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The Camp moves into the Literary House

October 20, 2008

The second annual issue of The Literary House Review has just been released. Why should you care? My story, "The Camp," appears within. That's why. Never mind that the publication contains 232 pages of genre and non-genre, commercial and literary fiction, along with poems enough to erect a mansion - albeit one inconveniently susceptible to moisture (guess what paper, you make a better art medium than a wall!). Never mind that The Review is available to buy here or here and is archived at New York Public Library, Rockefeller Library at Brown University, RI, and at the University of Wisconsin Madison Library (those are monocle-level smart houses, people). Buy it for "The Camp." Now for the author notes: As so many stories begin, "The Camp" was a self-inflicted dare. The concept of "The Camp" is seeded in a desire to explore the horrid through a lens subjectively aimed toward beauty.…

Snake Girl at 3:AM

October 19, 2008

I've been clicking over to 3:AM Magazine for quite a while now. I can't remember where I first heard about it (probably from Dogmatika, where I hear about most every great thing in the underground lit scene), so I can't place praise with full accuracy. However, I can pass on the good word. And what better way to do so than via the news of my own story, "Snake Girl at Scab," getting some page space. Some author notes on the story: During my first visit to Portland, Oregon (USA), some locals took us to an event called First Thursdays, a neighborhood art gallery orgy (artgy, if you will) with booths, food, music, and lives to be changed. Most cities have these types of events, but due to a strange encounter involving an emotionless girl carrying a snake, this artgy impacted more than normal. The snake girl depicted in this…

Colored Chalk, the zine: Issue One

March 31, 2008

I'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…

absurdist flash

January 12, 2008

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…