Dynamic duo

Martha and Eliot ad-libbed and Mad Libbed at Secret Garden Books on Tuesday.

Tuesday night, Secret Garden Books. It was better than a rumble, better than CSI retreads, better than Pop Rocks. For those of us who experienced the double-threat appearance of Martha Brockenbrough (Devine Intervention) and Eliot Schrefer (Endangered, nominated as a finalist for a National Book Award), it was generally agreed that they're both wicked smart and enjoy a good joke or two.

In what might be the dawn of a new trend in author appearances/readings, they got the ball rolling with audience-participation Mad Libs based on their inside-jacket blurbs. Between learning about swampy sweaters and chapped hindquarters from this exercise, the lucky attendees were primed for the real readings.

Both Martha and Eliot are quick, witty, and warm speakers. While the settings of their books couldn't have been more different––Heaven, or some facsimile thereof, and a Congolese bonobo monkey sanctuary––they stirred up vivid images and only just a little trouble (those Mad Libs!).