Cienfuegos by Chris Deal
Posted on March 25, 2010 2 Comments
Fiction
One of the most talented emerging authors I know is Chris Deal. He and I have published together many times, and I’ve also published his work, as well. This collection of short fiction is really fantastic. I was lucky enough to run a fun little contest over at The Velvet, where we had a 100 word short story contest. Just something I thought might be interesting. Mr. Deal really came out of his shell and created some fantastic imagery, eventually winning. Cienfuegos is the result of that inspiring competition, and I’m happy that I could be a part of his process.
Here is the official blurb I sent him:
In Cienfugeos, Chris Deal writes about solitude, loss, and the cold certainty of death, a chill running over you as the stories unfold, and then, he drops you into a furnace of hate and mysticism, the short, fractured stories abruptly over with nothing left but an echo. These are all in the same world, in different worlds, in the mirrored reflection of places that seem familiar, and yet, are not at all what you thought you knew, unexpected and piercing. You could call this a collection of flash fiction, and that would be correct if you meant blinding white light, a crack of violent thunder, and the distant shrieks of babies crying, mothers unsettled and father frowning, arms crossed in defiance. These are moments in time, a snatch of conversation, the last visions of dented souls bound for other places. His work is visceral, haunting and always steeped in history, ancient tales made new. This is the tip of the iceberg in so many ways.
So pick it up today, it’s worth every penny. Brown Paper Publishing did a great job getting this out.
Transubstantiate, the debut novel by Richard Thomas – 06-18-2010
Posted on January 22, 2010 9 Comments
RICHARD THOMAS SIGNS WITH OTHERWORLD PUBLICATIONS
IT’S OFFICIAL
My debut novel, a neo-noir thriller called Transubstantiate, will be out in June of this year. I’m really excited that OWP wanted to launch their company on the back of my book. They are a husband and wife team, very smart, connected, and energetic. They love my book and are behind it 100%. It’s a risk I know, new small press, but I’m optimistic and pumped up.
There will be 100 signed/limited hardcovers, as well as a much larger print run of paperbacks. I’ll be talking about this everywhere, so I apologize in advance for the constant whoring of myself and this book all over the internet.
What can you do for me? If you’re here, it means you’ve read my work, most likely, or are here to do that very thing. If you like what I’m doing, do whatever you can – buy a copy, promote it on your blog, Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, book clubs, other forums – whatever you’ve got.
I think this is a really great book. It won’t change the world or cure cancer, but I think it’s a fun book, wild and sexy, fast paced and interesting. You’ll get action, violence, sex, a bit of the surreal, the horrific, the fantastic, and the gritty noir that I’ve loved reading from the trio here.
There is a synopsis and the first chapter over there ——————————–>
under novel excerpts.
Thanks again, and wish me luck.
Peace,
Richard
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT: http://www.otherworldpublications
“Stephen King Ate My Brain” now live at Oprah Read This
Posted on January 1, 2010 4 Comments
"Stephen King Ate My Brain"
So some friends of mine, Caleb J. Ross and Nathan Tyree has this idea to do a collection of stories with an author’s name in the title. Mine is about Stephen King. I hope you enjoy it.
Peace,
Richard
“Condemned” is now live at Cherry Bleeds
Posted on December 31, 2009 Leave a Comment
"Condemned"
I’m in some good company over at Cherry Bleeds. Caleb published a story here last March and Tony DuShane has interviewed some fantastic authors as part of his Drinks with Tony radio show – Miranda July, William T. Vollman, Chuck Palahniuk, Mark Z. Danielewski, etc.
I hope you enjoy the story.
Peace,
Richard
Caleb Ross – Charactered Pieces Tour
Posted on December 22, 2009 5 Comments
What a talented guy. Caleb has been an inspiration to me, and he has opened my eyes to the world of fiction, the landscape of journals and presses. I would not have had any success without talented, giving people like Caleb in my corner. I owe him a lot.
His chapbook, Charactered Pieces, is wonderful. I was lucky enough to see many of these in their rough forms, and watch him edit them and polish them up, and send them out into the world. If our novels are our babies, birthed amidst screaming, held in our arms while covered in blood, loved and honored over time, nurtured into well-adjusted adults that we are proud to call our own, then what are our short stories? If novels are love affairs, then I suppose short stories are stolen kisses. Now I’m not implying that I like to kiss Caleb in dark alleys surrounded by cigar smoke and cheap bourbon, but you could do worse. This is a riveting collection, running the gamut of human emotions, so stop being such a prude and go kiss this stranger in a dark alley, repeatedly, and in the morning, don’t call me to say thanks, just pass the whore around to somebody else. He likes it. Like most writers, he’s a masochist.
Caleb Ross
This is a guest post from Caleb J Ross, author of the chapbook Charactered Pieces: stories, as part of his ridiculously named Blog Orgy Tour. Visit his website for a full list of blog stops. Charactered Pieces: stories is currently available from OW Press (or Amazon.com). Visit him at Caleb J. Ross.
I’ve known Richard for a few years. We go back to the beginnings of Write Club, we’ve played in New York and Chicago and will soon, barring a nuke, venture to Denver. Why? To write. Strange how a person will take up travels just enjoy the isolation of pen to paper. Nothing inspires quite like a change of setting.
Chuck Palahniuk credited the visual bank of character references for his penchant for public writing (“Writing in public gives you that access to a junkyard of details all around you”). I’ll buy this. When blocked, but surrounded by people, it takes only a glance upward to see potential. Palahniuk could name specific passages inspired by passing strangers at an airport. The noise doesn’t bother him. Me, I like the quiet. And not that all setting changes must be mimetic—an influx of stimuli is the key—but for me, mimesis helps. When it rains, my characters feel it. I write in the rain a lot. Thus explains why so many of my characters are depressed-going-on-dead.
I’ve got a dream, a strange dream, to take a van cross-country, pulling to the side of the road when the landscape captivates, throwing open the back doors to write. Each stop would literally be a different view, an entirely new bank to stimulate the pen (NOTE: I love this idea, Caleb). Considering my mimetic tendencies, the resulting novel would likely be a lofty, self-congratulating meditation on the beauty to be found in the natural landscapes of this country. So, I’d hope it rains a lot during my trek. I don’t want to read a beautiful land tribute as much as I don’t want to write one.
Before I go, I offer notes on a specific example of immersion writing from my chapbook. Here is “Author Note on Story #5 (The Camp) In Hopes That You’ll Learn About Me Intellectually and Donate to My Pocket.”
As so many stories begin, “The Camp” was as a self-inflicted dare. The concept of “The Camp” is seeded in a desire to explore the horrid through a lens subjectively aimed toward beauty. I told myself that I should write about the hidden beauty in something ugly. How’s The Holocaust for ugly? But truthfully, The Holocaust could have been any tragedy as far as “The Camp” goes (though I would have had to change the title). I wasn’t looking to explore Nazi sympathy; I was simply after finding the pleasant within the unpleasant.
While most of this story is domestic in content, the few images of the college dorm room were created based on notes I took when visiting a friend’s dorm years before the story was written. I won’t claim that the written scene is so perfectly described that it could only have come from mimetic immersion, but being in the physical setting certainly motivated me during the writing of the story.
Photo Credit:
Stephen Graham Jones interview by Craig Wallwork
Posted on December 5, 2009 3 Comments
Stephen Graham Jones
So Stephen Graham Jones is just a fascinating, immensely talented writer, and not only a great influence on me, but a bit of the ideal future I seek out. He has published seven novels, teaches at the MFA program at CU Boulder, and is one of the most prolific writers I know. I have been lucky enough to get to know Stephen over at The Velvet and met him in person at last year’s AWP here in Chicago. He publishes in literary publications and also writes impressive dark fiction – horror, sf, bizarro, and other genre work. The opening to ALL THE BEAUTIFUL SINNERS haunts me to this day, it is such a powerful novel.
This is a hilarious interview, but also so enlightening. Like Brian Evenson, he is at the forefront of the genre-bending writing that is going on today. Call it what you want – slipstream, new-wave fabulist, etc. – but this movement is powerful and one I’d like to think I’m a part of, or try to be. He will be doing some fantastic panels at the 2010 AWP in Denver, so be sure to check him out.
Craig Wallwork is a fantastic writer as well, and I’ve published him several times. Really, all of the people at this gathering who were previously interviewed by Craig are writers I really enjoy and hope break out in 2010.
I’m still a bit itchy from all that fur, but man, what a good time.
Peace,
Richard
Demographic – More than just shirts
Posted on November 4, 2009 1 Comment
My friend Shane Harrison has this really cool t-shirt company, and I wanted to post up about it. Here is the synopsis from his about page, but basically they take a concept, a demographic, who you are, and make it into a shirt. You can suggest ideas to them as well.
DEMOGRAPHIC
Demographic is an emerging apparel company. It grew from a brainstorm involving two graphic designers who had trouble finding clothing which spoke to them personally. Weary of meaningless and/or self-promoting designs, they saw a need to create a line of apparel that says more about the wearer and less about the company they bought it from.
With this idea in mind, they devised a unique system in which each design concept represents a different group of people or “demographic.” This framework allows individuals to choose how they want to be viewed or call attention to ideas/issues that are important to them. In effect, revealing more about who they really are and less about the brand of clothes they wear.
SO…if this appeals to you, either go buy a shirt or suggest an idea, maybe you’ll get your shirt for FREE or in trade, or even cold, hard cash. These are some really talented designers, that I’ve known for years.
Allergic
Bookworm
Colored Chalk #10 – Ten Commandments
Posted on November 1, 2009 4 Comments
"Honor"
I hope you enjoy my story, Honor in this issue of CC, #10. I’m very happy to see Axel, Eddy, Colin and Simon in here too. Great work on the layout Mike. Thanks Jason for all of your hard work, special thanks to all of the other editors and designers, and all of the talented writers who contributed. You know who you are.
I’m proud to say that I am the only writer to be in every issue to date, editing and designing #6 and #9. We’ve really grown into quite a great little rag and I hope that 2010 is even better.
Peace,
Richard
Dueling Columns 2 – Print vs. Online
Posted on October 24, 2009 14 Comments
Print or Online?
Print vs. Online – The great debate
So Larina and I are once again at it. We’re going to try to be a little more regular about this, but things got in the way in the past month – birth, death, work, alcohol, nudity, football, kids, and beef jerky. Not necessarily in that order.
Take a gander at my thoughts here, speak up, add something to the conversation if you want to, and then see what she has to say over here Larina Print vs. Online
I am taking the online side of this debate. SO…let the games begin.
STIGMA NO LONGER
It used to be that publishing your fiction online was frowned upon. But things have changed. For many reasons, online publishing has gotten better, has expanded its audience, and in the process, has eliminated much of the stink. It has changed, for the better. And I’m pretty excited about it.
Here are some reasons why online fiction has blown up.
1. COST: Many print journals, whether at universities or independent presses, have decided to change to online publishing only. The recession has hit everyone and it is much more affordable to post up short stories and host it online, even if you spend money designing a really cool site. There are also many FREE or cheap sites out there, such as WordPress.com. Print costs, postage, and declining readerships have forced many publications to move online.
2. EXTENSIONS: Many respectable presses, journals and magazines have added an online aspect to what they already do in print. The New Yorker has been publishing fiction online for a long time now. Dzanc just rolled out The Collagist, a new web presence to add to its already compelling Monkeybicycle, Dzanc Books, OV Books and Black Lawrence Press. It’s happening all the time now. And that lends an air of credibility. When a publication that already wins awards, publishes the authors you love, and generally does good work decides to move online, why wouldn’t you trust that their online work would be just as good? I haven’t seen any drop off in the writing.
3. EYES: There are many reasons for publishing online, but getting new people to read your work, and getting a LOT of people to read it, is one. I recently had a story posted up at Troubadour 21 and it has over 200 hits, as we speak. Now, I doubt that all of those are unique visitors, and I promise that I did not click that link 199 times, but even if HALF of those people reading my work are new to me, I’m very happy with that. Most of us are not novelists, nor do we make a living as writers. We are not selling a million copies of our books. Yet. So for now, we have to take what we can get. You could publish in a print journal, and maybe 100 people would pick it up, maybe a couple hundred, but with the internet, there is always the possibility or more, an ENDLESS number of people that could read your work. And it’ll never go out of print.
4. IMMEDIACY: You run into somebody on the street, you chat somebody up at AWP, or a reading, or run into an ex-girlfriend at the grocery store. Honest, it was a coincidence. I don’t personally carry around copies of my work. And I wouldn’t, even if I HAD twenty copies of Gold Dust or Vain or the upcoming Shivers VI from Cemetery Dance. Not to mention the cost involved with that. BUT, I do carry around business cards with my blog on it, and my contact information. I can refer people to this blog, and subsequently, to my online fiction. I can post up in forums. I can Facebook you to death, Tweet in your ear until it bleeds. The point being, I can get you to my work, NOW. If you want to go there. If my work were ONLY in print, that would be much harder. Publishing online is a good alternative, a way of showcasing your work, and as fast and easy as a mouse click. I’ve had agents and editors read my work online and ask for a story or full manuscript before. It can be a great resource.
5. QUALITY: Like any book you pick up in a bookstore or at the library, the quality will vary. There are certainly terrible websites out there with weak writing. Just like there are published books that are empty and vague. Places like The New Yorker, The Missouri Review, The Paris Review, Granta, The Atlantic, we all know those are great places to publish. But what about the lesser known journals and magazines? The overall quality of online fiction has really improved. All you have to do is chase down your favorite authors, and see what they are publishing online. You’ll see that many established, as well as emerging authors, are publishing online now. Take the following sentence and fill in the blanks. It is your new mantra.
If _______________ is good enough for _______________, it’s good enough for me.
Maybe those publications are Juked, Hobart, Flatmancrooked, Dogzplot, Keyhole, Opium, Dogmatika, Word Riot, 3:AM, Nerve, The Rumpus, elimae, FRiGG, Pank, mud luscious or SmokeLong Quarterly.
Maybe those authors are Brian Evenson, Stephen Graham Jones, Blake Butler, Steve Almond, Benjamin Percy, Amelia Gray, Roy Kesey, Joe Meno, Matt Bell, Holly Goddard Jones, Stephen Elliott or Mary Miller.
6. TECHNOLOGY: These days, we are a digital society. We are fast and furious in everything we do. We update our Facebook status, we Tweet, we build our profiles on a million forums, we blog. So it only makes sense that we publish online, that we download podcasts and ebooks. Printed books and printed magazines or journals will probably not go away. Ever. BUT…there is a demand for everything, now, in my mouth, give it to me, stick it in. Why should that be any different with our fiction? Don’t get me wrong, one of the simple pleasures in life is holding a book, be it a paperback, or a hefty novel bound in leather. I like it. I like to touch it. To hold it. But I also find myself with down time at work, a spare moment in a coffehouse or stuck at an airport with my laptop. And I’ve read so many great stories while I’ve waited. I’ve tracked down my favorite authors, such as the latest George Saunders at TNY. I’ve run across a new voice, and Googled that name after reading ONE compelling story, only to fine more online, and then a collection of shorts for sale, bought it, and attended a reading in my city. It’s all connected, and it can be very exciting.
DO IT
As a reader, somebody who enjoys good fiction wherever you can find it, you wouldn’t be here at my blog if you didn’t agree with me to a certain degree. You ARE online, aren’t you? And while this isn’t FICTION, there are tons of stories over there under my Table of Contents, under the Short Story section, as well as links to other authors and their work, and some fantastic presses and online journals. So go read. Check it out. Have fun.
To the writers – don’t be afraid. If you’re such a good writer, go out and write more. And put it online. Write to a theme issue, write to a particular aesthetic, stretch yourself. Make us laugh so hard we piss our pants. Make us gag. Make us a little bit horny. Make us tear up a bit. Maybe even touch a nerve. Write a horror story or an erotic tale, dabble in noir, or the surreal, write a fairy tale, or serialize your novella. But get your work out there. I think that’s one of the best things about putting your work online. It’s OUT THERE. For people to enjoy. You can’t get discovered if people can’t find your work.
“Everything is Beautiful” is now LIVE at Troubadour21
Posted on October 20, 2009 3 Comments
Everything is Beautiful
So my strange little story “Everything is Beautiful” is up now at Troubadour 21. Enjoy. We might turn this into a series.
Peace,
Richard
- Richard Thomas - 