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News and Events / September 25, 2012

Fall for the Book Starts This Week!

This week starts the annual Fall for the Book festival at George Mason University. Since my husband is the marketing director, I also am a Fall for the Book widow this week. Thankfully, my lovely mom is here to help out with Dash.

So, if you’re in the D.C. area, you should take a look at the web site and come to some of the events. I’ll be reading on Friday at 1:30 p.m. as part of the Washington Area Women Writers panel. Here are some of the other readings/panels I’m looking forward to:

Wednesday, Sept. 26

7:30 PM – 9:00 PM
Shirlington Branch Library 4200 Campbell Avenue, Arlington, VA
Kenn Budd, author of The Voluntourist: A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem, reads from his book where he embarks on a quest to help others—from post-Katrina New Orleans to a special needs school in China, from climate change research in Ecuador to projects in Kenya, Costa Rica, and the West Bank.

Thursday, Sept. 27

10:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Sandy Spring Bank Tent George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA

Novelist Clifford Garstang and Short Story Writer Edward Belfar

3 p.m.

Mason Concert Hall

Three decades after the publication of The Color Purple, Alice Walker reflects on the novel’s lasting legacy and discusses her other writings and her social and political activism.

Friday, Sept. 28

5:30pm-7:00pm

Grand Tier III, Center for the Arts George Mason University, 4400 University Drive, Fairfax, VA

Neil Gaiman — whose works range from the cult DC Comics series Sandman to books including Coraline, Anansi Boys, and American Gods (Au Diable Vauvert) — accepts the 2012 Mason Award, presented to an author for making extraordinary contributions toward connecting literature with a wide reading public.

Saturday, Sept. 29

6 to 7:30 p.m.

Sherwood Center, Performance Hall B 3740 Old Lee Highway, Fairfax, VA 22030

Bestselling, award-winning mystery writer Laura Lippman debuts her latest novel, And When She Was Good, about a lobbyist and soccer mom who has a secret life in the world of high-price prostitution. Sponsored by the Fairfax Library Foundation.

Sunday, Sept. 30

6:30pm-8:00pm

Concert Hall, Center for the Arts George Mason University
Novelist Michael Chabon — whose works include the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, The Yiddish Policeman’s Union, and most recently, Telegraph Avenue — accepts the 2012 Fairfax Prize for literary achievement.

Uncategorized / July 9, 2012

Ahhhh!! I have a book coming out!!!

I’m very very excited to announce that my short story collection, Modern Manners for Your Inner Demons, will be published by Matter Press in October.

I think this is the perfect place for this book. Randall Brown, founder of Matter Press, has been a huge supporter of my writing for many years now. I first met him when I was the writer-in-residence at SmokeLong, and his comments and critiques of my stories were always so spot-on and thoughtful. I am continually amazed at the excellent work he publishes at the Journal of Compressed Creative Arts as well. I am honored that he wants to publish my first collection of stories, and so excited for the outcome.

The collection is a series of 10 etiquette stories, which you can read more about here. I want to thank Art Taylor, Brandon Wicks, Steve Himmer, Laura Ellen Scott, Ellen Parker, Mike Czyzniejewski, Matt Bell, Joe Killiany and Dave Housley for all their early support and/or for publishing some of these stories.

Yee Haw! I’ll update with more details as I get them.

Uncategorized / June 25, 2012

Issue 36 of SmokeLong Quarterly is live!

Issue 36 of SmokeLong Quarterly went up late last night. It’s a great issue this time, with work by Mary Hamilton and Pamela Painter and Sam Martone and Christopher Allen and a ton of other folks.

The cover art is by Tuyen Tran, a fantastic artist from New York.

Don’t forget to read the author interviews (link at the end of every story.) They are often my favorite part of every issue because they give me insight into what makes our writers tick and what the heck they were thinking when they wrote their amazing stories.

Read Issue 36 now!

Publication News / April 9, 2012

My Etiquette Collection is DONE–Now It Just Needs a Publisher…

I finally finished my manuscript of ‘etiquette’ stories. Tentative title: MODERN MANNERS FOR YOUR INNER DEMONS. I have ten of these babies now, and Matt Bell was kind enough to just publish “The Etiquette of Arson“ in The Collagist. You can check out some others here: “The Etiquette of Infertility” in FRiGG, “The Etiquette of Adultery” in Necessary Fiction and “The Etiquette of Homicide” (annotated!) in Barrelhouse.

I’m currently looking for a publisher for the collection. It’s a strange little book–on the larger side for a chapbook, but not quite long enough for a full-length short story collection. If anyone out there has any ideas or interest, please please let me know!

Awards / August 30, 2011

Press 53 Open Awards Anthology

My story “Dendrochronology,” which originally appeared in The Northville Review, won second place in Press 53’s 2011 Open Awards Series and will appear in the Open Awards anthology in October 2011.

My story “The Etiquette of Dementia,” originally published in The Mid-American Review, was a finalist in the short-short story category.

Thanks to Kevin Watson and all the folks at Press 53. Looking forward to the awards ceremony on October 22!

Publication News / August 9, 2011

Contributing to Stripped anthology

The lovely Nicole Monaghan has accepted a story of mine for her enticing anthology, Stripped: A Collection of Anonymous Flash Fiction. The anthology will have the authors’ names and bios, but they won’t be matched up to the stories in the collection. So, yeah, I can’t tell you which story of mine was accepted. For more on the anthology and the thoughts behind it, visit Nicole’s blog.

Uncategorized / February 12, 2011

SCORE POTS & SMOKE Reading a Success!

SmokeLong Quarterly’s off-site reading with Corium and Prick of the Spindle during the Association for Writers and Writing Programs’ annual conference, held this year in D.C., was a smashing success. Nine brilliant readers gave us their best at The Black Squirrel in Adams Morgan in D.C. on February 4, 2011. You can check out the Facebook photo album for shots of the fun. SmokeLong’s readers — Michael Czyzniejewski, Randall Brown and Steve Almond — really rocked the house.

Steve Almond reads for SmokeLong.
Uncategorized / February 9, 2011

Reading at 5ive:ten Readings Feb. 19

Thanks to Jen Michalski, who asked me to read at Baltimore’s 5ive:ten Readings this month. I’ll be reading with Jessica Anya Blau, Nik Korpon and Pat King, all who have way more impressive bios than I do. Here’s more information about the series.