New Release: The Girl Who Loved Halloween

The Girl Who Loved Halloween is a story I wanted to write for a long, long time, and I finally sat down and infused all of my favorite Halloween and October memories into this tale of one little girl who loved the holiday just as much as I did, maybe even more so. The details within are heavily autobiographical, but the events are totally new, especially Hannah’s discovery of her unique talent and the people and things this talent brings into her life one Halloween. Here’s the back cover text:

"It’s finally Halloween weekend. Hannah has waited all year for the parties, the pumpkin picking, the costumes, the decorations, the scary stories, and especially the candy. She thrives on the spooky fun so much that her imagination begins to cross boundaries, and dancing skeletons and flying witches evolve from playful daydreams into eerily realistic visions. And on the afternoon before Halloween, on an innocent visit to a local cemetery to make gravestone rubbings, Hannah discovers why her love for the holiday is so special, and so frightening..." 

The book is a standalone story released as both a physical booklet and a digital ebook for Kindle and Fire readers. If you aren’t able to access those versions and would like a free PDF in exchange for a brief review at either Amazon or Goodreads (or elsewhere!), just let me know. I’ll set you up. Thanks, and Happy Halloween!

Hobo Camp Review: Autumn 2018 Issue!

The autumn 2018 issue of Hobo Camp Review is now live, and this edition features the winner of our Flash Around the Campfire Competition Hasan Jamal, as well as work from Devon Balwit, Siham Karami, Bruce Hodder, DS Maolalai, Anna Brylewska-Cooper, Christina Hubbartt, Cheryl Rice, Ashley Naftule, Don Thompson, Laurie Kolp, D.W. Moody, Rebecca Kokitus, Wes Jamison, Sheikha A., Rogan Kelly, Shannon Phillips, Dan Wilcox, and Steve Bissonnette, and an interview with writer, editor, and publisher Nate Ragolia! Thanks so much for coming 'round the camp and enjoying the fire with us before the winter winds blow in! Our submission window will be closed until next summer, but we’re hard at work on our 10-year anniversary print only issue in the meanwhile. More details on that soon! Thanks for reading, and I’ll see you down the road…

New Bookshop Hunter Column Now at FIVE:2:ONE Magazine

The third edition of my Bookshop Hunter column for the fantastic folks over at FIVE:2:ONE Magazine is now live over at their website. This one is has the headline "Don't Go back to Rockville," and concerns my REM-fueled road trip through upstate New York into the lovely towns and rolling hills of Saratoga and Washington counties. The trip includes a visit to a barn bookshop just outside of the town of Greenwich, NY, where I lived when I was a married young man years ago, and I hadn't been back in ages. The town holds both good memories and bad and I was somewhat apprehensive to return, for a number of reasons, but the lure of bookshops was too strong to hold me back. I hope you enjoy this third edition of the column, and feel free to check out the other editions or the more in-depth reviews of the specific shops mentioned in the column. Thanks for taking a look, and keep hunting those bookshops!       

New Poem Appears in Ghost City Review

The September 2018 issue of Ghost City Review (a publication of Ghost City Press) is now live and includes my poem "Hidden By The Smell of Flowers" alongside the work of such writers as Kate Garrett, Peycho Kanev, Emma Lee, Kristin Garth, and others. The issue includes poems, an interview, and a drama/play. My thanks to the editors for including my poem, and I hope you enjoy!

The Blue Hour Anthology, Vol. 4

I'm ecstatic to announce that two of my poems now appear in an amazing collection, The Blue Hour Anthology, Vol. 4. This press has supported my work for a long time and to have my poems "Badlands" and "Sunday May" in their new assemblage is a real honor. They always put out gorgeous books and they have a great eye for writing. Being included with such writers as John Dorsey, Megan Gray, Heather Minette, Allie Marini, and Johnathon Dowdle (among many others) proves it. My deepest thanks goes out to the editors for including my work, and you can pick up copies at their Etsy shop!   

"Cold Beer - Cheap Rooms" at Nixes Mate Review

My flash fiction piece "Cold Beer - Cheap Rooms" now appears in Nixes Mate Review in their summer 2018 issue. As Nixes Mate says, "With every new horror, with every new heatwave, with every norm a carcass swept up in the dustbin of history there is always poetry and literature. ... We share new voices and returning voices, the voices of friends, voices of hope and voices of humor." This issue has a wide variety of voices and styles, and I hope you enjoy this new story of mine. Thanks!  

The Bookshop Hunter: Journey to the Isle of Dogs

Beyond writing reviews of independent bookshops at my other blog at this site, The Bookshop Hunter, I have also started to write a column about my adventures on the road going out and visiting all of these shop, writing about who I see, what I do, where I go, and so on. The second offering in this series is now up at the incredible FIVE:2:ONE Magazine and it's called "The Bookshop Hunter: Journey to the Isle of Dogs." This edition talks about my trip into western Massachusetts to see the recent Wes Anderson film, Isle of Dogs, and to hit up a half dozen bookshops along the way. If you like it you can also find my first column at the site too! Thanks for taking a look, and there will be plenty more bookshop hunting journeys and columns coming soon! Thanks. 

"Long Before Twilight" at Lonesome October Lit

One of my favorite online literary journals, Lonesome October Lit, has published my poem "Long Before Twilight," which contains all sorta of fun nostalgic references to my grade school library, books about werewolves, and childhood daydreaming. The poem also appears in my narrative poetry collection We Are All Terminal But This Exit Is Mine, which is available at Amazon. Be sure to read the other eerie, spooky poems and stories over at Lonesome October Lit too, and let me know what you think! Thanks for reading.

New Poetry at Up The River: Issue Six

It's always a good feeling to find yourself in one of your hometown lit magazines, and Up The River: A Journal of Poetry, Art, & Photography is a gorgeous literary web-zine hosted by Albany Poets, an organization promoting events and writers in the Albany, NY area. My poem "Spiders at Night" appears in Up The River, Issue Six, alongside the work of other poets I really enjoy, like Kevin Ridgeway, Alan Catlin, and others. Check out the poem and scroll the through the other issues for a lot of excellent poetry. Thanks!

Flash Fiction Contest at Hobo Camp Review

Hobo Camp Review is hosting a contest with a $25 prize (no fee) for the upcoming autumn issue! The HCR Flash Around the Campfire Competition is open to any flash fiction (we'll even consider long-ish narrative poetry) under 1,000 words, and the shorter the better. All the usual guidelines apply, and again, there's NO fee. There will be a special judge (TBA) who will award $25 and a free book or two from our knapsack to the lucky scribe. The submission window closes on Labor Day, 9/3/2018. For info about the kind of work that moves us,  or give any of our issues a look online. Thanks! 

Two Poems at Winedrunk Sidewalk

Two of my poems recently appeared at Winedrunk Sidewalk, an online daily poetry journal that also subtitles itself "Shipwrecked in Trumpland," and focuses on anti-authority, political, and working class poems. These two, "Lo Cool, 69 Degrees" and "Soft White Infinity" certainly fall along those lines. I hope you enjoy. 

'Terminal' Gets A Nod In Misfit Magazine

The editors at Misfit Magazine included a brief write-up of We Are All Terminal But This Exit Is Mine in their lengthy "Books Received, Reviewed, Acknowledged" section. They point out one particular poem, "Ghost Train," as being a standout, and it's always interesting to me which poems make a mark with people. It's always a different one, for different reasons, and this poem and I go way back so I'm glad it stood out. Take a look at the write-up and scan the section to see who else they've been reading! They also publish a lot of great poets and writers, including Kevin Ridgeway, Megan Jessop, and Holly Day in their current issue, so check that out as well.  

Two Poems in the 2017 BONED Anthology

BONED Every Which Way 2017 is an anthology of the poems that appeared at the BONED online magazine over the course of the year, and the new paperback edition includes two of my poems, "Dry Tide" and "Going Ghost." The first poem, "Dry Tide," first appeared in my mini-chapbook The Darkest Bomb from the Lantern Lit, Vol. 1 collection, which is also available online. The second, "Going Ghost," takes me back to my days in Berlin, Germany almost eight years ago. Feels like yesterday. Anyway, the collection is full of great poets, including Mikey Sivak, Wanda Marrow Clevenger, Susie Sweetland Garay, RM Engelhardt, Matthew Borczon, Mat Gould, and others. The anthology is also edited by Nate Ragolia, who is a fine poet himself. I hope you are able to pick up a copy, it's pretty darn affordable at just under $12. Enjoy!   

Bookshop Hunter Column at FIVE:2:ONE Magazine

I've been seeking out bookshops and reviewing them at my other blog, The Bookshop Hunter, for a few months now. It has been a blast, and now I have a column over at FIVE:2:ONE Magazine about my bookshop hunting trips around upstate New York, NYC, and beyond. In this first column, "The Bookshop Hunter: Electric City and Beyond," I explore Schenectady, NY and other nearby towns. FIVE:2:ONE is an weird-baby consortium of awesome writers, reviewers, poets, columnists, artists, and plenty more. They always have something new going on and I highly recommend you check them out!   

Spooky New Poem at Lonesome October Lit

My new poem, "The Guest Room Closet," now appears at Lonesome October Lit, one of my favorite online publications. As they say at their website, Lonesome October Lit "is a horror webzine for poetry as well as short fiction. The founding editor felt there was a lack of space out there for horror poems in a market flooded with mainstream literary venues and homes for genre prose fiction." If you love spooky, scary, atmospheric poetry and short fiction, this is the place for you. My poem is about an eerie childhood visit to a small village in the Hudson Valley, where something dark waits for a wayward guest. I hope you enjoy! 

Upcoming Poetry Readings / Spring & Summer

Over the next handful of months I’ll be reading my poetry at a few events in upstate New York, although I may be able to attend some others in NYC and areas beyond if the timing works out. I’m also hoping to set up a few readings on the west coast later this year, so watch this space for more announcements!

March 28, Wednesday - Noir at Troy Poetry Mission: Co-host R.m. Engelhardt had the genius thought to hold a themed reading for noir pieces, something we both love, and we’re hoping you will too. Sign-up starts at 7:30 pm at O’Brien’s Public House in Troy, NY, and the reading starts at 8 pm. Have a drink, a mean, sit back, and enjoy the noir poems and stories from local writers, including yours truly.   

April 20, Friday - Readings Against the End of the World: In mid-April, Albany, NY will celebrate a week of readings and events as part of the annual Word Fest. I will be giving a 10-minute reading as part of the Readings Against the End of the World, a 24-hour read-a-thon to benefit the South End Children’s Cafe. The event will kick off Friday, April 20 at the Husted Hall Café on the UAlbany Downtown campus, and will continue until Saturday, April 21. As always, I’ll have copies of my book We Are All Terminal But This Exit Is Mine on hand.

May 6, Sunday - DiBiase Poetry Prize Reading: My poem "Strawberry Fields Forever" placed as an Honorable mention in the 2018 Stephen A DiBiase Poetry Contest. So many great writers appeared among the winners that it's an honor to even be mentioned, not to mention the $70 check that helped pay off some medical bills (and maybe bought a whisky or two). Winners and finalists will be giving a reading of their work in a special afternoon event. This will take place on Sunday, May 6 between 1:30 and 3:30 pm at the main branch of the Albany Public Library which is located at 161 Washington Ave. in downtown Albany NY. Again, I’ll have books on hand for anyone interested.

July 19, Thursday – Albany Social Justice Center Reading: On what I can only suspect will be a hot Thursday night in upstate New York, I’ll be reading as the feature poet at Albany’s Social Justice Center at 33 Central Ave. There will be an open mic before I get up there, and I’m looking forward to seeing who shows up to read their own work. And again, I’ll have plenty of books on hand.  

More to come!

Honorable Mention for the 2018 Stephen A DiBiase Poetry Prize

It’s a huge honor to announce that my poem “Strawberry Fields Forever” has placed as an honorable mention in the 2018 Stephen A DiBiase Poetry contest, and I’m joined by a bunch of excellent poets including Martin Willitts Jr. (1st place), Richard Foerster (2nd), Rebecca Schumejda (3rd), Olivia McKee, Mary Panza, Dan Wilcox (all honorable mentions), and others. There will be a reading in May in Albany, NY for winners and finalists and it’ll be open to the public. I’ll post more details soon and I'll be there. My poem, “Strawberry Fields Forever,” is from my book We Are All Terminal But This Exit Is Mine and looks back on a childhood memory of picking strawberries with my mother at a farm that no longer exists, or at least it doesn’t exist the way it did way back when. I miss simpler times like those, and this poem is a nostalgic one for sure. My deepest thanks too the judges and those who organized the contest. You certainly made my day much brighter.