Volcano Blues

Here's a picture from the plane on our way to Ireland of the volcano spewing ash that made us have to fly to Iceland around the spewing volcano to finally get to Ireland. But we did. Get there. And hopefully it will allow us to leave one day.

The Evil Clown Interview

Submit Your Novella

You know what's cool. Novellas. They're like the flash fiction of novels. And we know flash fiction is hot right now. So where are the novellas?

Main Street Rag Publishing Company wants to do a novella series: 12 novellas, one a month for a year. And as I'm overseeing the series, I want to see the best. Better than crap like Of Mice and Men or Heart of Darkness or Animal Farm or Metamorphosis.

Here are details:

Reading Period: Right now! to August 1st. That's right, over the summer, so while all the sissy U lit mags are closed, dust off the novella and send it to us.

Length: 30,000-50,000 words

Content: Open. Your best. Better than that if possible.

Text: Regular manuscript format (double space, Times New Roman, tabs/no space between paragraphs).

Submit: In a first for Main Street Rag, we are accepting email submissions (only in this series): editor@mainstreetrag.com

Want more details, much like the ones above? Go here.

Let the Productivity Begin!

Ha. That's right. Ha! I'm finished. The grades are in, and I am free. Free to focus. To be truly productive. For example, I made this on an animation site:

Over in the Underground: For Sale



Time well spent. I'm going to be so accomplished by the end of this summer. I just feel it.

Almost Forgot

NatPoMo!

Me in NANO Fiction

So my nano, as in tiny, fiction called "Call Back" is in the latest issue of NANO Fiction (that would be Volume 3 Number 2 to be specific). The issue includes work by luminaries like Jac Jemc and Kyle Hemmings.

And lots of others like Nicholas T. Brown, Ryan Call, Brian Allen Carr, Gabe Durham, Avital Gad-Cykman, Frank Giampietro, Jenny Gillespie, Jennifer Gravley, Kate Hagerman, Ann Hillesland, Janet Jennings, Suzanne Lamb, Brandon Lamson, Cynthia Litz, Joël Martinez, Stephanie Martz, Scott McWaters, Katherine Megear, Amanda Montei, M.V. Montgomery, Adam Moorad, Thomas Mundt, Fred Muratori, Thisbe Nissen, Sophie Rosenblum, Tom Whalen, Timothy Willis Sanders, Stephanie Valente, and L.A. Zimmerman. All very nice, except for Tom Whalen. Kidding. Just figure no one reads these lists.

Back from...Denver

That's right--I'm back. And now time for my annual, meaning this year, AWP awards:

Best quote on a panel: "The people here are hornier to get published than to get laid," by Richard Peabody (I think he said that...hmm...maybe I should be sure of such things before I assign words to people's mouths).

Runner-up: "Getting paid by the word just feels righteous," by Stephen Graham Jones (that might not be the actual wording, but he said most of those words I'm pretty sure and for no money...wait, do panelists get paid by the word?).

Worst hotel elevators: The Sheraton.

Best drink I had too many of: Milk Stout at the Wynkoop Brewing Company.

Best panel I did not attend: Flarf.

Worst introduction: Woman who introduced George Saunders, by confessing she had never read his work and, when she did bring herself to read it, didn't like it and yet didn't have the decency to step down from introducing him or just keep it to herself but instead thought it best to tell everyone that and basically imply, if not outright say, that he should try and write some different kind of stuff--you know, good stuff.

Best introduction: Etgar Keret who read before Saunders and said that if there was to be a commercial for humanity, George Saunders should be in it.

Best party I stood around awkwardly at before deciding to quickly leave: Flatmancrooked's.

Best nonconference moment: Bouldering outside the Denver flagship REI. By which I mean, getting four inches off the ground on a fake boulder outside the REI store where I bought some nice pants and the wife bought a belt. We're outdoorsy that way.