MUSINGS
Ben White is the editor of Nanoism, which I think is one of the best markets for Twitter fiction, and every night he posts a new story via his Twitter account Midnight Stories. Today he and I talk about extremely short stories, both twitter and hint, as well as Craigslist fiction and how Scrubs is the most accurate medical show ever. Enjoy.
In Which Ben White And I Talk About Very Very Very Short Fiction
Ravi Mangla is one of my favorite flash fiction writers. His work is usually very offbeat and weird and fresh that I have no problem comparing him to the likes of Ben Loory and Etgar Keret. His collection of microfiction, Visiting Writers, came out this past year from Uncanny Valley Press. He wrote one of my all-time favorite flash pieces (which he reads in the podcast), and has also helped out with the Wigleaf Top 50. We talk about all these things and more -- like Michael Cunningham's take on The Pale King. Really, is this line the greatest thing ever written?
Past the flannel plains and the blacktop graphs and skylines of canted rust, and past the tobacco-brown river overhung with weeping trees and coins of sunlight through them on the water downriver, to the place beyond the windbreak, where untilled fields simmer shrilly in the a.m. heat: shattercane, lamb’s-quarter, cutgrass, sawbrier, nutgrass, jimsonweed, wild mint, dandelion, foxtail, muscatine, spinecabbage, goldenrod, creeping charlie, butter-print, nightshade, ragweed, wild oat, vetch, butcher grass, invaginate volunteer beans, all heads gently nodding in a morning breeze like a mother’s soft hand on your cheek.
Near the end of the podcast there's a cut and we start talking about TV shows. So give it a listen. And also keep an eye out for Ravi's Blurb coming soon from Artistically Declined Press.
Today on the podcast science fiction author Steve Umstead joins me to talk about a lof stuff, including how he first met Z. Constance Frost, walking away from Smashwords, his latest free ebook release Gabriel: Zero Point, how Amazon profits from ebooks on "terror, hate and violence," as well as some interesting stuff Edward W. Robertson has dug up, not to mention why some authors think short story ebooks should cost as much as a cup of Starbucks coffee. Finally, Steve has been kind enough to give away a digital copy of his omnibus Gabriel's Journey. Wanna chance to win? Of course you do! Listen to find out how, and enjoy.
Joseph D'Agnese is my guest this time around on the podcast. He is the author of several nonfiction books, the most recent being Stuff Every American Should Know, which he wrote with his wife Denise Kiernan, as well as his own independent fiction Jersey Heat and The Mesmerist. Today Joe and I talk about the great exposure his book got from the Huffington Post (and how it affected the book's sales), as well as the problem with free ebooks, and this very amusing video from Random House:
httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FlnAFH4HV4
And would you like to win a free digital copy of Joe's great novel The Mesmerist? Of course you would! Listen to the podcast to find out how. And, as always, enjoy.
In Which Joseph D'Agnese And I Talk About Important Things
In case you missed it yesterday, Kelli Owen and I discussed very important things. Also, she's giving away a digital copy of her novel Six Days, but to win you have to listen to the podcast. Now, I present to you chapter 6 from The Inner Circle. Enjoy, and have a great weekend.
P.S. My friend Adam Perry is getting married this weekend. Congratulations, Adam! If you want to get him a nice present, check out his novel Mister Ray. Buy a copy or two or three. After all, he has a new wife to support!
