Last night author Paul Auster (right) sat down with LA Times Book Review editor David Ulin at the Writers Bloc reading series. They talked a lot about process — after having a cup of tea, Auster goes to an apartment to write, picking up a tuna sandwich along the way — that writing is a lot of work and actually quite boring. Aspiring authors love to hear about how successful writers write, and the audience ate it up. more ›

Mark Sarvas has championed local reading series, excoriated the LA Times Book Review, and tirelessly blogged about all things literary on his site The Elegant Variation. With its smart writing, frequent updates and splashes of wicked humor, it has become required daily reading — for both Angelenos and folks in the Big Established Publishing World in NY. He is also a founding member of the LitBlog Co-Op (more about that below), which announced its latest book recommendation — Garner by Kirstin Allio — today. Mark has helped raise LA's literary profile, reminding the rest of the world that we're not just about breast implants and lunch at The Ivy. more ›

Guests include Gil Maurer, former president of Hearst Magazines and winner of the Henry Johnson Fisher award for distinguished service to the magazine industry; Eric Nakamura and Martin Wong, the founders and co-editors of "Giant Robot;" and Steve Wasserman, who has been the editor of "The Los Angeles Times Book Review" since 1996. more ›

Anyone can tell you what's wrong with Los Angeles and its surrounding areas, but few can clearly articulate what's right, magical and true about this place as well as Lawrence Weschler does in his 1998 . more ›

LA Observed shares the frustrations of blogger Lee Watters, as he struggles with the inoperable Calendar Live registration system. A VERY BRAVE LA Times.com web developer wades into the LA Observed comments section, faces readers' wrath and vents a few frustrations of his own. more ›