(BOOK RELEASE PARTY) After years of waiting, Stacey Levine's novel Frances Johnson has at last been published, and it's beautiful. It begins: "Frances Johnson sat on her front porch, listening to the radio in the dark. She wore a blue dress." Frances's boyfriend is "overfocused on world history" and her town is near an active volcano. Levine will read, along with short readings by other active local writers Anna Maria Hong, Emily White, and Corrina Wycoff. Plus, music. (Richard Hugo House, 1634 11th Ave, 322-7030. Party at 7:30 pm, reading at 8 pm, free.) CHRISTOPHER FRIZZELLE