It's Only Dancing: Jasmine Guillory at Reparations Club

Jasmine Guillory is coming to Reparations Club on Wednesday, October 14, to talk about her book It's Only Dancing. Fellow romance novelist Rebekah Weatherspoon is moderating, so expect a conversation between two people who write love stories for a living and know exactly how the sausage gets made. The flyer puts the start at 7pm.

If you're sorting through upcoming events in Los Angeles and want something quieter than a club night, a bookstore talk on a Wednesday is a good call. It's small, it's close, and you'll probably leave with a signed book.

Who's on the bill

Guillory is a New York Times bestselling author. Readers know her for warm, funny contemporary romances where the couples are Black women and the men lucky enough to keep up with them. Her books tend to be about food, friendship and work as much as they're about falling in love, and her fans are loyal.

Weatherspoon writes romance too, across several subgenres. Putting her in the moderator's chair means the questions should go past "where do you get your ideas" and into craft: pacing, banter, how to write a meet-cute that doesn't feel recycled.

The venue

Reparations Club (everyone calls it Rep Club) is a concept bookshop and creative space in the Jefferson Park and West Adams area. It's Black, queer and woman-owned, and it was founded in 2019 by Jazzi McGilbert, who was born and raised in South Central. The shelves lean hard into Black and BIPOC titles. Rep Club has partnered with Well Read Black Girl, Noname's Book Club and the California African American Museum, and it's been written up in the New York Times and the LA Times. For a romance author event, it's about as fitting a room as the city has.

The shop is intimate. Arrive early if you want a seat near the front.

Tickets and getting there

Tickets run through Eventbrite, where the listing shows prices from $0 up to $23.04. Compare the ticket tiers on the listing before you check out. Grab yours on the Eventbrite page.

Rep Club sits at 3054 South Victoria Avenue, just off Jefferson Boulevard. There's street parking on the surrounding residential blocks. It's a short rideshare from Culver City, Leimert Park or Mid-City.

This is the kind of thing that makes a list of things to do in Los Angeles for readers who'd rather hear an author talk shop than scroll another bestseller list. Bring the book you want signed.

More author talks, gallery nights and live shows are in our arts and culture section, and there's plenty more across Los Angeles. For more Things Happening In Los Angeles, check back on otbla.com through the fall.