New Blog Header by Brent Van Horne

The incomparable Brent Van Horne has created yet another killer header for this humble blog. In addition to it fulfilling my life long dream (expectation is probably a better word) of being added to the periodic table, it also hints to the fact that I will soon be a citizen of New York City.

BVH is definitely correct in assuming that my new location will significantly change the content of this blog.

Example of what my posts have looked like while living in Ohio:

"Hey everybody! I have a story forthcoming in Whatever-the-hell Magazine! Make sure to check it out!"

Example of what my posts will look like once I live in New York:

"I'm heading to The Saw Factory tonight to see The Laser Committee do an acoustic set with the trombone player from Biscuit Quake."

So yeah, get ready for that!

Frost Mountain Picnic Massacre Print

Earlier this year, the brilliant Brandi Strickland created an interpretation of Frost Mountain Picnic Massacre, a short story of mine that originally appeared in One Story. Brandi generously donated her work to One Story's Literary Debutante Ball, where the original piece was auctioned off to help support One Story.

However, for all of you who were not lucky enough to attend said Debutante Ball, I'm pleased to announce that prints of the piece are now available at Brandi's site. While you're picking one up, make sure to check out all of Brandi's work, which is beyond incredible.

Book Cover!!!! Book Cover!!!! Book Cover!!!!

I am very excited to share this early book cover for my debut short story collection (coming May of 2011). There might be some slight changes in the months to come. I imagine at some point we'll be adding a hologram of me wrestling a minotaur. But as far as I'm concerned it's already pretty great.

Okay Internet, Lock Up Your Internet Daughters

Brent Van Horne, the best short story writer/copywriter/content strategist you've ever read about in a blog post, has just launched his new site. So if you want to take a break from downloading illegal music and Super Nintendo emulators, I strongly suggest you click here. Or here. But whatever you do, don't click here.

You should also check out all the great headers that BVH has designed for this humble blog here.

Guest Post On Paper Whistle

I have a post up on Brandi Strickland's blog. Make sure to check it out! That is all.

Somebody should invent the short story trailer. Oh wait, I totally just invented the short story trailer.

Book trailers are pretty big right now, but do you know what's going to be even pretty bigger? You guessed it: trailers for individual short stories written by people who don't have books yet.

Check out this one that I just put together for my upcoming McSweeney's story:



On a scale from 1 to 10 (10 being I take this video seriously and 1 being I am actually aware of how ridiculous it is), this trailer comes in at about a 6.

Brent Van Horne in The Madison Review

From the above photograph, it's safe to assume one of two things: 1.) Seth has kidnapped himself and is attempting to prove to the authorities that he was still alive as recently as Spring of 2009 - or - 2.) He finally got his copy of The Madison Review's latest issue, which features a fantastic story by Brent Van Horne.

Van Horne is pretty talented and has publications popping up all over the place (you can find his work in Fugue, New Orleans Review, and Sou'Wester). Van Horne and I have gotten into the habit of riffing on each other's work. We've also been kicking around the idea of writing a collaborative story. It's too early to tell if that's something we'll actually do - but, if such a story does get written, it's probably going to be the literary equivalent of this.

In addition to being a kick ass story writer, Brent is also responsible for making this blog look nice, a responsibility that he has taken on for no discernible reason as there's absolutely no way I could ever pay him. Plus one time I accidentally dumped a whole beer onto his carpet, which was pretty much brand new (the carpet, that is ... though the beer was new too).

Emerging! Writers! Network! Post! About one of my stories!: Grabby Subtitle

Michael Czyzniejewski just wrote a ridiculously nice post about one of my stories for the Emerging Writers Network. You can check out the post here. This means a lot to me, and not just because my entire personality is basically a bottomless pit of attention-seeking behavior - but because I admire Mike's work a lot.

If you haven't checked out his book, it's fantastic. You should also check out this new anthology he's in, which also features Aimee Bender, Stuart Dybek, Michael Martone, Benjamin Percy, and pretty much all the people whose stories you want to rub all over your face.

Anyway, I've worked under Mike both as a student and as an assistant editor at Mid-American Review. In the process, he has taught me an insane amount about writing stories. Not just about craft stuff, but about how stories should fit into your life, and what you should be willing to risk if you want to write them well. In short, he's one of the good guys.

Also, a quick note about the Emerging Writers Network: this site is a lot of fun and is a great way to find out about writing you might not hear about otherwise. If you poke around, I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised.

By the way

Have you looked at the top of this blog lately? If not, take a gander. Isn't it amazing? Isn't it more than amazing? In terms of over all aesthetic, this new header makes the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel look like a brochure for satellite television.

Of course, I can't take any credit for it. It was put together by Brent Van Horne, who's a stand-up guy. Also, Van Horne has a story in the most recent issue of The Madison Review, which I will write a proper post about once I get my grubby little hands on a copy - but the story is bound to be fantastic.

That's all for now. Keep your eyes peeled.

Brent Van Horne in New Orleans Review

There's an awesome new story by Brent Van Horne in the most recent issue (34.2) of New Orleans Review.

The story is called Ascending the Mountain, and is pretty much the reason I wrote Loeka Discovered. You can order the issue with Brent's story here. And you can grab the TMR story it inspired here.

The stories have little to do with each other, but (and this is a personal guarantee) both prominently feature mountains.