Rumpus Interview with Miracle Jones

My interview with author/editor/coder/performer Miracle Jones is up at The Rumpus. He is hilarious and deranged in the best possible way, and if you ever find yourself becoming disillusioned with any element of publishing I encourage you to read this and be invigorated.

Time Ghost

My poem "Early Spring," was just published over at Time Ghost, along with videos of me reading some other poems at Kick Assonance. I haven't watched them because I can't handle the sound of my own voice, but you should!

The last Derangement of the Senses show received a really wonderful review in The Huffington Post! Every sentence of this review is true, except for one of them. Try to guess which one it is! (Hint: the show is on the third FRIDAY of every month.)

In honor of May 1st, I'm reposting a link to my poem "Beltane," that was published in Escape Into Life last Oct.

Kiss, Punch, Chapbook!

- Guys, how did I forget to post about this?! My chapbook "We Are Not Pilgrims," was published by Mondo Bummer last month. It contains poems about such varied subjects as death, bad boyfriends, and dental hygiene. Some of these haven't been published anywhere else so this is the only way to get your hands on them. Here is the best part: it is only $2! That's only 40 cents a poem! I'm not one to toot my own whatever but these poems are totally 100% worth 40 cents each.

You can buy it here. 

- Mark your calendars! Saturday April 20th I will be reading at Kiss, Punch Poem. I know I throw around the words awesome and amazing a lot, but this is for real, one of the best shows in the city. Three or four poets read poems and a troupe of improvisors make up skits about them. 

Fact: Improv is almost always terrible. Another fact: The improvisors in this show are hilarious. More facts: This show is in a real theater, it's only an hour long, and it is tremendously entertaining. Even if you can't make it when I'm reading you should definitely go. It is every Saturday at the Magnet theater at 9pm.

March Shows/Snows

Today is the first day of spring, and yesterday it was snowing. I am so over this weather I don't even have the energy to write a cute blog post.
 
 - Patasola's Parlour, Thursday March 21st, 7:30 Happy Ending Lounge. After taking a break for a few months Lisa Marie Basile and Emily Linstrom are bringing back their poetry/burlesque series. I'll be reading alongside Meghann Plunkett and Joseph A.W. Quintela. The lovely Lucille Ti Amore and Delysia La Chatte will be dancing burlesque

- Kick Assonance, Thursday March 28th, 7:00 KGB Bar. Andy Christie, B.C. Edwards, and Kick Assonance co-creators Kyle Erickson and Steven Leyva will also be reading. 

- Rae Bryant wrote an article about the intersection of the burlesque and literary communities for The Paris Review that includes a nice mention of Derangement of the Senses.

- I reviewed THE FUN PARTS by Sam Lipsyte for The Daily News. Shockingly, I didn't love it. 

Two New Poems

There have been some happenings in the past few weeks that I haven't had the chance to post about:

- I have two poems, "Taking Pills in Public" and "Kennebunkport" in the new issue of Sink Review. It's chock full of talented poets and I'm thrilled to be in their company. Also, the cover art by Bianca Stone is awesome.

- I reviewed VAMPIRES IN THE LEMON GROVE by Karen Russell for the NY Daily News the other week. Spoiler: I did not like it. I am apparently the only one because I can't find one other negative review of it. I know you're out there other people who do not love Karen Russell's work! I have occasionally commiserated with you.

- Derangement of the Senses has a website! With videos! It's almost like going to the shows! But not quite. Nothing is quite like going to the shows. You should totally still come to them.

- March 28th! That is the date of the next Kick Assonance, Kyle Erickson's fantastic reading series that I'm so happy to be part of. Jason Laney will also be performing which is good news if you just can't wait until the next Derangement to see us again.

- I started watching the cartoon series Avatar: The Next Airbender on Netflix. It is very good and surprisingly sophisticated and has turned me into a grown woman who wants to buy a plush water buffalo.

Important Information

My review of Tenth of December by George Saunders went up today on the Page Views blog of the New York Daily News.

If you have been turning over rocks to find just one review that says anything at all critical about this book, search no more! There are two whole sentences in a paragraph near the end that aren't completely laudatory.

In even more exciting news the endlessly talented Miracle Jones has graced the world with his third short story collection, Common Fantasies for Strong People. It is 100% amazing and 100% FREE. Each story allows for comments on every single paragraph. Commenting is also FREE.

Leigh Stein and Sasha Fletcher's wonderful The Book Report reading series now has a Tumblr! With pictures! And videos!

Jeanne Thornton Interview

The January issue of Bookslut was published today and it included my interview with Jeanne Thornton, author of THE DREAM OF DOCTOR BANTAM which was recently published by O/R Books.

Jeanne is a member of the Fiction Circus and I first met her at Derangement of the Senses a couple of years ago. We exchanged contact information and she included a cartoon rendering of herself along with her email address. She is equally wonderful and charming in our interview and I strongly encourage you to read it.