BER-nee, Texas

Several years ago, my wife and I were on our first trip to Prince Edward Island, in the Canadian Maritimes. One evening, we decided to attend a “murder mystery” dinner theater, just for fun, and got to chatting with one of the actors. This guy was playing (or maybe was in real life) an over-the-topContinue reading “BER-nee, Texas”

Meanwhile, the Jersey Devil got drunk with General Grant

That’s an odd title for a post, but let me explain: The first story in the September issue of Jersey Devil Press is about a woman from the set of a vanity zombie flick having a love affair with General Robert E. Lee. And I know you’re not surprised by that sentence, because it’s JerseyContinue reading “Meanwhile, the Jersey Devil got drunk with General Grant”

Unshod and pregnant. With bees.

Oh, you guys. This issue. The photography, the poetry, the prose. The cover art. The beauty of it all! The long-awaited Issue 8 of Unshod Quills is live and online now, and it’s a wonderful, sweet, buzzing literary creature. Since we’ve switched to a focus on poetry, our ranks of gorgeous poets have swelled beyondContinue reading “Unshod and pregnant. With bees.”

Interview with Todd McNamee, author of Drifting

My friend Todd McNamee will be holding a reading this Saturday at Old World Merchants in Vancouver, WA, “surrounded by all my wonderful friends and family,” he writes on the event’s Facebook page. “I am very excited to be doing this at my dear friend’s import store” — which is such a cool venue forContinue reading “Interview with Todd McNamee, author of Drifting”

I’ve been nominated for the storySouth Million Writers Award!

Folks, this is just too amazing not to share: The editors at Bartleby Snopes have nominated my story “Lightning My Pilot” for the 2013 storySouth Million Writers Award! It’s a hell of an honor, and I’m inexpressibly proud to be listed alongside Joseph Lambach’s “Cutting Hair for My Sister” and Brian Kayser’s “Underwear and Leftovers.” Thanks, SO MUCH,Continue reading “I’ve been nominated for the storySouth Million Writers Award!”

Todd McNamee releases “Drifting”

“I’m a bastard.” Could you ask for a better opening line? But the narrator in Todd McNamee’s debut novel, Drifting, isn’t speaking figuratively or self-depracatingly: he means this literally. “My name is Patrick Mulligan and I was raised an only child in Portland, Oregon, by a mother who loved me,” the narrator continues. “My father’sContinue reading “Todd McNamee releases “Drifting””

North Texas writers

I tout the books of friends and writers I admire here on the blog from time to time, but as good fortune would have it, lately I’ve been getting a lot of news about books from former classmates! I did my doctorate in English at the University of North Texas, where I had the tremendousContinue reading “North Texas writers”

Oregon Literary Fellowship recipients in a chapbook

Literary Arts and the excellent Mel Wells have issued a special promotional e-chapbook for the 2013 Oregon Literary Fellowship recipients. I have the honor to be among that amazing group of writers and publishers, and so I’m in this chapbook, where you’ll find a little Q&A with me, an excerpt from the novel (you getContinue reading “Oregon Literary Fellowship recipients in a chapbook”

Flash Fiction Chronicles honors Short Story Month

Many of you probably know this, but in case you didn’t, May is National Short Story Month. And every May, Flash Fiction Chronicles puts together a list of the best short stories available online. It’s not a competitive list — anyone can suggest one — but it is a list composed by writers and regularContinue reading “Flash Fiction Chronicles honors Short Story Month”

Your summer reading list. You’re welcome.

Yes, I’ve been lax about the blog, gang. What can I say — things have been busy all over. And not just for me: I have been kept dizzy trying to keep tabs on all the books that have descended on us all or are soon to bloom in the world. What follows is aContinue reading “Your summer reading list. You’re welcome.”