Video Games are Real

Category: Publication Announcements

  • Colored Chalk, the zine: Issue Three

    Colored Chalk, the zine: Issue Three

    The Colored Chalk zine once again has me at the helm, wearing the editor cap. The theme: Life After Fire

    Suffering an unbiased attack we are entirely reactionary. Some call this response the truest kernel of instinct and accept death with stoic certainty. Some call death the culminated answer to questions asked of gods over an entire lifetime.

    Yet some survive. Carrying for the rest of their lives the burden of informed choice.

    The following stories are those choices…

    This issue, I think, is out best yet. It features stories by Nik Korpon, Michael A. Kechula, Anthony David, Richard Thomas, Chris Deal, Charles King, Michael Paul Gonzalez, Joel Shoemaker, Sean P. Ferguson, Mark Grover, and Keith Haworth. Google all of them, read some of their other stories. I promise you won’t be disappointed.

    As always, the issue can be viewed online and can also be printed and stapled for local distribution. Onward, and fill all the empty tables at neighborhood coffee houses, bathrooms, and daycares.

    Don’t forget that Colored Chalk is always open to submissions. Check out the Colored Chalk homepage for guidelines and information on the issue 4 theme: Big Brother In My Pocket.

    Click here to see the issue is all its magnificent page-turning glory.

  • Colored Chalk, the zine: Issue Two

    Colored Chalk, the zine: Issue Two

    This issue’s theme spawns from the great mind of Kurt Vonnegut, via your issue two editor, Jason Heim.

    Vonnegut wrote:

    “Give your readers as much information as possible as soon as possible. To heck with suspense. Readers should have such complete understanding of what is going on, where and why, that they could finish the story themselves, should cockroaches eat the last few pages.”

    And that’s just what we aimed to do with this issue of Colored Chalk.Colored Chalk Issue 2

    I have a piece in this issue, “Exhibit One: A Letter From Alex Fumar,” which I hesitate to mention simply because it’s impact is so reliant on context. Read outside the Colored Chalk zine my piece would make absolutely no sense, and could possibly put first time readers off of my work for good. My logic is that if I called attention to “Exhibit One,” then I might as well call attention to other printed pieces which would make no sense out of context. For instance, my letter to the editor in the June 2007 issue of Spirit, the Southwest Airlines magazine (yes, THE Southwest Airlines magazine).

    But, I’m a whore, so go on and read: “Exhibit One: A Letter From Alex Fumar.”

    And while your at it, here’s Spirit Magazine’s Letter of the Month from June 2007.

    Don’t forget, the Colored Chalk zine can be printed and distributed, hassle-free (and all other kinds of free) if you’re in the mood to spread the word. Just click here, print, staple, and force upon strangers.

    And if you are in the mood to not spread the word, pick up a copy at Kansas City’s own Prospero Books on 39th Street.

  • Colored Chalk, the zine: Issue One

    Issue OneI’ve been a member of an online writing critique group for a few years, out of which I’ve not only gained a growing understand of craft, but perhaps more importantly, I’ve developed close associations with some fantastic writers. Each year around November we return for another year of ego-brutalizing kinship, which leaves us deflated and disoriented, but not without a mutual understanding that every single moment spent suffering is a moment we’re allowed to nurture precious scar tissue.

    But even with the necessary humility we gain, there comes a time when a writer wants to experience the role of an editor. Who are those eyes able to tell the reading public what constitutes publishable fiction? Why them? Out of this curiosity came the Colored Chalk zine.

    For each bi-monthly(ish) issue a single editor will nurture the zine from theme to content selection to layout and design. This approach promises to produce material both diverse and representative of the overall sensibilities of the close-knit writing group as a whole.

    And who had the honor of editing the very first issue? Some jerk named Caleb Ross.

    Click over to www.coloredchalk.com to read the online version of the zine. The Colored Chalk website has been around for a while (much longer than the print zine), so take some time to explore its many offerings.

    The Colored Chalk zine, Issue One can be picked up for free in the Kansas City area at Nighthawks coffe
    and Prospero’s books. Both of these shops are KC favorites of mine, Prospero’s being a KC independent bookstore staple, and Nighthawks quickly becoming one. Click on the photos to be taken to the respective homepages    		 Nighthawks’ CoffeeProspero’s Books
    Colored Chalk Colored Chalk the website is an online collaboration community for writers, poets, artists, animators, musicians, composers, and vocalists. You can also find a printable version of this issue, perfect for distributing amongst your local ruffianariams.

  • Nefarious Muse 2008 Fiction Comp

    UPDATE: The contest has ended.

    My short story, “A Trench is No Place for God,” is now live at Nefarious Muse. And not just live, but live as part of the 2008 Nefarious Muse Short Fiction Competition. Please, go to their great fiction site, read the entries, and vote for the best. Of course, I am hoping your vote goes to my story. In case you vote otherwise, realize that I know where you live; thank you IP Address and Google maps.

    Nefarious Muse Fiction Competition Click on the icon to the left to go straight to the comp homepage. Voting is open until March 14th, so don’t miss out on this once in a lifetime opportunity to help me win a prize.

  • absurdist flash

    bdtdaeatc_issue7cover.jpg
    The Bizarro journal, Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens, has published my short-short piece “The Barber Who Calls Himself Ferguson” in their recently released Issue 7, available as a free .pdf download here.

    Other writers include John Edward Lawson, D. Harlan Wilson, Jason M. Heim, and others.

    “The Barber…” is quite a bit different than what I usually write, as my aesthetics since this story was originally written (2004) have changed. This is by no means a denouncement, just a way to say we change. I do love the story, though; I wouldn’t have okayed it for publication otherwise.

    Author’s Notes:

    My first attempt (of many) at being Brian Evenson. I hope that if I ever get to meet the man—more than the passing book signing plea—he doesn’t beat me for abusing his name like this. Luckily, though, most readers probably wouldn’t draw a comparison to Evenson because really, would you compare a Montana Mike’s Buffalo Burger to a McBurger? They’re both the same style, but one won’t make you vomit.

  • dodge some cars, read some fiction

    No Record Press has just posted my story, “Car Dodging.” More importantly, the editor for No Record Press, Miles Newbold Clark, has written a fantastic novel called None of This Will Do. Now What? which I called, in my Depraved Press review, “one of the best novels of 2007.” I know what you are thinking – favors, right? – but know that I didn’t even know about None of This Will Do. Now What? until Mr. Clark notified me that my story would appear at No Record.

    So, read None of This Will Do. Now What?, first. Then, if you have time and energy enough after taking in that true work of art, head over to No Record Press to read my story, “Car Dodging.”

    Here’s the author notes on the story:

    Easily one of the most polarizing intros I’ve ever written. I love this intro, and though it might be admittedly shock-driven, it still serves the greater story. A lot of people find this opening sexist. Those people probably stopped reading after the opening, and therefore, have no business commenting.

    This story is based on an actual game my friends a I played during our Junior High-ish years. There wasn’t a point system, and there was more furious drivers, but nonetheless the “real” game carried all the absurdity of the “story” game.

    Also, an early incarnation of this story won the Kay Alden Memorial Scholarship from Emporia State University. By that time I had stopped going car dodging, which is good because, though the scholarship money was quite helpful during my minimum wage college years it definitely wouldn’t have paid for the repair of a cracked skull.

    No Record Press

    No Record Press publishes the annual Red Anthology, which as been called by the Utne reader “wholly uninhibited–a refreshing change of pace”

  • Brian Evenson’s names

    I thought I’d do something different this time around. I recently read Jeremy Robert Johnson’s story collection “Angeldust Apocalypse” (which is absolutely amazing); with it JRJ does something unique. At the end of the collection he as a section called Author’s Notes, which are a series of anecdotal behind-the-scenes snippets on each story. Here’s hoping it catches on.

    So, with my newest publication I figure I would do the same. Present Magazine has just posted my story “Dry Dot.” Here’s the thoughts:

    At every rain I wonder—though the drop patterns are likely random—if there is a single spot somewhere within the downpour where no drop falls; where the concrete remains dry. Give water’s tendency to pool together, could there be an untouched dot? Further, how would we explain it? Science? Maybe, but wouldn’t that argument just be destroyed by politics? Global warming, anyone? It seems even the earth is subject to abiding by the party with the most supporters.

    Also, the strangeness of the name Durzenkya, I think satisfies both the parable-like nature of the story and my Evensonian obsession with crazy character names.

    Click here to read the story. Please enjoy.

    Present Magazine

    Present Magazine is a Kansas City area arts publication focused on bringing the area’s best creative talents to the forefront. Also, they bring people like me to the forefront.