As Seattle heads into its soggy season of endless gray and dusk at 4:30 p.m., a miraculous thing happens: ART, which has been nourishing souls and curbing suicide rates since time began. Here for you are a multitude of events worth surviving autumn for. Attending these events will make you smarter, sexier, and less likely to become one of those people who relate primarily to cats and Law & Order reruns. Keep this guide in a safe place for future reference—autumn ain’t over till it’s over.
Jet City Comic Show
Seattle was settling into a nice rhythm with its springtime nerdy conventions (Sakura-Con, Norwescon, Emerald City Comicon). But it seems we have more geekery here than we can pack into a single season: September brings PAX and, now, the new Jet City Comic Show at Seattle Center. This one-day show seems to include a nice array of local (and Portland-based) talent, including Peter Bagge (Hate), Greg Rucka (the awesome-but-infrequently-published Stumptown), and perhaps most importantly, Stranger Genius Jim Woodring (see page 17). Without the big publishing houses in attendance, this looks to be a nice, affordable, low-key nerd event. Sept 25. Seattle Center Exhibition Hall, 299 Mercer St, www.jetcitycomicshow.com. PAUL CONSTANT
Tao Lin
Why does it seem that every time the name "Tao Lin" appears in print, the phrase "Love him or hate him" seems to immediately follow? Maybe it's because he uses "scare quotes" a whole lot on his blog, or that he writes articles for The Stranger with titles like "What I Can Tell You About Seattle Based on the People I've Met Who Are from There" that seem to attract equal parts internet rage and adoration. But none of that is important right now: The important thing is that Lin's newest novel, Richard Yates, is by far his best book yet—a hypnotic story about a shoplifting-prone author (named Haley Joel Osment) who has a relationship with a too-young, emotionally fragile woman (named Dakota Fanning). Sept 26. Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave, 624-6600. PC
Guillermo del Toro
From the bleak fairy tale of Pan's Labyrinth to the rococo weirdness of Hellboy II, Guillermo del Toro's movies make nerd dreams come true. Tonight, he's here not as a director but as a book producer, having brought to life a series of books—the Strain Trilogy, written by Chuck Hogan, about a plague of vampires who are taking over the world—that are nastier and much more fun than this summer's runaway vampire hit The Passage. The $30 price tag on this event includes attending an interview between del Toro and local interviewing guy Warren Etheredge, and a signed copy of the newest Strain book, The Fall. Sept 30. Experience Music Project, 325 Fifth Ave N, www.empsfm.org. PC
Cherie Priest
If you follow her blog, you know that Cherie Priest is the hardest-working author in Seattle right now. She's following up her blockbuster zombies-in-steampunk-Seattle hit Boneshaker with two brand-new books this year: the limited-edition novella Clementine (which came out this past summer) and Dreadnought, the story of a Virginia nurse who has to ride a train to Seattle when she gets a telegram with bad news. Both books expand on the fascinating Boneshaker world that Priest built, adding war, intrigue, and, presumably, more zombies. Tonight, University Book Store hosts Dreadnought's official world premiere and launch party, with a reading from the ever-delightful Priest. Oct 5. University Book Store, 4326 University Way NE, 634-3400. PC
The Novel: Live
If you're looking to reacquaint yourself with Seattle's literary landscape this fall, you can't do better than checking out The Novel: Live at Hugo House. An army of 36 local writers—including Garth Stein, Erik Larson, Jennie Shortridge, and Nancy Rawles—will collaborate to write a novel live and in full view of the public from 10:00 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. every day from October 11 to 16. Without editing or, really, a single coherent editorial voice, the resulting book is sure to be awful, but this is one of those the-journey-is-greater-than-the-destination deals: Besides introducing a pantheon of great local talent, Hugo House will host a special weeklong happy hour during the event. Oct 11—16. Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, www.hugohouse.org. PC
Under the Influence
Every year, Hugo House pulls a bunch of authors and a band together, gives them a theme, tells them to write new work, and sets them free. This time, local writers Nancy Rawles, Ed Skoog, and Jess Walter (as well as local band the Board of Education) will unveil new work that has something to do with the phrase "under the influence." The one to watch here is Eastern Washington—based Walter, whose The Financial Lives of the Poets was one of the funniest, sharpest novels of 2009; he doesn't get over the mountains that often, and if you've already read his three novels, you'll probably be dying to see what he comes up with next. Oct 15. Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, www.hugohouse.org. PC
Kary Wayson, Ed Skoog, Kevin Craft, Erin Malone, Rebecca Hoogs
You feel guilty because you don't support enough local poetry. I understand; it's hard to keep track of everyone who's ever put out a chapbook or arranged a few words according to some strange, nonrhyming pattern. Elliott Bay is doing the hard work for you by collecting five great local poets for one great (free!) evening of poetry. Ed Skoog is fast becoming the patriarch of Seattle's poetry scene, Kary Wayson is equally at home writing incisive literary criticism about Sylvia Plath or crafting a poem that somehow doesn't suck about a dead dog, and Rebecca Hoogs's stage presence is just like her poetry: vibrant, inventive, and charming. I guarantee you'll leave this reading with at least one new favorite poet. Oct 30. Elliott Bay Book Company, 1521 10th Ave, 624-6600. PC
Daniel Handler
The thing about Daniel Handler is that he is a genius performer (he played accordion on the Magnetic Fields' 69 Love Songs, and he's been known to accompany his own readings with musical instruments from time to time, too) and an inventive literary storyteller (perhaps you're more familiar with his work as Lemony Snicket). You don't often see both these things at once on Seattle Arts & Lectures' stage at Benaroya Hall; generally you get literary figures (John Updike) or born performers (Ira Glass), but Handler has one foot in both worlds, which makes him perfectly suited to the room. While the general public knows Handler better as a children's author, tonight he'll be in adult-author mode, which, for an author who once wrote a comic novel about incest, is really saying something. Nov 9. Benaroya Hall, 200 University St, www.lectures.org. PC
Mother Knows Best
Hugo House's reading-series events are always interesting, but tonight is a brilliant pairing of authors and themes: Comics artist David Lasky, 2009 Stranger Genius Stacey Levine, and writer/performer Lauren Weedman read new work that has something to do with "Mother knows best." Anything Lasky does is golden—expect a comic book projected on a huge screen, one panel at a time—and Weedman is a joy to watch, but Levine should jump on this idea like a bear on raw steak: Most of her work has to do with deep-seated neuroses, and neuroses don't get much deeper than dear ol' Mom. As a bonus, awesome local country singer Zoe Muth (who is filling the hole left in Seattle's heart since Neko Case abandoned us for Chicago) will be singing a few songs about motherhood. Nov 19. Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, www.hugohouse.org. PC 
