October 2014 – Robert Vaughan

HUMP day: leaves

http://www.everyday-genius.com/2014/10/tobias-carroll.html 2) Bud Smith’s “Falling Horse, Stacked Demons” at theNewerYork: http://theneweryork.com/falling-horse-stacked-demons-bud-smith/ 3) The Guardian expands its roster of US Opinion Writers: http://www.theguardian.com/guardian-us-press-office/guardian-expands-roster-us-opinion-writers 4) Amber Sparks and Mike Meginnis will be talking books live today, at 6:30 EST here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O1iysoAY-uM 5) Tanya Olsen’s “Ain’t I Pretty” at PANK: http://pankmagazine.com/piece/aint-i-pretty/ 6) Will Chancellor chats with Sheldon Compton at Revolution John: http://revolutionjohnmagazine.wordpress.com/2014/10/28/lightning-steers-the-world-an-interview-with-author-will-chancellor/ 7) Sara Lippmann at David Abrams’ The Quivering Pen talks about “My First Time”: http://www.davidabramsbooks.blogspot.com/2014/10/my-first-time-sara-lippmann.html 8) Matthew Simmons and Litsa Dremousis with “The Challenge” at Hobart: http://www.hobartpulp.com/web_features/the-challenge-an-interview-with-litsa-dremousis-on-writing-about-death-grief-and-getting-better 9) Mallory Ortberg “Talks Shit About Hemingway and Thoreau” at Flavorwire: http://flavorwire.com/485203/talking-shit-about-hemingway-and-thoreau-with-the-toast-founder-and-texts-from-jane-eyre-author-mallory-ortberg 10) Wendy Ortiz’s new memoir, Excavation, in the Los Angeles Times: http://touch.latimes.com/ – section/-1/article/p2p-80884386/ Also, I want to congratulate Kim Suhr, and the Red Oak community for a fantastic, inspiring reading last night at Saz’s. What a superb turnout! Stellar words from Pam Parker, Jonnie Guernsey, Beth Huwiler, Jack Douthitt, Jessi Vertz, Jennifer Vanderheyden, Jo DeMars, Christine Baerbock, Bruce Campbell and Jennifer Rupp. More information about Red Oak Writing. Please join us this Thursday, October 30th, for our next installment, Middle Coast Poets reading at Riverwest Public House, 815 E. Locust Street, 7 p.m. Frank Berg, Marilyn Windau, Paul Scot August and Robert Vaughan (me). We hope to see you there!]]>

Two for Tuesday: Sheldon Compton and Len Kuntz

Excavation: A Memoir by Wendy C. Ortiz I’ve just been waiting for the chance to write and tell somebody about Wendy C. Ortiz’s memoir Excavation. Now’s my chance, by god. I cannot overstate the pure courage Ortiz brings to the table in this memoir, which covers her teen years while preyed upon by her middle school English teacher, Jeff Ivers. Feels good to exclaim his name here publicly. That’s the kind of impact this book can have on you. It changes you. The book, working beautifully in a broken up narrative scheme that shifts from her childhood to the present day, follows Ortiz from a thirteen-year-old girl who is amorously attracted to her teacher who then, in turn and disgustingly, returns this emotion and spends the next five years manipulating her in a pseudo-relationship. Before reading Excavation I thought I had seen bravery in action through the written word. I had seen hints of it. Ortiz not only trumps any other attempt at this, but also does so with the most beautiful and readable prose I’ve come across in possibly the last decade. And speaking of time-frames for best-of lists, I’m going to go ahead and so that, so far, this is the best book I’ve read this year. It would take a motherload of a book to unseat it at this point. http://www.futuretensebooks.com/futuret/books.html Paperback: 242 pages, Future Tense Publishing (July 18, 2014) Galaga by Michael Kimball I’m going to tell it to you straight: I had no idea when I received Michael Kimball’s Galaga for review from Small Press Book Review that it was about the game Galaga. Let’s skip how I could have been so unintelligent about the gaming world and move on from there. When I discovered I was, in fact, reading a book about the arcade game, I balked. I had made a mistake and was now committed. Oh well, at least it was Michael Kimball. I never could have imagined how well he came to bat on that expectation. Kimball’s fantastic novel currently holds the number two spot for best books I’ve read this year. The book is about so very much more than the game Galaga, yet exactly about the game. Yep, it’s a beautiful thing to see, full of heart and hurt and perseverance and so much more. I wrote my review, gushing and gushing, and was not the least bit embarrassed. I felt like I was telling the world a golden secret. To entice, here’s the first paragraph of that review from SPBR: “Galaga is Michael Kimball’s love letter to the game of the same name, his textbook, his instructor’s manual, his encyclopedia and fan fiction, and is so much more than any of these things. The book covers every nuance of the game, references in pop culture, merchandising, and just about any other thing related to Galaga. Tattoo anyone? He’s got those to talk about, too. No worries. And that’s fine and good, but there’s something Kimball displays with this book – courage and love and survival. How’s that for a magic trick?” Yep, it rolls like that. http://bossfightbooks.com/products/galaga-by-michael-kimball Paperback: 136 pages, Boss Fight Books, (July 1, 2014) Sheldon’s bio: Sheldon Lee Compton lives in Eastern Kentucky. He is the author of The Same Terrible Storm (Foxhead Books). His work has appeared in numerous journals, has been nominated for several awards, and has been widely anthologized. He is the editor at REVOLUTION JOHN and blogs here: BENT COUNTRY. ******************************************************************************* Two for Tuesday: LEN KUNTZ The Feast of Love by Charles Baxter This is a wonderful stew of rich and individualized characters, all walking the tight rope of love. Anything that begins with this opening line has to be good: The man—me, this pale being, no one else, it seems—wakes in fright, tangled up in sheets. From there our narrator leaves his bed in the middle of the night, walks to the University of Michigan football stadium, plops himself down in the stands and spots a young couple making love on the fifty yard line. Full or delightful surprises, gut-searing emotion and peppered throughout with enough humor to keep the ship righted, The Feast of Love is perhaps my favorite book ever. http://www.amazon.com/The-Feast-Love-A-Novel/dp/037570910X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1414445076&sr=8-2&keywords=The+Feast+of+Love Paperback: 308 pages, Vintage (May 1, 2001) The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar HiJuelos Lush, vibrant writing infiltrates every sticky sentence of this book. There is love, betrayal, sex (lots of it, steamy, too), music, movie stars, you name it—all set in 1949, where two young Cuban musicians make their way up from Havana to the grand stage of New York. HiJuelos has such a flare for capturing the mix of different ethnicities, and how these mingle or tug at each other. The writing is so vivid that you’ll feel like you are there are on the street corner, or up on stage, or being thrown about on a mattress. Early in the book we get a taste of what we’re in for with this zinger: She expected to turn around and find the devil himself standing beside her, a smile on his sooty face, saying, “Welcome to America.” I’ve recommended this book to every person who’s ever asked. Read it. You’ll be glad. Paperback: 448 pages Hyperion (May 4, 2010) http://www.amazon.com/Mambo-Kings-Play-Songs-Love/dp/B0043RT8M2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1414445192&sr=1-1&keywords=the+mambo+kings+play+songs+of+love Len’s bio: Len Kuntz is the author of The Dark Sunshine (Connotation Press) and an editor at the online literary magazine Literary Orphans. His work appears widely in print and also at lenkuntz.blogspot.com. ******************************************************************************* Thanks so much, Sheldon and Len; these are all great books. Remember to support your local bookstores, and attend readings (like tonight, a Writer’s Showcase at Saz’s in Tosa, 7- 9 p.m.) Read often, and share your passion with others! What are you reading? ]]>

HUMP Day Hangouts

http://www.kpbs.org/news/2014/oct/21/forest-fortune/ – ?utm_source=t.co&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=kpbsnews-twitter 2) At Fictionaut, Writers On Craft column by Heather Fowler, an interview with Sara Lippmann, author of The Doll Palace: http://www.fictionaut.com/wordpress/2014/10/20/writers-on-craft-sara-lippmann/ 3) Emily Temple reveals 50 of the Scariest Short Stories of All Time at Flavorwire: http://flavorwire.com/483530/50-of-the-scariest-short-stories-of-all-time?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=socialflow&utm_campaign=FlavorwireSocial&utm_content=FaceBook 4) Monica Drake on Modern Love in the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/fashion/life-was-a-roving-party-until-i-grew-up.html?smid=fb-share&_r=0 5) Donald Hall reflects on his marriage to Jane Kenyon in Poetry Magazine: http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/article/146874?commentsubmit=true – article 6) “Accidents Happen” by Roxane Gay at Tumblr: http://roxanegay.tumblr.com/post/100195578415/accidents-happen 7) Check out the great posts at People You Know By Heart, Len Kuntz’s Blog: http://lenkuntz.blogspot.com/ 8) Michelle Elvy’s “Impossible Weather” at Revolution John: http://revolutionjohnmagazine.wordpress.com/2014/10/22/impossible-weather-by-michelle-elvy/ 9) Gina Frangello’s essay “This is Happiness” at The Nervous Breakdown: http://www.thenervousbreakdown.com/gfrangello/2013/05/this-is-happiness/ 10) The Rumpus Interview with Alex Dimitrov and Kate Durbin: http://therumpus.net/2014/10/the-rumpus-interview-with-alex-dimitrov-and-kate-durbin/ Also, my latest poem, “When He Left it all to Me,” is at Fictionaut: http://fictionaut.com/stories/robert-vaughan/when-he-left-it-all-to-me And that, my friends, is a wrap. What are you reading?]]>

Two for Tuesday: Meg Tuite and Melanie Page

Elegantly Naked in My Sexy Mental Illness by Heather Fowler is 16 stories that ‘cross unseen barriers’ created by a world that pretends these characters are far-removed from our existence: the obsessions, the phobias, the voices. Fowler exposes the fraudulence of our so-called ‘sanity’ in every one of these stories by revealing scars, secrets, traumas through characters that are not only familiar, but familial: humanity masked behind drapes. “They made their lives with monotony. She ached for something new. I stole in, invisible, as I always do. It is easy to steal a heart unguarded, as easy as opening an unlocked door. I watched her and touched her–expecting nothing.” “Blood drenched our fields. It made us see red. The poor would not wait.” Fowler whisks us smoothly through the 12^th century to the present to remind us that ‘then and now,’ are interchangeable with judgment, death sentence, class issues, vengeance and the lust to dominate someone just beyond our reach. Heather Fowler’s writing is inimitable and unforgettable. She is fearless while storming through uncharted waters. Get a copy! http://www.queensferrypress.com/books/elegantlynakedinmysexymentalillness.html Paperback and e-book: 296 pages; Queen’s Ferry Press (May 26, 2014) ******************************************************************************** if i would leave myself behind by Lauren Becker is an astonishing collection of 28 stories and one novella. Get ready to be rearranged and turned inside out. The narrator climbs inside you and messes with your internal organs. My heart will never be the same. Every paragraph is its own brilliant landscape of relationships and how they move or stagnate as the narrator warns pursuers of a future she has already anticipated: “You will disappoint me. Perhaps you must. I don’t know otherwise and will be confused at the absence of disappointment. You are just another and I am only me. I give you full permission to be everything I don’t want. In fact, I insist. And you don’t need my permission. It will only impel you to do the opposite and the opposite would be distressing to us both.” “I climb into his beautiful mouth and I am his mouth and his pain and his words.” But the true relationship is between reader and narrator. Moving from 1^st person to 2^nd person, Becker never leaves us behind. The door is open and we are in her thoughts, her fears, her hangovers, her refrigerator, on her couch, blasted face-on with her fierce honesty that makes this collection a life-long friend and necessity. It is a book that will never cease to inspire me. If you don’t have this collection, than you are truly missing out on writing at its best. http://www.curbsidesplendor.com/shop/if-i-would-leave-myself-behind Paperback: 120 pages; Curbside Splendor Publishing (June 17, 2014) Meg’s Bio: Meg Tuite’s writing has appeared in numerous literary journals. She is the author of two short story collections, Bound By Blue (2013) Sententia Books and Domestic Apparition (2011) San Francisco Bay Press, and three chapbooks, the latest titled, Her Skin is a Costume (2013) Red Bird Chapbooks. She won the Twin Antlers Collaborative Poetry award from Artistically Declined Press for her poetry collection, Bare Bulbs Swinging (2014) written with Heather Fowler and Michelle Reale. She teaches at the Santa Fe Community College, lives in Santa Fe with her husband and menagerie of pets. Her blog: http://megtuite.com. ****************************************************************************** TWO FOR TUESDAY: MELANIE PAGE Lately, most of my reading is the result of required reading for a course I’m teaching, or for a virtual book tour I’m coordinating. However, that doesn’t mean I don’t love and/or admire the book, for I wouldn’t work with texts I don’t enjoy. The Autobiography of Malcolm X—with Alex Haley. I read the excerpt of Malcolm X learning to read in prison in a textbook from which I was teaching. After reading the book myself, I knew I had to teach it to others. Not only is Malcolm X’s story of parents murdered and driven insane, to graduating 8^th grade, to hustling the streets of Harlem—which leads him to prison—amazing, but inspires students in my ENG 101 class. Many of them come from small beginnings only to see what reading, critical thinking, and discipline can do for one person. I think Malcolm X still speaks to those who feel small. In fact, my used copy has an inscription: “11.25.92 To Bobo, Because it’s your birthday and because we have to keep abreast of current events. You are a warm, genuine, fabulous person! I’m totally happy you’re my friend…love, Hammer.” The Autobiography of Malcolm X (As Told to Alex Haley): Malcolm X, Alex Haley, M. S. Handler: 9780345376718: Amazon.com: Books Paperback: 466 pages; Ballantine Books, 1992 edition. ******************************************************************************* Her Own Vietnam—Lynn Kanter. Lynn’s book I am reading as part of a forthcoming virtual book tour. While most novels and movies focus on the male perspective of war, Lynn views Vietnam from the eyes of Della, a young nurse who signed up for the sake of school money. Only one year in the field changes Della forever. Readers don’t experience that numbing fear in the field, which we often get from a soldier’s perspective, but the carnage, the burning, maggot-infested, limbs missing or dangling side of it. The nurses get bags of body parts and must play match the pieces. Told from two time periods (in Vietnam and as a 50-something nurse and mother), Della’s life is one amazing story to read. Her Own Vietnam: Lynn Kanter: 9780991355525: Amazon.com: Books Paperback: 214 pages; forthcoming November 2014 from Shade Mountain Press. Melanie Page teaches in Michiana. She is the creator of the ladies-only blog, Grab the Lapels, where you can catch reviews and interviews every M/W/F (or there about). Her fiction is mostly in small-press anthologies, like Tales of Excess (Unknown Press), Wreckage of Reason II (Spuyten Duyvil), and Dirty: Dirty (Jaded Ibis). ******************************************************************************** Thanks so much, Meg and Melanie! The two books I read recently that are worthy of a mention are Sylvia Plath’s Ariel: The Restored Edition; and Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons: The Corrected Centennial Edition. Interesting that both of these texts appeared in previous publications apparently not in the form/ format of the author/ poet’s initial desires. Check them out! I highly recommend both. ]]>

Hump Day Re-Launch

http://www.everydayfiction.com/flashfictionblog/why-i-write-flash-fiction-tuite/ 2) Roxane Gay (Bad Feminist) delivers with this essay at The New Statesman: http://www.newstatesman.com/2014/10/roxane-gay-i-have-feared-white-men-and-i-have-loved-them 3) Scott Waldyn, of Literary Orphans, reviews ART AND CRAFT at The Tavern Lantern: http://literaryorphans.org/ttl/mastering-art-craft-scott-waldyn-reviews-oscilloscopes-latest/ 4) Rachel Heimowitz has a stunning new poetry collection, What the Light Reveals: http://www.rachelheimowitz.com/ 5) Michael Seidlinger of Civil Coping Mechanisms selects a tie for the press’s Mainline writing contest: http://copingmechanisms.net/mainline 6) While in New York City, I had the wonderful fortune to hear poets Ellen Bass and Kevin Simmonds read from their stellar new collections: http://www.ellenbass.com/ Kevin Simmonds :: musician, writer & artist :: 7) Poet Claudia Rankine waxes and wanes in the Los Angeles Times: http://touch.latimes.com/ – section/-1/article/p2p-81625795/ 8) Recently at Boston Review, poet Amy King gives Ocean Vuong a Poet’s Sampler: http://www.bostonreview.net/poetry/amy-king-ocean-vuong-poets-sampler-ocean-vuong 9) Michelle Bailat-Jones talks with Christopher Allen at I Must Be Off!: http://www.imustbeoff.com/2014/10/expat-author-interview-with-michelle.html 10) I love when my path crosses a new (to me) poet, like Neil McCarthy (at Fictionaut): http://fictionaut.com/stories/neil-mccarthy/criticism-of-the-dead ]]>

Two for Tuesday: books

Doll Palace– Sara Lipmann. I loved. Electrified short stories about girls growing up in NJ/NYC area, sometimes in outlandish situations (like Target Girl, who’s the daughter of a knife throwing expert). Real care put into this writing. Above and beyond the usual, the expected, the mundane. Bonus points because one of the stories in it “Everyone Has Your Best Interests At Heart” takes place in a town on the Jersey shore where I grew up. Paperback: 258 pages; Publisher: Dock Street Press, Sept. 2014 http://dockstreetpress.com/portfolio-item/doll-palace Last Days of California by Mary Miller. A family on a road trip towards the west coast, getting ready for the Rapture. A mobile exploration of contemporary America through the eyes of a teenage Born Again, with doubts. Dig this book because the writing is addictive, seemingly loose, but put together as if done so under a spell. Paperback: 256 pages; Publisher: Liveright (Sept. 2, 2014) The Last Days of California | W. W. Norton & Company Bud Smith’s bio: Bud Smith is 32, hungry, thirsty, and from New Jersey. He currently lives in New York City, in Washington Heights, near the GWB Bridge. He’s got a car that he parks on the street every night. Not a single window has been smashed in, even after eight years. His books are the novels Tollbooth and F-250 (Piscataway House), the short story collection Or Something Like That (Unknown Press) and poetry collection Everything Neon (Marginalia). He works heavy construction building power plants and refineries, welding, burning, rigging to maintain and repair process equipment. So that’s fun. He also co-edits the art meets lit anthology Uno Kudo. Some recent short stories and poems have appeared at Smokelong, JMWW, Metazen, Word Riot, and theNewer York. He is currently working on a collection of poetry. Also: he was born on Thanksgiving Day. Likes to sit at his desk and listen to the same record over and over again. Is fond of paperback books found online, second-hand, written by dead people. More at www.budsmithwrites.com Two for Tuesday: MICHAEL GILLAN MAXWELL The Mayor of MacDougal Street is the mostly autobiographical memoir of Dave Van Ronk, one of the founding figures in the American folk revival in the sixties. He was also one of most influential folk song historians, songwriters and guitarists of his time. The Mayor of MacDougal Street is a sprawling, comprehensive depiction of life and times in New York City’s Greenwich Village in the 1950s, 60’s and 70’s. Thoroughly engaging and fascinating, it’s a beautiful complement to two other NYC memoirs by prominent musicians: Bob Dylan’s Chronicles and Patti Smith’s Just Kids. Paperback: 272 pages; Publisher: Da Capo Press; (Second Edition, 2013) http://www.amazon.com/Mayor-MacDougal-Street-2013-Memoir/dp/0306822164/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413219471&sr=1-1&keywords=Mayor+of+macDougal+street I Never Met A Story I Didn’t Like: Mostly True Tall Tales is Todd Snider’s memoir of his life and career. Todd Snider is one of the most beloved and influential “Americana” singer/songwriter/storytellers out there. Each chapter is an expansion of one or more of his story songs, with larger-than-life characters that are almost mythological in stature. Compelling, compassionate and hilarious, I couldn’t put it down. Don’t pass up an opportunity to see him in concert! Paperback: 304 pages; Publisher: Da Capo Press (April 22, 2014) http://www.amazon.com/Never-Met-Story-Didnt-Like/dp/0306822601/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1413219237&sr=1-1&keywords=todd+snider Michael Gillan Maxwell’s bio: Michael Gillan Maxwell is a writer and visual artist in the Finger Lakes Region of New York state. Maxwell writes short fiction, poetry, songs, essays, recipes and irate letters to his legislators and his work has been featured in a number of journals and anthologies. He serves as associate flash fiction editor for JMWW quarterly journal and editor of MadHat Lit’s Drive-By Reviews. A teller of tales and singer of songs, he’s prone to random outbursts, may spontaneously combust or break into song at any moment and might be occasionally found ranting and raving on his website: Your Own Backyard. http://michaelgillanmaxwell.com Also, I’d like to mention two books that I’ve read recently: Tender Buttons by Gertrude Stein (The Corrected Centennial Edition); and ghostbread by Sonja Livingston. Both highly recommended! Thanks for a great first Two for Tuesday, Bud and Michael! Please feel free to comment with any books you recommend, especially those you are currently reading! ]]>

Recap: My Week in New York City

Saturn Series Poetry Reading Every Monday Nite. There was an open mike at the beginning, then three featured poets: Adeena Karasick, Larissa Shmailo, and Jonathan Penton (all of Mad Hat). Then Bud and I both read in the latter open mike. I read “Three for Carol” (which was my poems devoted to Carol Novack, original editor of Mad Hat), and “Hummingbirds.” Bud slayed three entirely new poems from his forthcoming collection: “In Their Pool,” “point taken,” and “Cherry World.” Tuesday, writing at Cafe Pick Me Up, then lunch with Andrea at Cafe Mogodor in East Village. My New York family. LOVE HER! We’d attempted Yaffa Cafe, but it was closed, so adjacent was Mogodor, and it was fantastic. I also met Andrea’s acupuncturist, Dr. Richard Hazel. My pal, Cyrus arrived in the afternoon. We walked over to SoHo, had a quick bite on a patio at Prince and Lafayette, then I found my local watering hole: Westville! One block from the Sheraton Four Points. Dinner at Spice Market, food fantastic, company even better: Wednesday, October 1, we went to McNally Jackson, where poets Kevin Simmonds and Ellen Bass read. A fantastic literary event, sponsored by The Poetry Society. Then, Bud and I went to Westville for IPA’s (Meg, we toasted to you!) at the bar. I highly recommend Ellen’s new book, Like a Beggar: Ellen Bass – Like a Beggar Thursday, October 2, was the reading at Mellow Pages in Brooklyn! This amazing lending library hosts events regularly http://mellowpageslibrary.com/: Host Jacob Perkins (and Matt Nelson) Reading “Temporary” from new book Still “Temping!!!” Bud Smith really rocked this reading, too. He did this cool thing where he turned off the lights and read from his phone. Killer! Thanks to friends Rae, Valentin, Cyrus and John Madera among others who turned out in support of Bud and me. Friday night party at The Smith- Buleri household (Haven Ave…appropriate name!) Prior I met my publicist, John, at my new favorite vegetarian restaurant, Blossom on Carmine Street. We had a great time! At the party, I saw so many friends, including the hosts, also Michael Maxwell was in the house, Julie Allen, Chuck Howe, Erin McParland, Gessy Alvarez, and many more. Because it was our dear friend Meg’s birthday, we took silly photos and posted them on her Facebook page. Silly, goofy fun: Glasses courtesy of Unknown Press Saturday started with watching videos of Sylvia Plath on YouTube, recorded at the BBC in 1962, only months before her premature death. “Did I escape I wonder?” So many great lines in her Ariel poems. Dear friend David met me at Cafe Pick Me Up, and we strolled around the East Village in search of a bag for his new bear poem books, a gift from Cyrus. Andrea and Ian met us for an early bite at Caravan of Dreams on E. 6th Street. That evening, we had our group reading for Too Much: Tales of Excess Anthology, edited by Chuck Howe, published by Unknown Press: Amazon.com: Too Much: Tales of Excess (9781500216771): Chuck Howe, Elynne Chaplik-Aleskow, Michael Gillan Maxwell, Melanie Page, Puma Perl, Ron Kolm, Robert Vaughn, James H Duncan, Misti Rainwater-Lites, Gus Sanchez, Ryder Collins, Ashley Perez, Sophia Sturges, Ted Jackins, John Saunders, Irene Stone, Bekah Steimel, Dave Roskos, Tracey Lander-Garrett, Meg Tuite, Heather Dorn: Books. Such a blast, Bud was a great host, and Chuck plied us all with his banjo strumming to wrap, while host of Jimmy’s 43 supplied us with free Stillwater Existent black IPA’s. Oh what a night! Arriving at Jimmy’s 43 with Bud and MGM Bud Smith, host and vivant reader David Carter and Michael Maxwell A great audience at Jimmy’s 43 And that, my friends, is a New York wrap! Also, I have a new poem at Fictionaut. “Solaris,” my first piece there in months: “Solaris” by Robert Vaughan — Fictionaut. Just as I was preparing to leave NYC, I saw this image on a boarded up excavation site adjacent to my hotel, and I knew I was ready to get back home: Thanks everyone for a great New York City week, big city of dreams! I’ll be back. ]]>