I don’t read my work in public often (never got comfortable with it) and I recently tried to rectify that by reading at a cool little open mic where author Bud Smith revealed an excerpt from his upcoming novel, F-250. The reading took place at a bar in the Bronx called An Beal Bocht (Gaelic for “The Poor Mouth”) and it was the first time I read in front of a crowd in, what…two, three years? Something like that, so it was a fun personal challenge to shake off the rust and get up there. I was more nervous than I’d like to admit, and like every other reading I’ve ever done, I needed 6-7 beers in order to not shake like a set of wind-up chattering teeth up in front of the mic. I read two older pieces from around 2009; one, “Norway,” is about strippers named after European nations and how swimming naked in the moonlight is often the best way to put them in the past; and the second, “Darkness Within the Dark,” comes from one of my many bouts with Taoism, an on-again/off-again passion of mine. Both poems are also found in my collection Dealing With the Devil in the Middle of the Road. Thankfully it went well and I got some encouraging feedback. I'm grateful for host Erin Lynn for putting the open mic together each month, and I definitely plan to attend again. If you’re in the NYC area on August 13 around 7:30, you should swing by An Beal Bocht and listen in.

I’m also doing a reading on Saturday, October 4 at Jimmy’s No. 23 (in the back room, plenty of seating) where I’ll be featured along with a number of other authors from the Too Much anthology, which is due out this summer. The cover here looks amazing, doesn’t it? I’ll have more details about that reading soon, but I’ll probably read from my piece in the anthology, which is full of stories of alcoholic, sexual, and narcotic excess. Pretty apt topic considering I'll likely need a double dose of liquid courage to read in front of a crowd that large. Anyway, I hope you can make it!

*** Update: I may be doing a reading in the southern New Jersey / Philadelphia area in December as well to promote a new book of mine. Details TBA. ***

I am pleased to announce that my short story, "The Rube," is scheduled to appear in the upcoming Too Much: An Anthology About Excess from Unknown Press. The book is due in late July and is overflowing with poems, short stories, essays, and interviews about the pleasures and pitfalls of excess, be it alcoholic, sexual, mind-altering, or what have you. A big thank you goes out to editors Chuck Howe and Bud Smith.

My story, "The Rube," is a brief and humorous look at alcoholic excess experienced during a point in my life when I was ... well, to be honest, a bit of a barfly, working as a freelance writer, surviving on meager poetry sales and the kindness of friends, and how a destination wedding invitation turned into an alcohol-infused brush with death in a third-world country. Part memoir, part fiction, and definitely excessive.

I'm also excited that a poem of mine, "Burning in the Freeze," will soon appear in riverbabble #25. I just need to return the publishing agreement on Monday morning. I haven't sent out many poetry submissions recently, so this is a real treat. I'm excited to be in riverbabble once again. Many thanks to the editors for selecting my poem.

I'll post more details when each of these pieces become available. Thanks!