984. He began reporting on the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s and has documented the work of local, national, and international AIDS organizations. His crime and public safety reporting includes coverage of high-profile cases, including the 1999 Matthew Shepard hate crime trial. Chibbaro’s work has earned numerous honors, including induction into the Society of Professional Journalists’ Washington, D.C. Hall of Fame in 2011 and the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association Hall of Fame in 2015. More information: https://democraticwoman.org/submaster.cfm?aPage=calendardetails.cfm&CalID=1797

For the first half hour of class, beginners will learn 5 organ & spirit enlivening qigong exercises. After a brief meditative walk, beginners will learn the first of six section of Lao (old) Yang tai chi chuan as taught by Teacher Lu Hung Bin. Remember to wear comfortable loose-fitting clothing & flat comfortable shoes. For more information, call 301-466-5894 or email: info@dancinginsilence.com

**A2A Summit \+ AI Dev 25 x NYC \| Key takeaways** **Location: Prefect at Foggy Bottom DC + Online** Hello everyone and Happy New Year! The AI world keeps innovating and we’ve moved past the "How do I write a prompt?" phase and entered the era of **AI Agents**—systems that don't just talk, but actually *act*. I recently attended the **[A2A (Agent-to-Agent) Summit](https://a2asummit.ai/)** and **[AI Dev 25 with Andrew Ng](https://ai-dev.deeplearning.ai/)**. We are hosting this event to distill the high-level strategy for our product leaders and the technical "how-to" for our engineers. **The 2 big themes we will explore:** **1\. The Agentic Shift \(A2A Summit\)** We are moving from humans talking to AI, to **AI Agents talking to other AI Agents** to solve complex business problems. * **For Product & Business:** How this changes your roadmap from "features" to "automated workflows." * **For Tech:** The infrastructure and protocols required to let agents collaborate securely. **2\. Building the Future with Andrew Ng \(AI Dev 25\)** Andrew Ng shared a powerful message: the next big leap in AI isn't just bigger models, but **better workflows.** * **For Product & Business:** Why "Agentic Reasoning" will make your products more reliable and user-friendly. * **For Tech:** A deep dive into iterative loops, design patterns, and why your coding workflow is about to change forever. 📍 **In person and Online Event!** You can join us in person at Prefect in Foggy Bottom DC for some great company and maybe even some new friends! Or, if you prefer to chill at home, you can easily join us online! 💻 Google Meet: https://meet.google.com/grx-yzgd-meu Or dial: ‪(US) +1 401-349-1786‬ PIN: ‪206 985 943‬# **Agenda** * 6:00pm - 6:30pm EST Networking and Refreshments * 6:30pm \- 7:30pm EST A2A Summit \+ AI Dev 25 x NYC \| Key takeaways * 7:30pm - 8:00pm Networking **Resources** * [A2A Summit](https://a2asummit.ai) * [A2a Summit - George's key takeaways](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/a2a-summit-internet-agents-here-george-zoto-vbtce) * [AI Dev 25 x NYC](https://ai-dev.deeplearning.ai/) * [AI Dev 25 x NYC - George's key takeaways](https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/from-prototypes-production-my-key-takeaways-andrew-ngs-george-zoto-ld6se) The recording of this cool series 😎 is available at: [https://bit.ly/dla-generative-ai](https://bit.ly/dla-generative-ai) Join us on Slack: Ask the hosts for an invite. 👉 **RSVP now and secure your spot! We can't wait to see you there!** 💖 David, Robert and George Deep Learning Adventures is a member of Data Community DC, a nonprofit dedicated to data education in the nation's capital and around the world. Learn more at [www.dc2.org](http://www.dc2.org/)

Join Team Network’s Vienna Venture Network Captains Mark Sweeney and John Partridge for breakfast and professional networking tomorrow morning at 8 am at everyone's favorite... Anitas!

**Hi everyone!** ❄️ I hope you’re all enjoying the winter season. Our next meeting will be in the new year on **Saturday, January 10th**. We’ll be reading ***Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil* by V.E. Schwab**. We’ll be meeting at **Busboys and Poets - 450 K St NW**. Looking forward to seeing you all!

New (old) location - La Madeleine at 500 King St! Hope to see you there

This is the sign you've been waiting for! Come write with us Sunday at 7:30 am at Kaldi's Social House in Arlington. Kaldi's opens at 7. Grab a coffee and join the group! We generally have 10 to 14 writers attend each week, and new folks are welcome to drop in anytime. Intros start at 7:30 am. We will write for one hour. After writing, feel free to debrief, share thoughts or get advice. Our meetups are a safe space for writers to work on their craft. No one will read or critique your writing. Kaldi's Social House website: https://www.kaldissocialhouse.net/ \* Resource \* Many thanks to Justin for putting together a shared file of resource discussed at the meetings. Feel free to add to it! [https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13LONNjZvsO5hEXM7NsBnWCgy3GgPgjAbQxE0lPxp7hc/edit?usp=sharing](https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/13LONNjZvsO5hEXM7NsBnWCgy3GgPgjAbQxE0lPxp7hc/edit?usp=sharing)

We will meet for dinner at Guardado's and discuss three short stories from "Assorted Fire Events" by David Means: "Widow Predicament" "Railroad Incident. August 1995" "The Gesture Hunter"

We will meet outside as long as the weather is nice. If not, we will move inside. Look out for a comment the morning of each meeting with our exact location. As we are meeting in person, please remember to bring something to read as we usually spend some time sharing our current reads and/or reading when meeting in person. As a reminder, there is no assigned reading; please bring whatever you are currently working on. This group is super casual, sometimes we read and sometimes we talk the whole time. **** NO SHOW POLICY: Due to the high number of members on the waitlist recently we are having to reinstate our no-show policy. If you sign up and no-show to 2 events you will be removed from the group. Reminders are provided weekly to change your RSVP to allow those on the waitlist a chance to come to the meet-up, no 3rd chances with be given. Please be considerate to your fellow members. Thank you! I look forward to reading you!

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36739755-convenience-store-woman "The English-language debut of one of Japan's most talented contemporary writers, selling over 650,000 copies there, *Convenience Store Woman* is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. Keiko has never fit in, neither in her family, nor in school, but when at the age of eighteen she begins working at the Hiiromachi branch of “Smile Mart,” she finds peace and purpose in her life. In the store, unlike anywhere else, she understands the rules of social interaction―many are laid out line by line in the store’s manual―and she does her best to copy the dress, mannerisms, and speech of her colleagues, playing the part of a “normal” person excellently, more or less. Keiko is very happy, but the people close to her, from her family to her coworkers, increasingly pressure her to find a husband, and to start a proper career, prompting her to take desperate action… A brilliant depiction of a world hidden from view, *Convenience Store Woman* is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures we all feel to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine."

**Our January novel is: Once Upon a Wardrobe by Patti Callahan** **This month's featured novel is a 20th-century biographical fiction, coming-of-age, historical romance, women’s fiction, world literature, student biography, heartfelt, magic, and feel-good novel. The book is 311 pages in print and 7 hours and 8 minutes on audiobook.** 1950: Margaret Devonshire (Megs) is a seventeen-year-old student of mathematics and physics at Oxford University. When her beloved eight-year-old brother asks Megs if Narnia is real, logical Megs tells him it's just a book for children, and certainly not true. Homebound due to his illness, and remaining fixated on his favorite books, George presses her to ask the author of the recently released novel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe a question: "Where did Narnia come from?" Despite her fear about approaching the famous author, who is a professor at her school, Megs soon finds herself taking tea with C. S. Lewis and his own brother Warnie, begging them for answers. Rather than directly telling her where Narnia came from, Lewis encourages Megs to form her own conclusion as he shares the little-known stories from his own life that led to his inspiration. As she takes these stories home to George, the little boy travels farther in his imagination than he ever could in real life. After holding so tightly to logic and reason, her brother's request leads Megs to absorb a more profound truth: "The way stories change us can't be explained. It can only be felt. Like love."

Join us for Slow Horses and a Book Exchange! In addition to our usual chat about the book, we’ll be exchanging books. Bring two books you’re willing to part with and we’ll exhange books. \-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\-\- Welcome to the thrilling and unnervingly prescient world of the slow horses. This team of MI5 agents is united by one common bond: They've screwed up royally and will do anything to redeem themselves. This special tenth-anniversary deluxe edition of a modern classic includes a foreword by the author, discussion questions for book clubs, and an exclusive short story featuring the slow horses. London, England: Slough House is where washed-up MI5 spies go to while away what's left of their failed careers. The "slow horses," as they're called, have all disgraced themselves in some way to get relegated there. Maybe they botched an Op so badly they can't be trusted anymore. Maybe they got in the way of an ambitious colleague and had the rug yanked out from under them. Maybe they just got too dependent on the bottle-not unusual in this line of work. One thing they have in common, though, is they want to be back in the action. And most of them would do anything to get there-even if it means having to collaborate with one another. When a young man is abducted and his kidnappers threaten to broadcast his beheading live on the Internet, the slow horses see an opportunity to redeem themselves. But is the victim really who he appears to be?

Join us for our January Book Club gathering where we will come together to discuss *Can't Spell Treason Without Tea* by Rebecca Thorne in a safe and welcoming environment. Make new friends who share your passion for books and connect with fellow LGBTQ book enthusiasts.

Join us for an hour of writing! We’ve discovered that it’s strikingly helpful to write with other writers. See if it’s true for you at 7:00pm the second & fourth Wednesday of every month at Two Dollar Radio Headquarters (HQ). Be it a book, blog, script, essay, dissertation, resume, melody, poem or just plain work stuff, you are invited to write it with us. No one will see what you've written or give you unsolicited advice. Instead of just thinking about writing, come and get some real writing done. **SCHEDULE:** 6:45ish - Quick introductions 7:00 - Timer starts: write for 1 hour 8:00 - The End **OPTIONAL SOCIALIZING** happens around 6:45pm. Writing is very solitary. Connecting (and sometimes even commiserating) with other writers is a cool thing. **BEING LATE IS OKAY:** just show up and get settled! If you were on time, please be willing to make room for the friendly latecomer. Happy writing & I look forward to seeing you at Two Dollar Radio HQ! **WHAT SHOULD I BRING?** Whatever you need to be able to write! Other customers are welcome at Two Dollar HQ at the time, so please bring earplugs/headphones if noise will bother you! **OTHER IMPORTANT DETAILS:** * **RSVP:** Please RSVP by 6:00pm the evening of the meeting. This helps me know how many to expect, and if we'll need additional space! * **COVID:** While masks are not required, please be mindful of the other writers around you and their comfort levels. * **ACCESSIBILITY:** Two Dollar Radio HQ's entrance door on Cline Street is wheelchair accessible, they have two gender-neutral bathrooms that are both wheelchair accessible, and their ordering and table-seating area is as well. Working service dogs are allowed. * **WIFI/OUTLETS:** Outlets are limited, so please ensure your devices are charged when you come! But Two Dollar Radio HQ does have free WiFi! Yay! * **PARKING:** There is free public street parking on all surrounding streets, on both sides of Parsons Ave. You are also welcome to park in the Columbus Metropolitan Library parking lot across the street (1113 Parsons Ave). Two Dollar Radio HQ has a bike rack on the corner of Cline and Parsons, and the library has bike parking (across Parsons). * **FOOD/BEVERAGE:** Two Dollar Radio HQ is a bar and vegan cafe. Their food is 100% vegan and made from scratch, with love. They also serve a range of wine, beer, and cocktails, as well as coffees and teas. If you're able to, please consider thanking our venue by purchasing something!!

I don't usually pick romance but I really wanted to do a Hanukkah book. It's a bit on the longer side but hopefully a quick read. The library only has 5 audiobooks so please try to remember to "release it" when you're done. Columbus libraries: [https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S105C3503238](https://cml.bibliocommons.com/v2/record/S105C3503238) Location: The Goat Riversouth [219 South High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215](https://www.google.com/maps?q=219%20South%20High%20Street%2C%20Columbus%2C%20Ohio%2043215%2C%20United%20States) [Menu](https://static1.squarespace.com/static/686d3ed16745133042482c5f/t/68ff654dbb03b96875430bde/1761568077220/all_brunch-20250311.pdf) Book summary: Rachel Rubenstein-Goldblatt is a nice Jewish girl with a shameful secret: she loves Christmas. For a decade she’s hidden her career as a Christmas romance novelist from her family. Her talent has made her a bestseller even as her chronic illness has always kept the kind of love she writes about out of reach. But when her diversity-conscious publisher insists she write a Hanukkah romance, her well of inspiration suddenly runs dry. Hanukkah’s not magical. It’s not merry. It’s not *Christmas*. Desperate not to lose her contract, Rachel’s determined to find her muse at the Matzah Ball, a Jewish music celebration on the last night of Hanukkah, even if it means working with her summer camp archenemy—Jacob Greenberg. Though Rachel and Jacob haven’t seen each other since they were kids, their grudge still glows brighter than a menorah. But as they spend more time together, Rachel finds herself drawn to Hanukkah—and Jacob—in a way she never expected. Maybe this holiday of lights will be the spark she needed to set her heart ablaze.