Strange things always seem to be coming out of Texas, and that’s especially true of writing, from the state in which everything is writ large.

Bill Cotter’s novel Fever Chart logs the sojourn of former mental patient Jerome Coe from New England to New Orleans and various psychological destinations in between.

Poet Annie La Ganga, with whom Cotter lives in Austin, Texas, comes here with her memoir in the form of poetry, Stoners and Self-Appointed Saints. A range of voices tells the story of a protagonist determined to forge some kind of happy existence out of her creative mistakes, family traumas and clumsy relationships.

La Ganga has worked a gamut of odd jobs, from waitress and substitute teacher to shoplifter, and Cotter has done everything from selling vacuums door-to-door to designing crossword puzzles, so they have a well of experience to draw from in creating surreal worlds of words.

Bill Cotter and Annie La Ganga @ Sam Weller’s Bookstore, 254 S, Main, 801- 328-2586, Thursday, Sept. 3, 6:30 p.m. SamWellers.com