Postscripts

As you've probably heard, President Clinton and Congress have recently signed an agreement to balance the budget, and as you probably also heard, there were plenty of last-minute scramblings to either include or excise those pesky, small details the public seems never to hear about. What effect does passage of the agreement have on writers? According to Bruce Hartford, Secretary-Treasurer of the National Writers Union, following the Union's mobilization of its members to write their congressmen about the agreement, freelance writers have several causes for cheer. Passage of the bill redefines "home office" to overturn the notion that a client has to actually be in the home office to have it considered as such. Home office workers still must meet the long-standing "profitability" criteria to deduct home office expenses. Secondly, writers should see a minor improvement in deduction of their health plan premiums. Writers may deduct 40% this year, with that percentage gradually rising to 100% in 2006 instead of 80% by 2007 as previously ruled. Lastly, Section 1706 of the bill causes freelance technical writers in the computer industry to have temporary employee status and makes it difficult for them to work as independents, and somehow, a simple repeal of this section of the bill was ditched in "backroom maneuvers." Chris Garlock is heading up efforts to create a local organization of the National Writers Union, more news about which next week...

Suzy Spencer has just signed a deal with Kensington Books to write a true crime book about an Austin murder that occurred in the gay community; tenative title is Burning Desires, appropriate as the vicitm's corpse was burned...

Copyright Texas organizers have recently announced the following five Texas writers as September participants in the fall/spring literary event in San Antonio: Robert Flynn, Sarah Cortez, Jack Meyers, Debra Monroe, Aaron Latham. Authors will read on Sun., Sept. 28 at the main library at 6pm. The event is to benefit San Antonio's public library system...

Speaking of San Antonio's better known buildings, San Antonio author Sandra Cisneros, who, according to a Los Angeles Times article, writes of the "rich colors and lyrical textures of the border," has painted her house with the very same colors and textures. The reason this has any importance whatsoever is because the city says it's too colorful and that she has broken municipal code 35-7200, a historic-design ordinance. Cisneros' neighborhood is the King William district, full of old mansions whose owners take to Cisneros' purple (Sherwin Williams' Corsican Purple) none too kindly. Next for Cisneros seems to be a visit to the historical review board. Divide and conquer, Cisneros!...

For the first time in its 14 years, the Austin Jewish Book Fair presents a Works in Progress event for four local authors, of whom you could be one. Submit short stories or excerpts from either a novel or novella. Call 331-1144 for more info.

Dichos, Cuentos y Mas

Some singin', recitin', readin', and relaying' (narratives) will happen Saturday, August 23, 7:30pm at Dougherty Arts Center for Texas Folklife Resources' final part of their tremendously popular Language of Tradition summer series. 320-0022. highlighted spoken word traditions in cowboy, African American, and now Tejano culture. So popular has it been, in fact, that though this month's program is free, you can reserve seats by calling 320-0022. But if you're not there by 7:15, you lose, buddy, as

at that time they begin giving out seats to the general public, first come, first-served, and you certainly don't want to be thought of as just general public, do you?Appearing will be Norma Elia Cantu, Rep. Norma Chavez (D-El Paso), Rolando Hinojosa-Smith, Valerio Longoria, and Alejandro Solis.

Right to Vote

Barnes & Noble Westlake co-sponsors a panel discussion on Saturday, August 23 at 5pm to commemorate the August 26, 1920 Congressional ratification of the 19th Amendment providing women the right to vote. A Voice of Our Own:Leading Women Celebrate the Right to Vote will be the lead-off point, and one of the book's authors, Maria Mercado of Galveston, will be present, and Rep. Sherri Greenberg (D-Austin) and Dana DeBeauvoir, Travis County clerk, and Evelyn Bonavita, are scheduled to appear on the panel as well. Panel organizers hope to analyze the historical background of women's suffrage, present efforts to involve women in politics, and what the 19th Amendment means for the future. The event is co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters of Texas.