My 1st Music Video: “No Mind’s Eye”

I don’t talk much about it these days, but I used to direct music videos. Some of them are up at YouTube. Maybe in the coming days I’ll see about putting the others up. In the meantime, here’s the first one I ever made, a collaboration with my pal Elf. We made it for Mecca Normal in January 2003:

The song’s from their album “The Family Swan.”

A Guide to All of My Writing at HTMLGIANT

The articles are starting to pile up there, so I created a section at my website that links to each post.

I also took a moment to update my guide to all of my writing at Big Other. Enjoy…

My old and painfully bad story “Roses” appeared in Necessary Fiction

Steve Himmer was looking for “the earliest story you’re willing to share without revising.” As I explain in my introductory note:

I wrote “Roses” in 1995–6, soon after I started taking writing workshops at Penn State University. My primary interests then were poetry and flash fiction, mainly because I’d yet to write anything longer than 500 words. I didn’t know much about making stories, so everything I wrote that year is an overly precious, roundabout attempt to communicate some tidbit to the reader. Thankfully, I soon lost interest in this kind of stuff; all that remains is that I still fuss too much with my sentences.

The story is here; enjoy!

I will be reading at Revolving Door on Wednesday, 25 January 2012

Second time’s the charm:

Time: 7:30–9:30pm (there will be an open mic, starting at 7:30)

Place: South Halsted Gallery (1825 S. Halsted, Chicago)

Concept: Possibly ugly sweaters still?

Cost: $5 but there will be free drinks!

More: Here’s Revolving Door’s website, where you can see videos of past readings.

+ there will be another reader, Roger Reeves, so come see him if not me

Hope to see you on the 25th!

I updated my website

Specifically, I finished linking to all of my online publications (minus the Big Other and HTMLGIANT stuff). Now you can revisit pieces from Amazing Adult Fantasy, Giant Slugs, plus numerous other stories and novel excerpts and book reviews and miscellaneous things. Or…you can not! Either way, enjoy.

…I also updated the events page.

I will be reading at Revolving Door’s “Jingle & Mingle” reading on Wednesday, December 21

[This event was canceled! And rescheduled for 25 January 2012. See above for details.]

Time: 7:30–9:30pm (there will be an open mic, starting at 7:30)

Place: South Halsted Gallery (1825 S. Halsted, Chicago)

Concept: This month we’re celebrating the holidays with you! Put on an ugly Christmas sweater and come mingle with us!

Cost: $5 but there will be free drinks, plus “a prize given for the ugliest sweater!”

More: Here’s Revolving Door’s website, where you can see videos of past readings.

Hope to see you on the 21st!

I will be reading at Untoward’s 1-Year Celebration Reading

On Wednesday, 14 December, 7–10pm. At the Beauty Bar (1444 W. Chicago Ave., Chicago).

Also reading will be James Tadd Adcox, Chris Bower, Lindsay Hunter, Samantha Irby, Meghan Lamb, Dan Shapiro, Ben Tanzer, John Thurgood, Russ Woods, and Joshua Young. And the MCs will be Mason Johnson, Jon Mau, and Matt Rowan.

Untoward Magazine published my story “5000 Units of Product,” as well as a two-part interview with me, concerning Amazing Adult Fantasy and Giant Slugs.

I got included in an anthology

Specifically, [C.] An MLP Stamp Stories Anthology, which is an anthology of extremely short stories (each one is under 50 words), and which will presumably look something like the image directly above.

I’m pleased to have been included alongside so many other writers:

Another review of “Amazing Adult Fantasy”

…by Jess Stoner, at Necessary Fiction. Thank you, Jess!

Other reviews:

• NOÖ Journal (Jonah Vorspan-Stein)
• SF Site (Paul Kincaid)
• The Quarterly Conversation (Jeff Bursey)
• H_NGM_N (Matt Dube)
• The Collagist (Peter Fontaine)

Amazing Adult Fantasy is available through its publisher, Mutable Sound, as well as Powell’s Books and Amazon. Also, as of today, there are copies at Quimby’s!

I will be reading at the Wit Rabbit Reading Series on 6 December

Open Books, now there.

Next month, on Tuesday, 6 December, at 7:30pm, I will be reading at the Wit Rabbit Reading Series, at Open Books (213 W. Institute Place, Chicago). Also reading will be poet and sculptor Anne Shaw, and someone else.

That will be the second Wit Rabbit reading. The first one is tonight, also at Open Books, also at 7:30pm. The readers will be Anthony Madrid and my UIC classmate Tyler Mills. Plus someone else.

About the series: