Interview at Read to Write

Michael Noll, who heads up the Read to Write website, made an exercise based on my short story, "Rooey" (available here, at The Literary Review) and let me babble to him during the subsequent interview. Topics covered include the decline of gritty realism, fast and slow sentences, and what it's like to publish with a small press. A marriage proposal also occurs.

Play ball!

Happy baseball 2013, everyone.

Thanks to Hobart for including my "Chicago Cubs Sestina" in their baseball issue. For those unfamiliar with this torturous poetic form, here's the gist acccording to Wikipedia: "The sestina has served, historically, as a complaint, its harsh demands acting as signs for deprivation or duress." I figured it was the perfect form for writing about the Cubbies.

On Fandom

We all geek out for somebody, don't we? Here's four writers, including me, dishing on our idols at the Tin House blog's new I'm a Fan series, curated by Bryan Hurt. I talk about fondling Steinbeck's...notebooks. In which he wrote East of Eden. Don't get me started on his penmanship.

um...blr

So I spent the day in a fog and it now seems I have a tumblr account. Its mechanics and uses are mysterious but I think I like it. I will probably transition and make it my main author website once the book comes out in the fall.

Five poems at FRiGG

The winter issue of FRiGG includes five of my poems. Spoiler: they're all about love.

Y'all, I've got an essay up over at Nerve. It's about the engagement and marriage of a lovely guy that I was once engaged to. And how I found out about it. And what happened to the ring I once wore. And strong women. And wedding BS. And a little bit about drinking. 

Tomo!

It's been over a year since the Tohoku earthquake, tsunami, and resulting Fukushima disasters. While the story's no longer making headlines, like any tragedy, the people in the affected region continue to struggle. Here's a small way you can help:

Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction, an anthology to which I contributed, has been out for a couple months and is getting rave reviews. All the proceeds from Tomo go toward long-term relief efforts for Tohoku teens, covering educational expenses, counseling, tutoring, and other needs via the Japan-based NPO Hope for Tomorrow. You can buy a copy for $10.

The stories are meant for readers 12 and up and include translations as well as two graphic narratives. My story's the one about a psychic toaster. Seriously. This book is cool. Get one for yourself and the teens you know who like reading about Japan, and get some karma points while you're at it. And yes, it's available for Kindle.

Here's a little interview with me about the story I contributed, and my connection to Japan.