Episode #007 of The Velvet Podcast is now live! "If I made it I might as well destroy it by eating it" - Blake Butler In this interview episode of The Velvet Podcast, I interview Blake Butler, author of Ever (Calamari Press), Scorch Atlas (Featherproof Books) and the forthcoming There is no Year (Harper Perennial). Blake and Caleb discuss the impact of eReaders on visual-dependent literature, the novels vs. movies fallacy, and the importance of humility in a predominantly stuffy industry. Please, give it a listen. Subscribe via Feedburner, Podcast Alley, or iTunes.
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July will forever forward be known not as the month in which America celebrates its independence, but instead as the month that witnessed the release of Richard Thomas’s debut novel, Transubstantiate. This novel has been a long time coming, and I urge everyone to grab a copy as soon as possible. And as you do that, get involved with some of the discussion and live readings surrounding the novel, including a July 19 live Q&A at Bitten By Books (Time TBD), a July 18th reading at Archie’s Iowa Rockwell Tavern in Chicago, IL from 8:00 – 11:30, an October 16th reading the infamous Quimby’s also in Chicago, IL, and an ongoing book discussion at The Velvet’s goodreads group. Not yet convinced? Read a few excerpts at Plots With Guns. Or perhaps this review at Bitten By Books. Don’t know enough about the author? Get to know him at his The…
Episode #006 of The Velvet Podcastjust went live a few hours ago. Gordon Highland, Jesse Lawrence, Logan Frost, and Stephen Graham Jones talk about: Discussion of other mediums like film and television has always been an important aspect of The Velvet, because we find that our shared tastes in books translates well to art and entertainment in general. Inspired by one of our most popular forums, this episode features three Velvet staffers and author Stephen Graham Jones waxing about the big and small screens, both as consumers and creators, cinners and cineastes wading through the Cinemuck. Please, give it a listen. Subscribe via Feedburner, Podcast Alley, or iTunes.
And I like you, Artifice Magazine. A bit more praise here for the Oprah Read This >> Oprah, Read This project.
Jose Saramago, who quickly became one of my favorite authors after I read Blindness just last year, has died. But damn, he had a fine run, producing some of the most amazing novels I've ever read. There truly is no writing like Saramago writing. I am lucky enough, however, to still have a robust back catalog of his work to dive into. In fact, just yesterday, I started The Stone Raft, and already, just 10 pages in, I'm hooked. Even stranger is that I began work on a novella a few weeks ago, that contains some Saramago-inspired passages. Now, I suppose, I'll be giving even more time to these sections to ensure they are worthy of their heritage.
(This interview is cross-posted at Outsider Writers Collective) Full disclosure: I’m writing this intro after having imbibed a few pints of Guinness at a downtown KC Irish pub called O’Dowds, which, as a nod to authenticity, has been given my grandmother-in-law’s seal of approval, all the way from Ballyshannon, Ireland. The inebriation is all the more fitting, considering Alan Kelly's Dublin area connections. Alan first contacted me, years ago, by the invitation in one of my first publication author bios: "He welcomes conversation via email." I intended the trailing line to garner no more than a grin from the few who read it. But Alan's willingness to contact a stranger should have clued me in early on to what a true individual he is. We have been communicating online and following each others work since. When I first heard about his novella, Let Me Die a Woman, I was quite…
Episode #005 of The Velvet Podcast is now live! In this interview episode I talk with Matt Bell, author of The Collectors (Caketrain Press), Wolf Parts and the forthcoming How They Were Found, both from Keyhole Press. Matt’s short fiction has been published and anthologized just about everywhere and is forthcoming to Ninth Letter, the ML Press chapbook series, and Kill Author. We talk about live-writing with an audience over at Everyday Genius, editing for The Collagist, teaching writing to fourth graders, and mucho more. Please, give it a listen. Subscribe via Feedburner, Podcast Alley, or iTunes.