At Joyland, I have a new short story up, titled “An Old Songwriter’s Trick.” This is how it begins: The week Owen left New York was one of sweltering humidity reaching down to enrapture us, swaddle us, leave us all reaching for insufficient comfort. We assumed Owen was alone in the task of loading a … Continue reading
Category Archives: Fiction
Me @ Volume 1- Afternoon Bites: Book art, Dusted and Fluxblog turn ten, Joyland on Greenpoint, and more
- There Is a Documentary About Linotype. We Think This Is Awesome.
- Afternoon Bites: Carl Wilson’s 2011, Emma Straub makes a mix, Justin Davidson on Philip Glass, and more
- Hillary Jordan’s “When She Woke”: A Discussion
- Afternoon Bites: Steve Erickson talks politics, Mikhail Bulgakov gets unreal, Pam Houston on mentoring, and more
December 6, 2011, Author: , Leave a comment
New Fiction at Joyland: “An Old Songwriter’s Trick”
Categories: Fiction, MeThinking out loud a bit here. A couple of weeks ago, a story of mine called “The Clutch” turned up on Vol.1. It’s a weird story, and the story of how it came to exist is (possibly) relevant: I wrote it for a reading that was part of a genre-themed series. My night’s theme was … Continue reading
A while ago, I took part in a day-long at-home writing session to benefit Dzanc Books. The story that began its life then — a riff on Brooklyn winters, isolation, and the notion of “fake jazz” — ended up becoming something called “An Apolitical Song.” And now the fine people at Metazen have chosen to … Continue reading
As I periodically mention here, I’ve been deeply involved as of late with Vol.1′s Sunday Story Series. As the name suggests, it’s a weekly piece, either fiction or nonfiction, that runs on Sunday mornings. And on January 30th, the story in question came from, well, me. It’s called “Revolution Come and Gone.” (The title is … Continue reading
Unintended radio silence. Holed up; working on a short novel and something that might end up being a novella: essentially, the most functional parts of the novel you may remember me rambling about a bit around these parts a year or two ago. It’s something of an object lesson, really: word counts of the short … Continue reading
October 19, 2009, Author: , Leave a comment
….say it three times, and quickly.
Categories: Fiction, MeFeatherproof has launched their TripleQuick application for the iPhone. Four sample stories — from Shane Jones, Lindsay Hunter, Paul Fattaruso, and Amelia Gray — can be read on Featherproof’s site. Among the other contributors is, well, me. Writing at that length (the stories had a maximum length of 333 words) was one of the hardest … Continue reading
June 18, 2009, Author: , Leave a comment
New fiction: “Dulcimers Played, Strings Played”
Categories: Fiction, MeMy short story “Dulcimers Played, Strings Played” is now up at Vol.1. Sharp-eyed and/or longtime readers may note that it shares a character with my earlier “Every Night is Bluegrass Night”. (A tip of the hat to Shannon Garland for the North Carolinian weather advice.)
For the second time this year, I’ll be taking part in the generally kickass Vol. 1 reading series at Matchless in Greenpoint. Details follow: June 19th, 2009 Chris Leo (writer/musician in The Van Pelt) Tom Shillue (comedian) Tobias Carroll (writer) Maggie Serota (freelance writer/A.V Club) Justin Maurer (writer) Isaac Ramon (Comedian) Each give their best … Continue reading
March 16, 2009, Author: , Leave a comment
Tags:: cross-disciplinary, writing
writing on writing: 16 march 2009
Categories: FictionTags:: cross-disciplinary, writing
Very quickly: the sites of Luca Dipierro and Michael Kimball, writers and collaborators on the in-progress film 60 Writers / 60 Places. Information aplenty on the kind of cross-disciplinary work that never fails to pique my interest. And the writers involved in the 60 Writers… project so far also look like an interesting bunch.
February 26, 2009, Author: , Leave a comment
Tags:: Charlie Huston, John Wray, Twitter
notes on twitter + fiction
Categories: Books, FictionTags:: Charlie Huston, John Wray, Twitter
Closing out the readers at last week’s Vol. 1 at Matchless was John Wray, whose piece (an excerpt from a novel in progress) left me with the inclination to track down everything he’s written. (Two novels, as it turns out, with a third forthcoming.) On Twitter , Wray is currently posting brief vignettes comprising a … Continue reading
February 9, 2009, Author: , Leave a comment
Tags:: reading
Upcoming Reading: 02.20.09 at Matchless
Categories: Books, Events, Fiction, Me, ReadingsTags:: reading
I’ll be taking part in the February 2009 edition of Hex Education Journal’s Vol.1 series, which benefits 826NYC. The reading begins at 8 PM; it’ll be held at Matchless, 557 Manhattan Avenue, in scenic Brooklyn, NY. Reading will be: Kimberlee Auerbach John Wray Jessica Milton Theo Gangi Knox Dupree Tobias Carroll Aaron Lake Smith Along … Continue reading
February 7, 2009, Author: , Leave a comment
Tags:: David Foster Wallace, THE2NDHAND
joining the battalion
Categories: Books, Fiction, MeTags:: David Foster Wallace, THE2NDHAND
I have a contribution up as part of THE2NDHAND’s David Foster Wallace tribute. As of this writing, it’s the first one listed, and it begins like this: Recent events had convinced Thing that a rethink of certain priorities was in order, that careful consideration would need to be applied before selecting his next assignment.
December 6, 2008, Author: , Leave a comment
Tags:: kieron gillen, phonogram, Readings, THE2NDHAND, tony o'neill
“Western Bridges” redux
Categories: Books, Comics, Fiction, MusicTags:: kieron gillen, phonogram, Readings, THE2NDHAND, tony o'neill
One followup to yesterday’s post on “Western Bridges”: The story was originally written for a THE2NDHAND “Mixtape” reading held in Brooklyn at Sound Fix. There’s a passing reference to Phonogram in the story — said graphic novel’s theme of using music as a tool for reinvention was something I wanted to tip my hat towards, … Continue reading
December 4, 2008, Author: , Leave a comment
Tags:: Fiction, The Spinanes, THE2NDHAND
new fiction: “western bridges” (plus some thoughts on the spinanes)
Categories: Fiction, Me, MusicTags:: Fiction, The Spinanes, THE2NDHAND
Newly up at THE2NDHAND is my second contribution to their Mixtape series: a story entitled “Western Bridges”, which draws its inspiration from The Spinanes‘ “Winter on Ice”. Said song comes from their album Strand, which I genuinely do cite as one of the more life-changing records I’ve ever heard. I picked up Strand at the … Continue reading
new fiction: “twenty minutes’ road”
Categories: Books, Commentary, Fiction, MeUp as part of the January issue of Word Riot is my short story “Twenty Minutes’ Road”. (Those of you who might be curious to hear me reading a section of it can do so here.) I don’t have as much to say here as I did about, say, “Western Bridges”, and I’m slightly baffled … Continue reading →