HUMP December

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 4^th Street, in Manhattan, last Sunday, December 16^th. 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?]]>