Rougarou: Journey to the End of the Night

Didn’t you ever run so fast you thought your legs were going to fall off? You know, like when you were running towards the swings? Or running away from Satan? The neighbor’s dog. Or, in this case, the rougarou! That’s right, gang: come September 20, the residents of Columbus, Ohio, will be racing through the twilitContinue reading “Rougarou: Journey to the End of the Night”

New review of Box Cutters

Folks, there’s a new review of my chapbook, Box Cutters! This one’s by Elise Matthews, in American Microreviews and Interviews, and maybe I’m biased, but I think it’s a fascinating read. A lot of reviewers have paid a lot of attention to the “between the lines” stuff going on behind the stories, but Matthews goes theContinue reading “New review of Box Cutters

5 character facts: the “special features” part of Hagridden

There’s this writerly meme going around. The rules: to share five facts about the main character from my current work-in-progress. I got tapped for this on Facebook, by the amazing Ally Malinenko, author of one of my favorite stories ever in Jersey Devil Press. Ally has a book coming out (very!) soon, the beautiful-sounding ThisContinue reading “5 character facts: the “special features” part of Hagridden”

New publication — it’s an article!

I talk a lot about place in fiction: setting, a sense of home, checking your maps…. Mostly in my classrooms, bit also online here is the blog, in writers forums, or in casual Facebook chats. Now I’ve written an article about the interplay of place and character in fiction. It’s part craft, part Francine Prose-likeContinue reading “New publication — it’s an article!”

A sneak preview of Hagridden

Apologies to people following me on Twitter or on my Facebook page, for whom this is repeated news. But my advance review copies of Hagridden came in the mail today. Please excuse me while I do a happy dance. It’s still the rough copy — it doesn’t yet have cover art, the blurbs are all stillContinue reading “A sneak preview of Hagridden

On making a book trailer

I wanted a book trailer for Hagridden. I don’t know what good they do, really, and I might not have really worried about it at all, but just about the time my publisher and I were going over the initial proof of my novel, I saw the trailer for Leesa Cross-Smith’s Every Kiss a War.Continue reading “On making a book trailer”

Reading from Hagridden at Lit Demon

A while back, I announced that I’ll be doing an online reading from Hagridden. That’s online, as in streaming video, live on your computer while you trim your fingernails and pick your nose (don’t worry — you can see me, but I can’t see you). This all goes down on Thursday, June 5, from 6-7 pmContinue reading “Reading from Hagridden at Lit Demon”

HAGRIDDEN is all over the interwebs and all over the nation

So, gang, it’s official: Hagridden is coming out August 19. To celebrate, Columbus Press has launched both a website for the novel and a page on their own publisher website, and I’m now officially announcing the release party, to take place at the public library in my own hometown back in Boerne, Texas. Come findContinue reading “HAGRIDDEN is all over the interwebs and all over the nation”

Every Kiss a War, from Leesa Cross-Smith

I just bought Leesa Cross-Smith‘s debut story collection, Every Kiss a War, out from Mojave River Press. I was going to buy this book anyway, because I’m a fan of Cross-Smith’s work, both in terms of her own fiction and in terms of her fantastic literary magazine, WhiskeyPaper. (I had a story in WhiskeyPaper aContinue reading “Every Kiss a War, from Leesa Cross-Smith”

This weekend in literature: Terroir Creative Writing Festival and Ink Noise Review

This weekend, I’ll be at a couple of writing-related events in Oregon, if you’re in the area and want to say hi. On Saturday, April 19, I’ll be down in McMinnville at the Terroir Creative Writing Festival, held on the Yamhill campus of Chemeketa Community College. I went last year in support of my friendContinue reading “This weekend in literature: Terroir Creative Writing Festival and Ink Noise Review”