Writing under the nom de plume of Lemony Snicket, Daniel Handler is the mad scientist behind the 13 installments that make up A Series of Unfortunate Events. The tridecology’s dark, tongue-in-cheek humor has made it a favorite of both kids and adults, but it’s also pegged him—unfairly—as just a children’s book author. (Albeit one who’s sold over 50 million books, a nice problem to have.) But that’s the dilemma he’ll address in tonight’s Seattle Arts & Lectures presentation, “Why Does Lemony Snicket Keep Following Me?” He’ll also take questions from the audience and field queries from Sherman Alexie, who also knows how to write smartly for different age groups. Where did Snicket come from? Handler devised the pen name to write prank mail to newspapers, pretending to be outraged over trivial news items, obituaries, and classified ads. Look who’s laughing now—today Handler could probably afford to buy an entire newspaper chain. FERNANDO SIOSON

Tue., Nov. 9, 7:30 p.m., 2010