Hint

Got my copy of Hint Fiction in the mail yesterday. This sucker is gorgeous. Officially the book will release on November 1st. But you can pre-order it all over the place. Much thanks to Robert Swartwood, for putting this thing together and letting me be a page in it. An honor to be in the same book as some heroes like Ha Jin, Stuart Dybek, and Ron Carlson. Not to mention writerly buddies like David Erlewine, Jason Jordan, and Roxane Gay. There is a plethora of fantastic writing in here. You should PICK THIS LITTLE BEAUTY UP!

Failure, Beginnings, and Success

The first excerpt from Code for Failure will see the light in November over at decomP. Very excited. Also a bit nervous for people to see a snippet of the novel. It's a chapter called "Tourette's." But I'll post more about it when it goes up.

Speaking of novels, I have started what will most likely be the next novel after Code for Failure. I can't say for sure, 'cause it's so early on, and it will require me to keep a full head of steam on it. But as of right now it's the likeliest candidate. I have been holding off working on another novel because I had one in mind that I really wanted to work on, but it's not practical at this point. It would require at least one trip back up to Alaska for research and I just don't have a way to do that right now. But I decided no more waiting around, time to write another novel. So on I went to another idea that's been sitting around for a while. This one is currently going by the working title, The Autobiography of Punk Rock. It will be very loosely based on my time fronting a punk band during college. Like Code for Failure there will be some reality, but less so this time around.

And, for an update on Paula Bomer's Baby & Other Stories, Publisher's Weekly has given it a starred review! They say: "In 10 raw and angry stories, Bomer flays the idea of happy little families, giving readers an assortment of emasculated and discarded husbands; brooding, unfulfilled wives; and the poor children--destined for therapy--unlucky enough to bind them." READ IT!

Hands Down

I got the advanced copy of my friend (and ADP co-conspirator), Paula Bomer's Baby & Other Stories recently. Even though I'd designed the book and done the layout I hadn't actually gotten a chance to sit down and read it cover to cover yet. Sure, I'd read about half the stories previously, as is wont to happen with story collections, but reading a collection front to back is a different experience. And I don't say this lightly: Baby is the best cover-to-cover story collection I've read since Bonnie Jo Campbell's American Salvage. Hands down.

PREORDER YOUR COPY NOW!

Moving In Place

I finished a new story last night. It's another Alaska story, so now I have to wonder whether or not I should add it into the Alaska story collection. This one started with a memory I have of salmon running in the creek behind our house as a kid. I was excited to finish the story, I'd had trouble for a couple weeks getting the last sentence right. I sent it to one of my favorite journals, one where I've only sent poetry before, so we'll see how that goes.

I've also put together a few more poetry manuscripts. They border between chapbooks and full-lengths. They are titled, There Will Always Be Better, I Love You & Other Beasts and furr. Nothing's been happening with the full-length collection, Mile Zero, that I've been sending out. There's a ton of poetry, I don't know how that happened.

I started a painting last night. It's rough so far, a lot to be done. I haven't painted in a few years. We'll see what comes of this.

As you can see, I've been working on redesigning the ol' blog here. There's still work to be done on it as well, but it's coming along, I think.

2 Things to Check Out

I did another video for one of my friend, Shya Scanlon's poems. This time I took on "Bondsman, Two Bricks." CHECK IT OUT.

Also, Daily S-Press was kind enough to highlight my chapbook, Aquarium. READ THE FEATURE.

And, don't forget you can BUY OR DOWNLOAD THE CHAPBOOK!

No News Is No News

Feels like it's been a long time since I had news about stories (or poems). Even rejections. It's one of those times where I feel like I'm nutty for thinking the stuff I'm sending out is good. Isn't it fun to be a writer, to constantly face self doubt right, well, in the face?

I may soon have some potentially exciting writing news to share. But I'm still feeling over-invested in the work I'm sending out, particularly the Alaska stories. There's been some nibbles but nothing more than that, and nothing at all, as I've mentioned, in a long time.

I've put together a couple more poetry chapbook manuscripts lately, which along with writing new stories feels irresponsible when none of the current stuff is getting published. But being ocd and all, it's hard not to organize all the stuff on the ol' hard drive.

Here's another of my Cover Covers:



I was looking at the bracelet from my surgery and this idea came to me. It's simple and muted, maybe understated even.

I'll start this with the good news that the tumor turned out benign. Much to the doctor's very apparent surprise. So, other than the stitches still being in, feeling pretty good about the outcome.

For a laugh, here's something you don't want to see in a doctor's office:



If they can't spell "alcohol" should we trust them to do anything else?

To celebrate the good news I made myself a crazy dinner a few nights ago. It was inspired by THESE GUYS. Check it out:



That would be a burger with two grilled cheese sandwiches for buns.

Finished another of my Cover Covers Posters series. This one was inspired by my buddy, Shya Scanlon's Forecast, which is forthcoming from Flatmancrooked.



I've used raining skulls before on a poster for a show back when I was still playing music. The actual design for Shya's book looks fantastic (Flatmancrooked has always had great design work) from what I've seen so far, but the fun for me in this project is the re-imagining. I'll be posting these to my Flickr account soon, too, and am working on more.

Think that's all for now. Happy Labor Day.

Here's Where I Define Meta For You

Ben Tanzer posts about me posting about him.















real update coming on my next day off.