HUMP Holidays

New Fiction Books I Read (and enjoyed) in 2012: I Don’t Respect Female Expression– Frank Hinton Disparate Pathos– Meg Tuite Shut Up/ Look Pretty– Lauren Becker, Erin Fitzgerald, Kirsty Logan, Michelle Reale and Amber Sparks Together We Can Bury It– Kathy Fish Conversations with S. Teri O.’Type– Christopher Allen Poached is Not an Option– Carol Wobig These Strangers She’d Invited in– Jac Jemc Three Squares a Day with Occasional Torture- Julie Innis Wild– Cheryl Strayed The Imaginary State of Indefinite Morals– Rae Bryant The Same Terrible Storm– Sheldon Compton Americas– Jason Lee Norman Fire in the Belly: The Life and Times of David Wojnaroicz– Cynthia Carr How Should A Person Be?– Sheila Heti New Poetry Chaps & Books in 2012: Final Notes– Joani Reese Pointed Sentences– Bill Yarrow The Oregon Trail is The Oregon Trail– Gregory Sherl The Book of Poems– Dorianne Laux Wingbeats- Exercises & Practice in Poetry- ed. by Scott Wiggerman & David Meischen If I Falter At The Gallows– Edward Mullaney Duende– Tracey K. Smith Blue Rust– Joe Millar Monogamy Songs- Gregory Sherl Muted Lines from Someone Else’s Memory– Seth Berg Books I Revisited (re-read) in 2012: The Gashleycrumb Tinies– Edward Gorey He is Talking to the Fat Lady– xTx Please Don’t Be Upset and Other Stories– Brandi Wells Blue on Blue Ground– Aaron Smith What the Living Do– Marie Howe Close to the Knives– David Wojnarowicz Oblivion– David Foster Wallace Wingbeats- Exercises & Practice in Poetry- ed. by Scott Wiggerman & David Meischen Laurie Anderson by Rosalee Goldberg The Girl on the Fridge– Etgar Keret The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis Here are a few other links to check out: The JMWW Winter issue has arrived and it is fantastic: http://jmww.150m.com/ Metazen 2012 Christmas EBook for charity has arrived, and my piece, “Black & White/ Color” is included: http://www.metazen.ca/?p=11915 http://vimeo.com/56131260 Brad Listi and his editors at Nervous Breakdown have their year end Best of Books list The Nobbies here: http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/blisti/2012/12/the-2012-nobbies/ If you have not yet read Domestic Apparition by Meg Tuite, get it now (Pssst: it’s free to download, but hurry!): Domestic Apparition: Meg Tuite: Amazon.com: Kindle Store Joani Reese’s “Happy Hour” is up at Reprint Magazine: Happy Hour | Reprint Poetry Andrew Stancek’s “Everyday Thunder” is the story of the day at Every Day Fiction and you can rate it: Every Day Fiction – The once a day flash fiction magazine. Nate Tower is the Next Big Thing at Write, Juggle, Run: The Next Big Thing Blog Hop « Write, Juggle, Run A terrific poem, one for the ages, at the Winter issue of Ploughshares, by my teacher and mentor Ellen Bass: “Restaurant.” Article Detail Pure Slush has a new book called Gorge out. Several authors, including me, participated in this zany concept: gorge a novel in stories Pure Slush Vol. 4 by Pure Slush (Paperback) – Lulu The Writer’s Almanac’s post of the day, “Waiting on the Corners” by Donald Hall: Waiting on the Corners by Donald Hall | The Writer’s Almanac with Garrison Keillor Fascinating article at Huffington Post about the new movie “Zero Dark Thirty.” SPOILER ALERT! It eloquently discusses the film in depth: G. Roger Denson: Zero Dark Thirty: Why the Film’s Makers Should Be Defended And What Deeper bin Laden Controversy Has Been Stirred Be safe, travel with respect, use safety. Engage in the world around you!]]>

HUMP December

Reading at KGB Bar Dec 2012 Happy, happy, joy, joy! So fortunate to be asked to read in NYC again, third time’s a charm, at the venerable KGB Bar on East 4th Street, in Manhattan, last Sunday, December 16th. This was a gathering of 52/250, a writing collective that lasted for one entire year: http://www.facebook.com/events/108552795969912/ I read two pieces, one called “Moving to Los Angeles” which appeared at 52/250 during week #43, theme was To The Core: http://52250flash.wordpress.com/2011/03/08/moving-to-los-angeles-by-robert-vaughan/. It’s a strange piece, but then, did you expect anything else? I also read a new poem that I am currently submitting called “What Some Boys Do.” I am deeply indebted to the three incredible editors who made this project seamless: Michelle Elvy, John Wentworth Chapman and Walter Bjorkman. 1)    Who doesn’t love good news, so I was incredibly happy to learn about this: http://www.metazen.ca/?p=11820. Congratulations to my co-nominee, Ethel Rohan, and hearty thanks to Frank Hinton, Christopher Allen, Len Kuntz and all the remaining devoted Metazen staff! 2)   The Winter issue of JMWW has dropped with outstanding, diverse flash fiction from Gregory Sherl, Jeanann Verlee, Alex Koplow, Tawnysha Greene, and Ajay Vishwanathan. Also check out the incredible poetry, fiction and more! I’m the senior Flash Fiction editor and Michael Gillian Maxwell is my awesome flash partner in crime! Thanks to him, and to Jen Michalski for the best job in the world, and to the rest of the JMWW staff: amazing work! http://jmww.150m.com/ 3)    I have a new piece up at Red Fez, part of my new poetry collection about hate crimes and more: http://www.redfez.net/fiction/473 4)    Here are some great articles about writing from Writers Digest, thanks to Gay Degani at Flash Fiction Chronicles for the notice: http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/the-19-most-popular-articles-on-writing-of-2012?et_mid=595583&rid=3201050 5)    Check out the December issue of Connotation Press, the fiction is outstanding! But then, editor Meg Tuite rocks it every time: http://connotationpress.com/fiction/1672-a-note-from-meg-tuite-fiction-editor-december-2012 6)    So many people chiming in on last Friday’s events in Connecticut. Here is an amazing, personal essay at The Rumpus from Alizah Salario: http://therumpus.net/2012/12/25-years/ And another amazing response from poet Yusef Komunyakaa at NPR: ‘Rock Me, Mercy’: A Poem Written In Mourning : NPR 7)  Have you ordered Gregory Sherl’s “Monogamy Songs” from Future Tense Books yet? If not, what the HELL are you waiting for? Get some here: http://www.futuretensebooks.com/futuret/books.html 8)    Dan Pallotta appeals from the heart with his “Never Lie About Who You Really Are” at The Harvard Business Review (he was my boss for three years in the 1990s): http://blogs.hbr.org/pallotta/2012/12/never-lie-about-who-you-really-are.html 9)  Smokelong Quarterly is released, with a great story by Linda Simoni-Wastila, “The Abridged Biography of an American Sniper”: http://www.smokelong.com/flash/lindasimoniwastila38q.asp 10)    My buddy, Michael Seidel, is nominated for the Micro- Fiction Award for his incredible “Dialysis” at Camroc Press Review: http://www.camrocpressreview.com/2012/02/michael-seidel.html 11) Patrick Trotti rolls out his impressive year end reading list at JMWW: http://jmwwblog.wordpress.com/2012/12/13/the-obligatory-end-of-year-list/ Also, if you missed it like I did, the NY Times 100 Notable Books of 2012: 100 Notable Books of 2012 – NYTimes.com 12)  Kyle Hemmings blows us away in “Ugly Boys” at Pure Slush:  http://pureslush.webs.com/uglyboys.htm What if every day was a holiday?]]>

HUMP it up!

http://fictionaut.com/stories/robert-vaughan/what-some-boys-do Also, ‘tis the season of anthologies. Here are a few in which my work appears, and I am ever so grateful: * In Those Days We: http://bendinglightintoverse.com/2012/11/24/in-those-days-we-released/ (thanks editor, Jennifer Tomaloff) * Estuary: http://www.blurb.com/books/3811083 (thanks editors, Harriette  Lawler and Agnes Marton) * Flash 101: Surviving the Fiction Apocalypse: http://fastforwardflash.wordpress.com/books/ (thanks editors, Leah Rogin-Roper, Stacy Walsh and Dustin Dill) * Santa Fe Literary Review: http://www.sfcc.edu/files/SFLR/SFLR2012-TOC.pdf (thanks editor, Meg Tuite) Alex Pruteanu has a story called “Apparatus” up at Yareah Magazine: http://yareah.com/war-stories-apparatus-0263/ Nicolette Wong and her A-Minor staff have exciting news: http://aminorpress.com/ Andrew Stancek wins a mighty prize with his story in Gemini Magazine: http://www.gemini-magazine.com/stancekalways.html NAP reminds us that Tyler Gobble is Stoked: http://issuu.com/tylergobble/docs/stoked_issue1_iii The Best LGBT Books of 2012: 87 Authors Select Their Favorites: http://bandofthebes.typepad.com/bandofthebes/2012/11/the-best-lgbt-books-of-2012.html The latest issue of Negative Suck has new work by James Claffey, “The Wrong Corner of the Sky” and more: http://www.negativesuck.moonfruit.com/ – /current-content/4571513710 Jim Harrington at Flash Fiction Chronicles asks his 6 questions of Bakers Dozen editors, Michelle Elvy and John Wentworth Chapin: http://sixquestionsfor.blogspot.ca/2012/12/six-questions-for-michelle-elvy-and.html Howie Good is up at Drunk Monkeys: http://www.drunkmonkeys.onimpression.com/featured/love-surrounds-us-like-a-posse-in-bulletproof-vests-by-howie-good/ And finally, I will be participating in a group reading at the venerable KGB Bar in NYC’s East Village. The writers’ collective, 52/250, will be featuring works read by members and friends on December 16th, 7-9 p.m. Please come, bring friends and help spread the magic: (1) 52|250: A Night of Flash]]>