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My short story "Some Come Running Through" appears in the next issue of Versal, due out in a few weeks. If you pre-order, you'll get free shipping! So I hope my stalkers and collectors will get their orders in now.

Another Philly Fiction 2 event: I'll be returning to the Writers House (yay!) on January 25th for a reading with some other PF2 contributors. The event begins at 7 pm, and is a part of the Writers House Live series. Thus, it will be recorded for WXPN. Thus, the 7 pm is a fairly set start time, and the doors are closed for sound quality. In other words: if you want to come, get there on time, or you may be left out. And we wouldn't that.

You can read more about the program here. Hope to see you that evening.

I've been meaning to post this: Remember Tapeworm? The entire project is now available on the web, thanks to curator Kaegan Sparks. Check it out here.

My favorite assignment this semester? Watching The Big Lebowski for my detective fiction class. Naturally, I've had this song in my head all day, including an hour-long loop while writing earlier.

I usually only look at my blog stats to see what hilarious Google searches bring people here, so I have no idea what my (very small) readership is like. On the off-chance that I have any Rhode Island readers out there, however, I wanted to note that my piece "Short Story Outline" is being printed in the forthcoming issue of Interrobang‽ Magazine. There will be a celebratory unveiling at Ada Books (117 Westminster Street) in Providence on December 3rd at 8 pm.

I will not be in attendance, sadly, but they may be reading an excerpt from my piece. If the story title sounds familiar, it's because I've blogged about it before.

If I do somehow have a Providence audience, let me know. Because that would be weird.

Hello faithful readers:

Apologies for the large gap in posting. I'm busy being a grad student, a husband and a cat father, which takes up a surprising amount of time. I'm busy writing, just not the kind of writing that would be posted here. My camera use has plummeted, which I didn't anticipate moving to a new city and all. I expect to go on a few self-guided walking tours once the semester wraps up, so Test Specimens is coming back. Just not today.

Anyways, I'm here for a little promotion (of course!). I'll be joining some of the Philly Fiction 2 contributors on November 14th for a reading at Double Shots Espresso Bar. The coffee shop is located at 211 Chestnut Street. The reading begins at 3 pm.

I'll be reading a portion of my contribution to the book, titled "Baby blue." It involves the Phillies, so I hope I won't be all sad about it come the 14th.

Go below the jump for some more info on the book, including info on where you can buy it online or in Philadelphia-area stores.

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My short piece "Emoticon Dickinson" has been picked up by the online journal The Foghorn. You can read it here.

Hey folks, I just had a great idea. Why don't you go and buy Barn Burned, Then, a new book of poetry from my good pal Michelle Taransky.

You may remember her video that I previously posted, or the great poem she wrote in honor of my departure from the Kelly Writers House.

She's an insanely devout fan of Charles Barkley, so you know she's good people. Now go buy the book.

Below is the poem "Damn," written by Writers House Poet Laureate Michelle Taransky on the occasion of my firing from the Writers House. It is a lipogram that doesn't use the letters in "Kelly Writers House" -- Michelle's attempt to restrain herself like I will be restrained in my post-Writers House life.

Damn
fax a nag and fax a mad fax,
a man and a bad pang
ma bang pa, and pa bang ma
and an ax, and ax an adze
nab a man, jab a fan, pad a cab
and gab a fang bag, ban a bad band, ban a damp damp pang

It's even better when she's reading it. I'll link that audio when it's available. I've already challenged her to have this published, so I can ride the coattails of her success.

I'm going to be reading twice this weekend. They will both be so brief that I'm not writing this to say you should come and see me; but they're both cool events, and I hope to see you there if either intrigues you.

On Friday (tomorrow!), I'll be participating in the Writers House's marathon reading of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five. It's a great book, and should be a great read. Last year, we read Lolita straight through, and the year before that we tackled On the Road. The reading starts at 3 pm. There may even be some open slots when you arrive, so you can not only take in the book and devour book-appropriate snacks, you may also be able to read for a few minutes!

On Sunday, I'll be at Robin's Bookstore for the 13th Annual Poetry Ink event. I'll be one of more than one hundred poets reading their work for 3 minutes or less. The event begins at 1 pm. The readers are scheduled alphabetically, so I should be reading my poem between 1:30 and 2:30 pm, depending on the timing of others.

Yes, it's a weekend of lengthy marathon readings. Hope to see you there.