There’s Still Time

To sponsor me in Dzanc Books Write-A-Thon. Every dollar counts. You’ll be essentially making me write for twenty-four hours straight.* You could win fabulous prizes.** Just think of the crazy things I’ll write that you can read for your low, low donation of anything you want to donate.*** Sponsor me today!****

*Straight here only means chronologically and may be stretched out over four days with breaks in between for eating, bathroom stops, sleep, drinking, video gaming, gardening, cartooning, romance novel reading, and sexual intrigue.
**There are no prizes. But you will get to see what I write during the event, so that’s sort of like a prize.
***The writing my not, in fact, be crazy, but instead only eyebrow raising. Admittedly it will probably be a domestic drama. With a band of rabid possums thrown in. One can never tell.
****Tomorrow will also be fine.

How Do I Cite My Comment on LiveJournal?

Did you know there's this thing called Twitter? I know! Right? Anyway, I don't tweet because I can barely semi-monthly blog and my facebook updates have become so obligatory I call my mom more often so I have room for the extra guilt for not facebooking.

Though I'm not a denizen of Tweetville, my friend Jeff pointed me to one that makes me want to join just to follow them: FakeAPStylebook. At Fake AP Stylebook you can find answers to all your unasked style questions and concerns. Here are just a few of my favorite examples:

• "The word 'totally' is redundant except when describing how rad something is."
• "Italicize words to give your story that gangsta lean."
• "'Teh' is a common misspelling of 'the.' Add it to your rival's spell-check dictionary. "

Oh and the answer to that pesky LiveJournal question: "Comments on LiveJournal posts do not need citations."

Sponsor Me in Dzanc Books Write-A-Thon

So I'm participating in the 2009 Dzanc Books Write-A-Thon which will take place December 17th through the 20th. I'll be writing for twenty-four hours over the write-a-thon. That's like a day. Though spread over four days, so not so crazy as writing for twenty-four hours straight which would probably result in my writing even worse than normal.

You can sponsor me by going here. You'll receive updates as to my progress. And I would be grateful. And thank you.

For those that don't already know, and if not, you really should: Dzanc is a non-profit independent publishing company that supports literary magazines, small presses, and funds writing programs in public schools, as well as the Dzanc Prize, which benefits not only the writer awarded it but pays for a community based project like writing workshops in prisons or cancer centers.

If you would like to get involved in the Write-A-Thon, please email Dan Wickett at dan@dzancbooks.org.

How Many Poisoning Stories Can There Be?

So it's Thanksgiving break and I'm with my wife (formerly known here as Heather) visiting the in-laws. And we also visited one of my favorite places on earth: McKay's Used Media (or some such) where you take in the books your tired of and the cd's that no longer have any relevance whatsoever and they give you credit to get more books that you might one day tire of. I'm wandering the creative writing reference aisle, and I see this catchy title Howdunit: The Book of Poisons. It's part of the Writers Digest Books on how to get your crime facts straight. I actually have the original one about police procedure and criminal acts but a whole book on poison? How many stories can one write where someone gets poisoned? Naturally, I had to have it, but then I got distracted by Norman Mailer's The Spooky Art and forgot to put it in my basket. Though I failed to get me a copy, I thought it would still make Thanksgiving-appropriate reading.

Me on Necessary Fiction

So my story "Herman and the Elephant" is up at Necessary Fiction. It's about a kid named "Herman." And an elephant. Also, Steve Himmer is a killer editor--he brought the best out of the story.

Nikitas and The Long Division

Over the weekend, the ball and chain and I went to see the Queens production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was a fantastic show. So I'm thinking about Shakespeare. And thinking about as I grow older--now that I'm married I feel older already--I find myself liking Shakespeare. That seems insipid having written it, but before I'd have said, "Of course, I like Shakespeare" because...I mean, you have to like Shakespeare. But what I'm saying now is that I actually like Shakespeare.

Which brings me to my friend Derek Nikitas, whose novel The Long Division has recently been released to rave reviews. Including this one where he's compared to...that's right, Shakespeare!

Me in NewPages

So there's a review of the Spring 2008 issue of roger: an art and literary magazine in NewPages. The reviewer Terri Denton says of my story "The Villain" that "its subtle humor ... brilliantly leaves you feeling just a bit uneasy." I love leaving people uneasy.

More importantly, of the whole issue she writes, "I smiled through every page, and was truly sad when I was done, though I know that I will go back to it again and again, and it will be as old novels, dog-eared pages indicating that it has been loved." I can't agree more. If you haven't already, check out roger.