Oh ...

I just googled the phrase "short story trailer." I guess I didn't invent it. To be honest, I'm kind of relieved.

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.

The Better of McSweeney's, Volume 2

Just found out that a story of mine is going to be included in The Better of McSweeney's, Volume 2. I'm pretty happy about this, because a.) it's an honor and b.) it means that my first published story, Lie Down and Die, will be making a triumphant return to print.

"[...] like a lump, like a clot, like a blockage: the sensation that you are here but could not be here, in a world that could not be but is."

Currently reading Mr. Palomar by Italo Calvino. Fun fact about what a spotty reader I am: I consider myself to be a huge Italo Calvino fan, and yet had never heard of this book until a copy of it was mailed to me by a concerned friend.

Adding to my readerly shame is the fact that this book rules. Anyway, without wanting to get into a whole thing here, I guess what I'm saying is that you should probably check it out.

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).