Two announcements this week about the writing life in Paris:
1 - SPILL, Kingdom Anywhere, 2025
Many of you know the story of how I bought back the rights to my debut novel in 2022, and how in 2024,
and I founded our own independent publishing venture in Paris, Kingdom Anywhere, so we could publish our work (and the work of others) in a way that we see fit (see: equitable publishing/independence from consumptive interests / creative freedom / a profound disinterest in pandering toFewer of you know that Kingdom Anywhere is proud to announce TODAY the publication of its second book, SPILL, a glorious debut poetry collection written by our dear friend
Mehta, who within twenty-four hours of learning about Kingdom Anywhere handed us a printed manuscript of poems, written over the past decade.She can say it better than I can, however, and three pictures may speak a thousand more words:
2 - The Paris Writers’ Salon Live!
Last Sunday evening, I sat down with my good friend / mentor / literary salon co-host / red wine drinking partner in crime
, an author whose publishing career has spanned 60 years and 50 books, including sci-fi novels, renowned film biographies (Robert de Niro, Steven Spielberg, Federico Fellini, to name a few), best-selling historical memoirs about life in Paris (The Most Beautiful Walk in the World has become an international reference), and, most recently, Secret Cinema, an independently published book about theBetween 2021-2024, John and I ran thirteen renditions of the Paris Writers’ Salon, a 4-part virtual seminar and discussion about some of the most renowned books ever written about Paris. After thirteen renditions, however, we felt it was time for a change, and the above video beckons in a new era of a more laid-back approach to the Paris Writers’ Salon, which, importantly, will be live and so accessible to everyone.
In Part I,
and I discuss independent publishing versus traditional publishing, why we aren’t sold on poetry readings, and , our cinematographer extraordinaire, joins us to discuss publishing ’s SPILL and the spirit of Kingdom Anywhere.This time around, the above recording is free for everyone. Everyone will always be able to join us live, but in the future, only paying subscribers will be able to access the retroactive recordings.
In a French home, the salon is the living room: a place to relax, to socialize, to talk and to listen, an intimate space reserved for close friends. In this spirit, and as the Paris sunshine continues to warm John’s glorious Latin Quarter apartment (Sylvia Beach, the OG founder of Shakespeare & Company, lived just beneath),
and I invite you to keep an eye out for Substack Live sessions of the Paris Writers’ Salon, which will usually take place on Sunday evenings at 6pm Paris time / 12 pm EST / 9 am PST (our current schedules allow us to meet at least twice a month).The next session will take place this Sunday, March 9 at 6PM Paris time.
While the themes may vary, you can be sure that each episode will be devoted to discussions about life, literature, and the literary history of Paris. Our goal is to educate and learn through dialogue, which is why free subscribers will always be able to tune in for free, but only paying subscribers will be able to access the retrospective recordings, because John is a goddamn legend and in a society that insists on valuing almost everything monetarily, if John’s recorded wisdom, storytelling, and generosity isn’t worth the price of 1 coffee/month, I don’t know what is. Or, to put it, another way:
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