Robert James Russell

After a couple months of behind the scenes work and planning, I’m excited to finally announce my new venture: the online lit journal CHEAP POP.

This is completely independent of Midwestern Gothic (which is still very much my baby)—CHEAP POP just scratches a different sort of itch I’ve had for a while.

So, what’s our deal? Micro-fiction, 500 words or less. Bite-size nuggets of awesome writing. There are no regional or theme restrictions—we just want good writing, writing that pops.

I’m thrilled and honored to be working with the talented Elizabeth Schmuhl on this project. We’re going to start posting stories in January, a new one every Tuesday and Thursday. Submissions are open now, so if you have any flash fiction, or know anyone who does, check us out and spread the word.

Check out the CHEAP POP Submissions page for more information.

There is no denying the sparseness of Michigan, the relative quiet of its landscapes. History details that immigrants freshly-arrived from their home countries saw this specific region as one where the American Dream was alive and kicking—where they could have the land they desired to tend animals and raise crops. Where they could spread out, enjoy the natural bounties and raise families and, in general, be happy. And sure, cities sprang up here and there…eventually. But when you travel through Michigan, even today, that hushed, pastoral calm is what greets you: all that open space, perhaps a lone cow in the field, some undisturbed growth of beech or maple in the distance…and it is such a wonderful thing, being able to stretch out without fear of encroaching on someone else. Soaking it all in without all that noise pollution. Here’s to hoping that never changes.

Some cool promo news: You can now pick up either a Kindle or Nook version of my novel Sea of Trees for only $2.99 for the month of December. It’s a pretty solid deal if you haven’t read it yet, so now’s your chance.

Sea of Trees on Kindle

Sea of Trees on Nook

After taking a detour into Creative Nonfiction last fall (which was an absolute blast), we got back on track reading fiction and poetry submissions for upcoming Issue 12 and wow—I was  amazed at not only the sheer number of submissions we received, but also the quality. I am absolutely grateful that so many talented writers and poets trust us with their work and think so highly of us. (And believe me: there are worst things in the world than reading hundreds of fantastic submissions.)

But of course it is always difficult to whittle submissions down to the final list—we had to turn away some pieces we loved but that just weren’t right for us at this time. It’s never fun, and I hope that folks are able to appreciate the final line-up of contributors (featuring established and new writers and everyone in-between), as well as the quality of pieces overall. Because, truly, this is one of the strongest issues we’ve ever put together.

Check out the cover for Issue 12 below—a monument to the Midwest, I think, and one of my all-time faves.

Issue 12 is slated to release January 1, 2014.

I’m thrilled to announce that Pithead Chapel has nominated my short story “Special Needs” for the 2013 Pushcart Prize.

I’m grateful to Keith and Molly—so glad they enjoyed it, felt it worthy. Really means a lot.

Check out their full list of nominees (some utterly fantastic writers there).

Read “Special Needs” from Pithead Chapel, Volume 2, Issue 10.

Stockholm-based artist Simon Stalenhag has created a series of retro-futuristic landscapes that look as if they could be stills from some long-lost ’80s Ridley Scott film. The science fiction elements aren’t necessarily the focus, giving a sense of  plausibility to this familiar world populated with giant ships and mechs and dinosaurs and looming power stations in the distance.

Fantastic stuff that hits me right in the nostalgia button. Here’s my fave:

There are loads more on his website.

He has prints for sale, too.

Paul Pope is the greatest comic artist working today. There, I said it.

Battling Boy is, to my knowledge, the first entirely Pope-centric venture. He does everything here except the coloring and, if you are, like me, a fan of his, this is the book you’ve been waiting for. The first volume in a proposed series, Battling Boy follows the titular adolescent hero as he’s sent to the monster-wrecked mega-city Acropolis to act as their champion. He eventually joins forces with a fabled (and recently-vanquished) hero’s only daughter to take on the monsters and villains who are slowly sucking the life out of everything and anything, running amok with nothing to keep them in check.

And that’s the premise—simple, maybe, but it works brilliantly. And the art and the writing…my goodness they are top notch. The book is advertised as all-ages(-ish), and it is something I’d love to share with my non-existent child again and again. An instant classic? Perhaps. Not for me to decide, but even without the words it’s beautiful enough just to flip through—the detail, the painstaking creation of the worlds in the pages, is a thing of beauty. And while I wanted the book to be longer, to keep going and going, it did have to come to an end, and that, really, is the only complaint I have—that it should be longer, but only because I so enjoyed being in this universe.

So wait I shall until Volume 2 releases…whenever.

Bottom-line: Paul Pope has no equal working today.

I’ll make this quick: Gravity is a lesson in taut, no-frills storytelling—we’re dumped in media res and the story never once lets up and by the time you leave the theater you too feel as if you’re floating. Flying. That you’re not longer tethered to Earth until, ultimately, you too come crashing back down and start to question everything and anything and how we’re all connected. Etc.

Ultimately, this was a movie-going experience the likes of which I’ve never had before, and while I’ve been arguing with some friends about the script and the dialog and the hiring of Clooney for a very Clooney-esque role, personally, this is as near-perfect a film as I’ve ever laid witness too and I can’t, for the life of me, recommend it enough.

So there you go. And here’s a big picture of space to help get you in the mood.

I’m thrilled to finally be able to announce (after months of working on it) the newest release from MG Press, the micro-press arm of Midwestern Gothic, the novel Above All Men by Eric Shonkwiler.

The book, scheduled to release March 2014, is described as thus:

Years from now, America is slowly collapsing. Crops are drying up and oil is running out. People flee cities for the countryside, worsening the drought and opening the land to crime. Amid this decay and strife, war veteran David Parrish fights to keep his family and farm together. However, the murder of a local child opens old wounds, forcing him to confront his own nature on a hunt through dust storms and crumbling towns for the killer.

And it’s already racked up some amazing advance praise:

“Shonkwiler takes the world on his own terms, and wrestles it to the ground.” –Tom Lutz, The Los Angeles Review of Books

“Shonkwiler has taken an iconic landscape and filtered it through near-collapse and fear, then through loyalty and love.”
–Susan Straight, National Book Award finalist

“Sparse and poetic, the words within these pages are as sharp as a corn knife.”
—Frank Bill, author of Donnybrook and Crimes in Southern Indiana

“A rare, stark and beautiful achievement.”
—Paula Bomer, author of Nine Months

Seriously, these are some masterful folks saying some kind things about the book—so happy they enjoyed it and were willing to share their thoughts with us.

Eric is a true master of the craft, and here he’s created a sublime tale about murder and revenge and family, highlighting values unique to the Midwest while also speaking to a larger audience…exactly the sort of story we were hoping to put out when we launched the press. So happy we can finally start sharing this book with the world.

You can pre-order a copy of the book for only $1 (any format) and save 20% off the cover price when it goes live.

Check out the book here.

Maybe due to the five month cycle of gloom we have to endure every November to March, but we Michiganders like to keep ourselves busy. And more often than not this involves taking something everyday and making it, well…better. Sure, we’re covered tip to tail in luscious farms producing some stellar crops, but something about the Great Lakes State breeds ingenuity and love and respect that you can taste in our craft beers and cheeses and jams and canned goods and…everything, really.