Leigh Anne Couch at 21c

My wife, Leigh Anne Couch, will be reading on Monday in Louisville as part of the 21c Monthly Poetry Series with Sarabande Books.  She's going to be reading with Young Smith at the 21c Musuem at 7:30 pm.

Here is one of Leigh Anne's poems, "I am not a man; I am dynamite" which was included in the 2008 Best of the Web anthology.  She is the author of Houses Fly Away, which was the co-winner of the Zone 3 Press First Book Award, and a chapbook, Green and Helpless, from Finishing Line Press.  She is awesome.

Dislocate

I've got a story in the new issue of Dislocate.  It's about a man who finds himself slowly being rendered a non-entity by his wife.  He has a strange job.  The end is kind of sad but kind of hopeful.  This is, I think, something I like to do.

I came to find and admire this journal because their third issue had a cover that was done by Carson Ellis and I bought it for that reason alone.  Carson Ellis is the wife of Colin Meloy, the lead singer of The Decemberists.  She is an amazing artist.  One of my best friends got me a print for my birthday of the picture here, "Faster, Maria!"  Oh, I love that picture.  My friend, who knows Carson, also gave me a birth announcement for Carson and Colin's child that Carson had made, a beautiful drawing, and I framed it.  Is that creepy?  Yes, Kevin, a little.  We took it down when we had Griff because we didn't want him to think that the Meloy-Ellis baby was more important than him.  He's kind of weird about that stuff.

This issue of Dislocate also has a story by Adam Peterson, a writer that I have recently discovered and come to like very, very much.  His story in this issue is so damn good.  It made me want to cry and then, by the end, had done something kind of magical and made me so happy that I wanted to hug everyone I know.

Recommended Reading

Ravi Mangla, a writer who publishes a ton and, even more jealousy-inducing, makes every story really awesome, has started a new blog called Recommended Reading, which will build up a database of recommended reading lists.  It's a great idea and a lot of fun.  

I have the first entry, a list of incredible stories that feature historical figures.  I cheated a little on one of the stories because the Harlan Ellison story only has Christopher Columbus in a small portion of the story but it's so bizarre and wonderful that I had to include it.  Plus, his name is in the title so I figured it was okay.  There's also an interview with questions about stories and books that I like.

Thanks, Ravi, for including me in this project.

The Moon's Face, Darkened

I have a new story up at BULL: Men's Fiction.  It also has work by J.A. Tyler, Jimmy Chen, and Ben Nardolilli.  If you are a fan of J.A. Tyler, and I am, then you will discover a lot of really awesome journals that you didn't know about by following his work.  That's how I found BULL.  

Joyland

I have a new story, "Skin" up at Joyland, a hub for short fiction.  They also have work by Amanda Stern and Joe Meno and Lydia Millet.

Maud Newton

Maud Newton, an awesome writer and famous book blogger, has just put up an essay I wrote about David Bowman, a novelist that I like and wish more people liked (or at least knew about).  Thanks, Maud, for letting me be on your site.