New Short Story in PANK

I am really quite very alot tons plenty yessiree excited to have a story, “Selling the Fall,” in PANK. You should go read it. Or you can listen to me read it to you. For reals.

And you should read PANK, like, all the time.

New story in Bourbon Penn

I’ve got a new story out in the lovely Bourbon Penn. It’s called “Caretaker,” and, oddly enough, it’s about a woman who works as a caretaker for a cemetery. I mean, I guess it happens to be the only cemetery in the world and it’s so big she can’t see the walls…

Head over to Bourbon Penn and read “Caretaker,” then check out the rest of the wonderful stories in this issue. You can also pick up a copy of the issue for Kindle, or buy it as a printed object.

This Is Not the Death of the American Author

Oh, woe be unto us, for the American author is an untenable and dying breed. The world conspires against the American author, actively seeking to destroy this noble breed!

Bullshit.

“Things That Live and Seek” in Bartleby Snopes Magazine

My short story about the boy who’s only read part of Moby Dick is now available in Bartleby Snopes Issue 9. It’s accompanied by a photograph from Daniel J Glendening, who you may remember from UFOs and Their Spiritual Mission and “Wreck.” He’s awesome, and I love the piece he contributed to Snopes.

The magazine is available as both a free PDF download, and in print (on demand). If you’ve got the spare change, I encourage you to support the magazine. Don’t worry, I won’t get any of your money.

New! Short Story! Bartleby Snopes! Moby Dick! Read!

No, the Moby Dick without Barry Bostwick.

 

 

This week I have a Moby Dick inspired short story out in Bartleby Snopes. I don’t want to give away the ending, so you should go read “Things That Live and Seek” for yourself. Then read the rest of the awesome work featured on the site. And don’t forget to head back at the end of the month to vote for “Story of the Month.”

You don’t have to vote for me, but you could.

New Flash Fiction in 3:AM

The lovely 3:AM has published “In Great Leaps,” a flash fiction story about…well, in honor of the season let’s just say it’s about family. I love how the last line juxtaposes with the picture of my giant face that follows immediately after. Good stuff.

Anyway, click here to read my story, and then check out the rest of 3:AM, which is a really fantastic journal.

“One Afternoon of Knowing” Out Now at Metazen

Where do stories come from? This one came from hearing a friend talk about her brother moving to Alaska to build a lighthouse just after I’d listened to that Lumineers’ album with the “Submarines” song. Originally I thought I’d write about a guy who was in love with a submarine, but then I found out my character just wanted to be the submarine’s friend. Go figure.

I have no idea where the Orcas came from.

Head over to the very awesome Metazen and read my new story!

‘The Future Is the Motherfucking Future’ Live in Sundog Lit #1

A few years ago I was fortunate enough to take a nonfiction workshop from Francois Camoin. He told us to be honest, and to just worry about the next word, not about the story, and that nonfiction didn’t mean just saying what actually happened. There were some people in the workshop who tried very hard to tell true stories that weren’t completely honest. Their pieces were intended to be narrative and inspirational and moralizing, and they kept trying to hide from some very obvious (and obviously uncomfortable) truths lurking right beneath the surfaces of their stories. They frustrated the hell out of me. So I wrote a piece meant to follow, as closely as I could, Francois’ instructions, and to make those dishonestly moralistic storytellers as uncomfortable as I possibly could. I didn’t think they deserved their smug comfort, their simple morals, because truth is complicated, and discomfiting, and full of questions with no easy answers, or without answers at all, and it’s subjective, and half the time it’s a lie anyway.

The visceral horror 0f my father’s slow decay from metastatic cancer, and the concomitant emotional upheaval in my life, had made me angry, and confused, and I wanted to lash out, and I wanted to be in love, so I followed my words. This is what I found.

This essay also constitutes the first of five essays of a novella, No Window, which tells the story of my father’s death (and of a sex-doll, a space-whale, a troubled robot, a black hole, and some other stuff) and attempts to explore the connection between loss and invention. Hopefully I’ll find a home for No Window soon, but for now I’m happy to see this first piece out in the world.

You can read it here, and while you’re at it you should check out the rest of the quality work available in this nascent publication.

Open Letter to Jif Peanut Butter, Now in McSweeney’s

Check out my open letter to Jif Peanut Butter, freshly e-minted on McSweeney’s Internet Tendency!

New Story in SmokeLong

A brand new story from yours truly, “Wreck,” is now live at SmokeLong, with brand new art from Daniel J. Glendening. Go! Look! Read! Feel Enriched!