Author. Editor. Michigander.
“Are you kidding? Have you played Mortal Kombat without blood? It’s…” I stopped, thought of the right word. “It’s pointless.”
Thanks to the editors of this fine journal for including my piece. Really love what they’re doing. I mean, video games + literature just go together, you know? They have a gorgeous aesthetic and some unbelievably good content, and I’m honored to be a part of it.
Plus: Love this graphic they put together. Yes.
I was delighted to to check out Momofuku Noodle Bar in Manhattan recently. It’s been on my list of places to eat at since I first heard about it. Plus: I’m in love with David Chang’s Lucky Peach, which, I think, has some of the consistently best writing out there. So, you know, I was stoked.
Verdict: The pork ramen (below) was incredible. And the Ritz cookie. It was like eating a chewie Ritz cracker coated in sugar (in the best possible way).
This movie floored me. A taut revenge thriller the likes of which I haven’t seen in a long, long while (and I watch a lot of revenge thrillers). Also: It was funded on Kickstarter and was actually good. So, you know, it is possible.
Trailer:
We load the TV in and Caleb rigs it up while I survey the crowd: they’re pasty and cherry-faced and freckled, see more of myself in them than I’d care to. They talk amongst themselves wearing oversized tees and ill-fitting sundresses, lounging and whooping between labored breaths as the sky fires up orange-red in defense of the night.
Synaesthesia Magazine has been one of my favorites for a long while. Each issue is gorgeous, and you can see all the work that went into the design—and I’m a sucker for good design. Even more so, the theme of this issue, Americana, hit home for me, and I was beyond thrilled to learn my story would be included along with so many other talented folks. Definitely worth a flip through, this issue. It’s a good’n.
Early this year I was honored to be asked by Leesa Cross-Smith—an author you need to know—if I’d be willing to read and blurb an advanced copy of her debut collection, Every Kiss A War. Already a huge fan of her work, I gladly accepted. And here’s what I said:
“Leesa Cross-Smith’s Every Kiss A War is an emotional battlefield, a perfectly written anatomy of the human condition—the good, the bad, the quiet moments that define our relationships—that you can’t help but pick yourself out in the pages, can’t help but be pulled into her sumptuous writing, her words becoming your favorite quilt to cover you from the cold.”
Leesa’s writing, her use of language, is just astounding. It’s lyrical and raw in the best way and each story in this collection is just perfect—legitimately, there isn’t an ounce of fat to cut here. She has a unique voice, one all her own, and it’s exciting to see her get the attention she so deserves.
You can order a copy of Every Kiss A War from Mojave River Press.
In addition, the fine folks at Red 14 Films made an incredibly beautiful book trailer for her collection, which you can watch below.
I decide after Jill and I have dinner at her flat and smoke an enormous joint that I need to call Tyler, a conversation I’m not particularly looking forward to. I leave and she’s not happy, but I tell her I have homework and we kiss a little bit standing by her door. She tries to grab my crotch to entice me to stay, pleading with that crooked smile. I leave anyway.
And of course, many thanks to everyone at Cedars for publishing this one!
“The state of Michigan declared Oscoda, Michigan, as the official home of Paul Bunyan because it had the earliest documented published stories by journalist James MacGillivray.”
My love for PB runs deep, which is why I’m so swoony over this new header on the Midwestern Gothic site.
Family trips to Missouri, guns, and the glory days of AOL chat rooms: I’m beyond excited to have my story “The Rough and Tumble Sort” published at Joyland as part of their Michigan Stories Series:
It culminated when, a year before, during our annual haul down south, he chased me and my cousins around with his belt in one hand, Coors in the other, fire screaming in his eyes and coal-black beard bouncing along as he lumbered after us in the yard of my great aunt’s place. At first we kids thought it was a game, all this chasing and screaming, and initially everyone—my folks included—thought so too. But it soon became apparent that the man was out for blood and would not rest until he had some—from any of us.
Honored to be in such great company, and you should definitely check the rest of the Michigan stories out.
I looked down the length of the barrel across the expanse of beige at the can of light beer balanced atop the stake stuck deep in the ground and shot full of holes already. “Thing’s taken a lot of abuse, huh?”
She scuffed her workboots against the earth and cracked her knuckles and laughed. “I bring all my boyfriends here.”
Visual Verse is an online journal that asks authors to be inspired by a different image for each issue. Really felt this one and am excited to be a part of it.
Midwestern Gothic Issue 13 (Spring 2014)—now available—marks our third anniversary and I couldn’t be happier. We started with a simple mission—trying to showcase writers from the Midwest, those inspired by it, pieces with a sense of place like no other in the world—and while we continue to do that, it’s great to see how we’ve expanded since then. MG Press is still new, but it’s exciting territory, and the many great things on the horizon are only possible because of the warmth at which we’ve been received by the literary and publishing communities—and I am forever grateful to everyone who has supported us over the years.