"Chinatown" Now Live at Luna Luna Magazine

I'm really thrilled for my first publication of 2015. It's a short story called "Chinatown," published by the fine people at Luna Luna Magazine.

The piece is set in Chicago's Chinatown neighborhood and explores cultural awareness, loneliness, and fear. I wrote a first draft about three years ago. I submitted it to a literary magazine, and while it was declined, I received my very first personalized rejection letter. After including it in my MFA applications, I sat on it, dusted it off some more, and it received a lovely response from Amanda Miska, who's now the Editor-In-Chief of Split Lip Magazine. Amanda is a wonderful friend and editor, and I'm grateful she gave this work a home. It's one of my personal favorites, and I hope you'll give it a read.

Here's the link.

2014 Readings, 2015 Goals

Happy New Year!

As I've done the last two years, I'm recapping the books I read in the last calendar year, and sharing some goals for this next year. Last January, my goals were:

"... in 2014, I want to read 65-70 books. I'm currently halfway through Ben Tanzer's Orphans (a science fiction novel, something I didn't touch upon last year, depending on one's definition) and I'm starting NoViolet Bulawayo's We Need New Names, which starts me off on an ongoing goal to read more minority and women writers. So yeah, I'm pleased. My focus is more on writing, but reading is essential to that balance."

I'm pleased to note that I went above that estimate and finished with 81 titles. Throughout the year, I thought I was reading more women writers than men, but after reviewing my list, the total wasn't as high as I hoped. So for 2015, I want my final tally to be 75-80% women writers, and with more minority and GLBT voices as well (any recommendations? I'd love to hear them). I'm not going to make a number prediction. I was happy to break 80 titles, and if I stay within the 70-80 range, I'll be happy. As I always say: quality beats quantity. With that in mind, I'm not ranking these titles under any "great/good/mediocre" categories, but merely writing out the reading list chronologically.

I'm writing my own novel this year, so any reading I do will be done with an eye for narrative voice, syntax, and spacing as I attempt to make sense of my own project. So, without further ado, here are the books I knocked out in 2014:

1.) Orphans by Ben Tanzer

2.) We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

3.) The Isle of Youth by Laura van den Berg

4.) Leaving the Sea by Ben Marcus

5.) Remainder by Tom McCarthy

6.) Praying Drunk by Kyle Minor

7.) Blood and Soap by Linh Dinh

8.) The Body Artist by Don DeLillo

9.) Samedi the Deafness by Jesse Ball

10.) Annie John by Jamaica Kincaid

11.) Threats by Amelia Gray

12.) AM/PM by Amelia Gray (re-read)

13.) The Art of Time in Memoir: Then, Again by Sven Birkerts

14.) Bluets by Maggie Nelson

15.) Fugue State by Brian Evenson

16.) One Hundred Apocalypses and Other Apocalypses by Lucy Corin

17.) Steps by Jerzy Kosinski

18.) Street of Crocodiles by Bruno Schulz

19.) China Cowboy by Kim Gek Lin Short

20.) Embassytown by China Mieville

21.) Lost in Space by Ben Tanzer

22.) The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin

23.) The Fun We've Had by Michael J. Seidlinger

24.) The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

25.) Dept. of Speculation by Jenny Offill

26.) You Only Get Letters From Jail by Jodi Angel

27.) The Lover by Marguerite Duras

28.) The Weirdness by Jeremy P. Bushnell

29.) Up Up and Away by Jonah Keri

30.) The Situation and the Story by Vivian Gornick

31.) Every Kiss a War by Leesa Cross-Smith

32.) Big Bad Asterisk* by Carlo Matos

33.) The Last Days of California by Mary Miller

34.) Horse, Flower, Bird by Kate Bernheimer

35.) Every Day is For the Thief by Teju Cole

36.) Sky Girl by Rosemary Griggs

37.) The Karaoke Singer's Guide to Self-Defense by Tim Kinsella

38.) Motorman by David Ohle

39.) The Orange Eats Creeps by Grace Krilanovich

40.) The Holy Ghost People by Joshua Young

41.) Angry White Men by Michael Kimmel

42.) The Great Frustration by Seth Fried

43.) Fast Machine by Elizabeth Ellen

44.) Backswing by Aaron Burch

45.) You Feel So Mortal by Peggy Shinner

46.) The Crystal Eaters by Shane Jones

47.) The New Black, various writers, edited by Richard Thomas

48.) Neverhome by Laird Hunt

49.) Alone in America by Robert Ferguson

50.) Cutting Teeth by Julia Fierro

51.) Notable American Women by Ben Marcus

52.) If I Would Leave Myself Behind by Lauren Becker

53.) Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins

54.) Commercial Fiction by Dave Housley

55.) Austerlitz by W.G. Sebald

56.) Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (re-read)

57.) Princesse de Cleves by Madame de Lafayette

58.) Frankenstein by Mary Shelley (re-read)

59.) Democracy by Joan Didion

60.) Moll Flanders by Daniel Defoe

61.) The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler

62.) Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift (re-read)

63.) Why Did I Ever by Mary Robison

64.) Candide by Voltaire

65.) The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

66.) A Sentimental Journey by Laurence Sterne

67.) Sprawl by Danielle Dutton

68.) Tom Jones by Henry Fielding

69.) The Poor Man's Guide to an Affordable, Painless Suicide by Schuler Benson

70.) Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay

71.) Distant Star by Roberto Bolano

72.) Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

73.) Women by Chloe Caldwell

74.) Excavation by Wendy C. Ortiz

75.) Binary Star by Sarah Gerard

76.) Forest of Fortune by Jim Ruland

77.) Once I Was Cool by Megan Stielstra

78.) A Different Bed Every Time by Jac Jemc

79.) Fat Man and Little Boy by Mike Meginnis

80.) Ugly Girls by Lindsay Hunter

81.) Kill Manual by Cassandra Troyan

Some brief notes on these readings:

--I smiled when I typed this out and wrote the names Ben Tanzer, Megan Stielstra, and Leesa-Cross Smith. Back in July, I had the amazing honor of reading with these amazing people (including Paul Luikart and Steve Karas) in support of Leesa's debut story collection (the aforementioned Every Kiss a War). Frankly, I need to get more confident about reading my work in public. I'm really new to that part of the game, and I'm still honored that I was invited to share the stage with these lovely, talented people. I'll never forget that evening.

--I can't pick a favorite book, but one that stuck with me a lot was Binary Star, which is being published this month. Sarah Gerard writes with amazing details, forms, and emotions, and I was fascinated, repelled, and captivated by the relationship in her book. Read it when you get a chance. Yes, you.

--As I write my own novel, I'm constantly struggling with spacing, details, and how the narrative voice should take shape. I'm grateful for Jim Ruland's Forest of Fortune and Lindsay Hunter's Ugly Girls. These novels have very distinct narrative voices, and the pacing and layouts gave me ideas on how to go about my own story. This project is a challenge, but I'm happy that I can read books with an eye for narrative. For this, I also thank my professor Kyle Beachy and his "Finding Voices" workshop this fall.

--A final shout-out to Megan Stielstra. Once I Was Cool was such a wonderful collection, and I almost cried on the train when I read the essay "This is Scary and Here I Go:"

It was in that quad, on my way to my very first class, that the panic kicked in: What am I doing here? How did I get here? Am I a total fraud?

I've grown so much as a writer over these last couple years, yet, when I'm struggling with a piece of writing, or I get another form rejection letter, I sometimes wonder if I'm a fraud and will have the rug pulled out from under me. But I realize that some of my favorite writers struggle with this all the time. When I finished this book, I tweeted that it made me feel less alone. And for this, I'll always be grateful for having read it. Thank you, Megan. I needed that.

Have a productive 2015, everyone. Thank you to the writers on this long list. I'm glad I spent time with you.

Longform Changes

Today is the last day of Longform Fiction. Back in 2011, during a stint of unemployment, my former professor/current friend-confidante Jeremy P. Bushnell asked me to join him in a new venture. He launched a small website/social media feed called Instafiction, modeled after Longform and Longreads, but devoted to fiction, since there didn't appear to be a site of that nature.

Our following was small, but received attention from Max Linsky and Aaron Lammer, the founders of Longform, and after some talks, Jeremy and I agreed to be the first fiction editors for their site. It's been two years, and we felt it was time to step away. Jeremy had his first novel published earlier this year, and he's in the process of working on a new book. I'm officially starting my thesis hours (!) in the spring semester, which is a fancy, technical way of saying: I'm writing a novel as well. The time devoted to curating daily fiction is too much to handle, since I'll need to devote as much free time as possible to writing and editing, in addition to my class and graduate assistant requirements. Even though Longform Fiction is going away, I didn't want to leave Longform entirely.

Therefore, starting in January, I'm starting a new role as a contributing editor to the site. My focus will be the same, but not as time-consuming. I'll still have to do lots of reading, but I do that anyway; as someone in the literary community, I feel it's my obligation to read, support, and engage with other artists, regardless of whether it's for a website or for my own learning.

I'm grateful that Max and Aaron are excited to keep me on. And at the risk of sounding sappy, I simply cannot thank Jeremy enough. He's been one of the biggest influences in my growth as a writer and reader. He read my embarrassing, awful first attempts at fiction when I was 18, has always been ready with a quick text message of support if I'm ever down about something, and I hope he and I can work together in the future on a similar project. So thanks, Jeremy. For everything.

The countless hours I've spent reading for Instafiction and Longform have put me in touch with some amazing artists and journals, many of whom I'm honored to call friends, even if we only know each other through social media. Every part of these projects has been essential in my growth as a writer and a reader, and I wouldn't be in an MFA program if this engagement with great, contemporary artists hadn't happened.

Here's to a great 2015 for everyone. I can't wait to see new work appear in the world. Onward.

My Writing Process Blog Tour

My Writing Process Blog Tour

I can't thank Beth Gilstrap enough for sending this invitation my way. She's an extremely talented writer ("A Girl and a Civil War Dress" is so moving and beautifully written/spaced), and her Twitter feed has pointed me to other great writers and literary organizations. She's working on a book, and I can't wait until it's ready to be put out into the world.

What Are You Working On?

Right now, as in this week, I'm editing an old story that I've had in my files for over a year. It's a weird little story about a second (and last) date and a partner's confession to a strange fetish. In the long run, I'm working on a novel for my Master's thesis. It's still in the planning stages (He's thinking about writing a novel? Roll your eyes...now!). It's a dark family drama about fractured identities with a father's evolving obsession with various forms of reality TV and social media outlets. Once that's done, I plan to turn my attention to a short story collection. It wasn't until recently that I noticed slight common threads in some of my published fiction, and reflecting on the latest collections by Leesa Cross-Smith (Every Kiss a War) and Aaron Burch (Backswing), I'm eager to see if I can eventually produce a collection that, upon reading, has a collective meaning. That might sound like a stretch, but really, my favorite story collections leave me with a feeling that is a sum of the individual stories, even if the stories aren't explicitly related.

How Does Your Work Differ From Others of Its Genre?

Right now, that's a complicated question. With maybe one or two exceptions, I don't write fiction that adheres to a genre (I refer to genre as most would assume--sci-fi, mystery, etc.). Then again, while literary fiction is a genre, it's far too vague for me. And some of my latest pieces are experimental, for lack of a better word. I don't think my fiction is unique in the sense of doing things that nobody else is doing. I've had a long, seething hatred for the advice "write what you know." I've always worried it could limit writers, especially young or beginning ones, from taking a larger worldview into account. I have projects that try to take points of view into account that I wouldn't know firsthand. Writing from the point of view of a gay person, a woman, or someone of a different cultural background than myself is risky, but sometimes I try to imagine myself in those shoes and what it's like. Of course, a female writer is going to have more to say about her experience than me imagining a woman's point of view. But I like it, because instead of assuming that I have all the answers, thinking in different ways allows me to consider multiple avenues for my work. Getting back to "write what you know," I've now taken that in my own way. I've gone through my experiences in life, some of them painful, and tried to write work that uses these experiences as a foundation. Therefore, nothing is so much "veiled autobiography" as it is taking a singular moment or thought and seeing the unexpected places it can do within fiction. None of this is edgy or unique, but for the sake of this question, this is how my process works. Sometimes, that is.

Why Do You Write What You Do?

During my English major undergrad years (I graduated in 2006), I was in love with the idea of being a writer. I loved the idea of seeing my name in print, I loved drinking multiple cups of coffee in cafes with a notebook at hand. I cranked out tons of 2-3 page stories with no idea about editing or craft. I thought the mere act of creation was enough. It was because of those early years that I still have trouble calling myself a writer, and I sometimes become uncomfortable if someone introduces me as a writer. Sometimes, I feel like an impostor, like I'm not an artist working on his craft, but still that weird 22 year-old who wanted to be a writer without having to put in the serious work, hours, and editing that goes along with it.

I was absolutely slaughtered in undergraduate workshops. During my first workshop, my professor (Rone Shavers, to whom I'll always be grateful) held up my piece and said "Don't ever hand in any shit like this again." For a lot of people, this would be the end. But I kept trying. After I graduated, I partied a lot, worked a dead-end job at Borders, and still clung to the designation of "writer." My life was slowly crumbling in 2008, and I moved to Seattle to live with my brother. I was unemployed for six months, and I started reading much more. This renewed focus on books then turned into a renewed focus on my own writing. That's where this blog came about: I wanted it to be a travelogue about Seattle, but right away, it turned into a blog for literary essays and book reviews. Another professor, Jeremy P. Bushnell, started a daily fiction archive called Instafiction, and he invited me to join as a co-editor to help him post daily links for stories from around the web (this then led to our positions as Fiction Editors for Longform.org). With this position, I had to read daily. Jeremy introduced me to some staggeringly good fiction. I'll never forget reading Matt Bell's "His Last Great Gift," a long story about history, religion, and mysterious creations. It was this story that really hit home and showed me what writing could do. So while I still seek out publications and I'm excited to see my own fiction published, I started writing what I do not for the sake of writing, but because art and writing can really change people. Good writing can make someone laugh, cry, or see things differently. That sounds like a terrible cliche, but it's true. "His Last Great Gift" was such a great work of art to encounter, and following Matt's Twitter feed led me to The Collagist and other writers/organizations producing amazing work that I was unaware of at the time.

How Does Your Writing Process Work?

Coffee and cigarettes. But seriously, it varies. I sometimes work in my apartment, I sometimes work in coffee shops, and I sometimes work in campus offices. Once I have an idea, it sometimes takes me a little while to get it going. I'm still my own worst critic, so sometimes I'll write two pages and get bored or abandon it because I don't think it has merit. A lot of my fiction ends up being very different than what I originally intended. I don't have any magic formula for my process, and really, it's boring. I sit with a computer, or a notebook, and a cup of coffee. I have a baseball and glove in the office, and sometimes tossing the ball up to the ceiling and catching it for fifteen minutes puts me in some weird Zen place that allows me to overcome some blocks. My girlfriend and I have two cats who keep me company.

I do a lot of my own editing, but I'm very grateful to people who read my work in its first draft stages. My girlfriend Patti isn't afraid to tell me if something isn't working in one of my drafts. She's a poet, but her eye for fiction is vastly superior to my eye for poetic forms. That goes for my MFA classmates as well. We're all very encouraging of each other, but we all have thick skin and can take critiques, because we all know that nothing is said out of negativity, but for the ultimate goal of helping each other become better artists.

Thank you for reading! I've nominated the following people to post their Writing Process Tours on August 29, 2014:

CLAIRE LOMBARDO (@ClaireLombardo) is a fiction writer from the Chicago area. She has a story forthcoming in an anthology from Fiction Attic Press ​and was recently named a finalist in ​the Cupboard Pamphlet's short fiction contest. ​She​ is currently at work on her first novel. More information and writing samples can be found at www.clairelombardo.com.

PAUL LUIKART (@PaulLuikart) Bio coming soon

BRENT RYDIN (@brntrydn) lives and works in Boston. He is the founding editor of Wyvern Lit, and has pieces published or forthcoming in Pithead Chapel, The Island Review, Cartridge Lit, WhiskeyPaper, and CHEAP POP. He has a website at brntrydn.com.

"Artists in Residence" in Pithead Chapel

Hiya.

I had a new short story published in the July issue of Pithead Chapel, a lovely online magazine/press based in Michigan.

"Artists in Residence" is a story that I've struggled with for years. Its origins are embarrassing, with some details I'd rather not explore here (but I'll gladly share over a beer). It took several drafts, several wrong turns, and one big workshop push to get it to a state that I liked. I'm really proud of my work on this story, and I hope you'll check it out. It's also an honor to be featured with some great writers: Katherine Gehan, Erin Pienaar, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Kevin O'Rourke, and Rob Alexander.

Here's a paragraph from the story. Click here for the whole piece.

"Andy had full reign of the courtyard in front of his apartment, thanks to a landlord who enjoyed his installations and fancied himself a supporter of the arts. As long as he did it while the rest of the tenants were at work, he had freedom to chop wood and weld scrap metal to fasten together collages in his rotating outside gallery. Melanie sat on the front steps, jotting notes in her case book while Andy, shirtless, swung sledgehammers and caulked vases to broken down end tables he’d found in alleys and dumpsters. Whenever someone walked by, he’d stop momentarily mid swing to let them admire his clenched back before heaving and breaking down a pipe or a piece of plywood. The landlord sipped his coffee and peeked through the blinds."

As always, support literary magazines (print/online/both). Seriously. In fact, I'm taking a few weeks off from reading books to catch up on my pile of journal back issues. I may do some reporting about what I unearth, since the back issues date from 2009-2013/14. I'm sure I'll discover some little treasures. I can't wait.

July 29th Reading at City Lit Books!

I'm trying my hardest not to annoy the shit out of people on Facebook and Twitter with this, but I'm so very excited. I'll be reading this July with a lineup of some of my favorite writers; how the hell I was invited is beyond me. Anyway, mark your calendars, come out, and listen to some words by me, Leesa Cross-Smith, Paul Luikart, Ben Tanzer, Megan Stielstra, and Steve Karas.

I haven't the faintest idea what I'll be reading. I'll have about ten minutes, and I'm torn between a longer work or a collection of smaller pieces. I still have time to decide, but I don't want to wait until the day before, for obvious reasons.

All of this will be in support of Leesa Cross-Smith's Every Kiss a War, her recent story collection from Mojave River Press. You can order it here, and you should. I finished it about a month ago, and it's such a great collection of fiction. There is great prose galore, and the stories are sexy, moving, and honest. I can't wait to see Leesa perform, and I'm eternally grateful for her asking me to join her in her Chicago debut. I'm sure there will be many hugs and Instagram selfies.

But seriously: buy the book. It's received praise from Roxane Gay and Kathy Fish. What else do you need to know?

Leesa designed the bear poster, which should contain all the relevant information. I'll post links or updates if they become available.

"Renter"

My best friend Edward Williams wrote and directed a short film about a writer, a misleading landlord, and a diabolical demon. He plays the landlord and demon; I play the writer. It's a horror/comedy. You should watch it.

Renter from William Eddy on Vimeo.

My "film debut." Not quitting my day job anytime soon. This was so much fun to make, and I hope my bald spot isn't too blinding.