Author: Roxane Gay

Ask the Editor: B.J. Hollars, Editor, You Must Be This Tall To Ride

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B.J. Hollars is the editor of the anthology and online magazine You Must Be This Tall To Ride. Today, he takes some questions about projects past, present, future and discusses some other fun things too.

1. How tall exactly must you be to ride?

5’7.”   That way you can’t slip between the bar during that ride that spins you upside down and looks like a Viking ship.

But to read the book, you can be any height.   We don’t discriminate.

2. Ride what?

Like I said, the Viking ship.   But also, metaphorically speaking (at least for the anthology), “the ride” is just reading the coming of age stories and trying to write a few yourself.

3. What is your favorite coming-of-age novel?

Well, the most popular answer is probably The Catcher in the Rye, but I think there are plenty of more modern ones to point to as well.   Like John Green’s Looking for Alaska and Stephen Chbosky’s The Perks of Being A Wallflower.     I’m forgetting like a thousand, though.   Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine is probably my favorite book of all time.   It’s sort of about two brothers coming of age in 1928.   Lots of ice-cream and scary ravines and trolley cars.   You know, great stuff.   Sentimental sure, but he sort of invented it.

4. What are the three main characteristics of a good coming of age story? What is the biggest downfall of a less than successful coming of age story?

The biggest downfall is easy: resorting to the same cliches of the genre without enhancing them in some way.   Most of the stories I have to reject suffer from the same old coming of age sentimentality that we’ve all seen a hundred times before.   I’m guilty of this in my own writing too, of course.   I think we cling to the familiar because we want others to recognize the experience, but at the same time we want the experience to be unique.   That’s the fine line all writers must walk, but I think it’s even more difficult in a genre such as this.   How many times do we really want to see the quarterback of the football team date the head cheerleader?   For all the stories we’ve heard there are still hundreds of stories that haven’t been given a voice.   I like those unrepresented stories the most.   Or at least a new twist on an old tale.

The three best characteristics are originality, strong premise, and strong prose.   The same as all writing, probably.

5. I see you’re on the staff of the Black Warrior Review? How’s my submission doing? Is it lonely? Has it made new friends?

I’m actually a former staffer.   I’m the former nonfiction editor and former assistant fiction editor.   I really enjoyed reading for the magazine, but You Must Be This Tall To Ride has been an all-consuming task.   But to answer you’re question, yes, I heard your submission is quite popular and made all kinds of friends with the other submissions.

6. So there’s both a book and an online magazine for You Must Be This Tall to Ride. Tell us about these projects. How did they come about? Why are you so interested in coming of age stories? Or is the better question are you interested in coming of age stories?

I’m not sure how the project came about.   I think I’ve always been fascinated by this genre in my own writing, but I always felt coming of age stories sort of got a bad rap.   I wanted to prove that great writers delve into the coming of age story as well.   Too often people hear about my appreciation for “coming of age” stories and think I watch Dawson’s Creek (ed: hey! Dawson’s Creek is awesome. Teens. They’re just like us!) reruns and own all The Jonas Brothers CD.   Not the case, I assure you.   The more I read literary journals the more I came across these incredible stories.   I started keeping a list of authors whose work I admired.   When I contacted these writers, they all had a story to share.   I was proud to put them together alongside the author’s original essays and writing exercises.

Yes, I am interested in coming of age stories, certainly, but the “why” portion of the question is much more difficult to answer.   I guess I just figured there are a few common experiences all humans share: birth, death, and the awkward coming of age that occurs somewhere between those events.   Everyone has a coming of age story to tell, and I think most people look back at their own growing up experiences with a kind of strange nostalgia that doesn’t occur during any other period of life.

7. Other than PANK, what is your favorite magazine?

Don’t make me choose.   I love lit mags and think all the editors are doing a huge service to the writing community.   Of course I’m a Black Warrior fan, but I also enjoy Hobart, DIAGRAM, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Mid-American Review, among others.   One of the best perks of working with Black Warrior Review was that the office held an incredible library of current lit mags.   I always really enjoyed getting to read such incredible work.

8. I know from your submission to PANK, excellent by the way, that you sometimes write with a partner. Do you guys ever have any dramatic conflicts that would make for good gossip? What’s it like writing with a partner? How does it benefit your writing process?

Oh yeah, whenever we disagree about a word or a phrase we just arm wrestle to see who wins.   If that doesn’t do it, we joust.

Just kidding.   The collaboration with my friend Brendan has been incredible.   He’s the poet and I’m the fiction writer, so he managed to take my general plot and make everything beautiful.   I sort of think of us as a couple of ice sculptors where I typically take these huge, uncontrollable swings and he takes care of all the details and actually made it look like something good.   His job is the harder one, undoubtedly.   But the collaborative process was also incredibly invigorating.   Writing can be so secluded and private, but when we collaborated, we were sending drafts back to each other several times a day.   I probably checked my email every hour for six months just to see what slight tweaks we’d made from draft to draft.

9. Do you like your MFA program? Have you ever considered committing a crime during a workshop? If so, which crime and why?

Is stealing other people’s wonderful stories considered a crime?   Probably not wherever the hell James Frey is from—

But yes, I sincerely love the MFA program at The University of Alabama and we’ve managed to keep the crimes to a minimum.   The program’s great because when we’re not in class we’re typically playing flag football or basketball or grilling bratwursts—three of my favorite activities.

10. What does it take to be a man?

Oh geez, you stumbled across that old thing?   I started that podcast the day I got engaged, trying to commemorate the occasion or something.   Then, a few months later (and after only a few more episodes) I realized I had no idea what it meant to be a man.   Probably, that’s what actually spurred my coming of age obsession now that I think about it.   Because I didn’t know the answer to that question.   Probably a lot of heartbreak.   That, and being awarded the Presidential Fitness Award in gym class.   It took me like a decade to fulfill the necessary number of pull-ups (two), but man, receiving that award was sweet and I sure felt like a man.

11. You seem pretty busy. Do you have time for important things like TV? What’s your favorite show right now?

If you mean walking the dog and grilling bratwursts then yes, I’m incredibly busy.   After all, those brats aren’t going to grill themselves.   But when I’m not up to my ears in dog walks, yes, I watch an absurd amount of television.   I like to think of it as “research” for my next story.   The “watch instantly” feature on Netflix has started to ruin my life.   I just finished The Tudors.   My wife and I have also been flying through Big Love, In Treatment, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, True Blood and The West Wing.   Pretty much if it’s on HBO or has Martin Sheen playing the president, we’re all over it.

12. You Must Be This Tall to Ride and PANK meet at a bar, have drinks, hit it off. Do they a. go to a sleazy motel and have a one night stand or b. make out in the bar but leave it at that or c. exchange phone numbers, start dating, and live happily ever after? Show your math.

Well, according to the transitive property, and when taking wind speed into account, and the Bernoulli Effect—I’d have to go with B.   After all, we’re talking “coming of age” stories here and having You Must Be This Tall To Ride losing his virginity to PANK would be too cliche.   I’d say they’d make out, maybe work the bra some, and then leave everyone slightly unfulfilled.   That seems like the coming of age thing to do.

13. Duotrope: Virtue or Vice?

It’s never personally offended me or challenged me to a duel so I’d have to say virtue.   Anything that helps spread the good word about literary magazines has to be a virtue, right?   Unless that thing was shaped like a crossbow that shot poison arrows—

14. Does your editorial work influence your writing? How?

It makes me more self-conscious.   And while this might seem like a pretty terrible thing to say, some of the weaker submissions help me to learn from others’ mistakes.   Clearly, I haven’t read nearly enough submissions to make me some kind of expert, but the weaker submissions—while not typically published—are often very helpful to other writers.   My work on Black Warrior Review and   You Must Be This Tall To Ride have been invaluable to me.   I think I’m a better writer today because I’ve had the privilege to read so much other work.

15. What’s on the horizon for You Must Be This Tall to Ride? Will there be another book?

I sure hope so.   I guess the answer to that resides in how the first book does.   I divided up my advance between the contributors so I’m not making money off the thing.   I just truly believe in the writers and the work and so I’ve been doing all I can to try to get the book into as many classrooms as possible.   I think this anthology is unique from others because the essays really show the “behind the scenes” of the stories which is something you can’t often find in other anthologies.   I’ll continue collecting the best stories and featuring them on the online magazine but nothing would make me happier than the opportunity to make a Vol. II.

16. What question should I have asked?

If I’m tall enough to ride.   Yes.   I think so.   I’m 5’9.”   But you should see me on the basketball court.   You’d probably swear I was like 5’9 ½.” (ed. That is a good question!)

Useful Things

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From Ashley’s Desk: Mira’s List, a free service for aspiring artists, writers and the like, has information about a  grant fellowship through the Center For Book Arts.  It’s for residents of New York, but once you check out the details at http://miraslist.blogspot.com/2009/05/artists-book-residencies-and-grants.html you might just find yourself packing up and moving to NY.

-and-

2010 Kore Press First Book Award Now Accepting Submissions!

Judge: Claudia Rankine
Deadline: July 31, 2009
A prize of $1,000 plus book publication by Kore Press will be given for a book-length poetry manuscript.

This competition is open to any female writer who has not published a   full-length collection of poetry. Writers who have had chapbooks of less than   42 pages printed in editions of no more than 400 copies are eligible.

How to Submit
Submit your manuscript and $20 reading fee here.

Manuscripts must be:

  • a minimum of 48 pages and a maximum of 70 pages. no cover letter needed.
  • anonymous (do not include your name anywhere on the manuscript)
  • original poetry written by applicant (translations are not eligible)

Questions? Contact kore@korepress.org or visit our website http://www.korepress.org

We Too Choose Honest Arrogance

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I like when a writer knows their work is good. I like when a writer is unapologetic about their talent and doesn’t make excuses for their ambition or success. How can you expect an editor to fall in love with your writing if you consistently diminish your own talent? When you say read me, like me, accept me even though I hate me, that’s false advertising.

It’s a shame that we don’t see a lot of genuine confidence in the writing world. Part of it is that many writers are dealing with any number of neuroses and insecurities. I count myself as part of that population. Part of it is peer pressure. Secretly, most of us think the world of ourselves. When it comes to the public face we paint on each day, self-deprecation becomes de riguer because we want to fit in. It’s what everyone else is doing. We say we’re not that good or we’re lucky or we’re not as good as and then offer a list of writers who are bigger better stronger faster. Maybe that isn’t necessary.

Many writers fear being branded with the scarlet letter of arrogance. However, confidence is not synonymous with arrogance. I acknowledge that there are many arrogant writers in the world. (Stop looking at me!) Sometimes that arrogance is justified. Other times, it is largely unfounded. Two things, to my mind, distinguish confidence from arrogance—talent and humility—but humility doesn’t mean pretending you aren’t an amazing writer. It means acting with grace whenever possible. It means keeping your talent in perspective and remaining open to criticism and rejection and reality.   And let’s face it. If you’re talented enough, you don’t need much humility. Frank Lloyd Wright once said, “Early in life, I had to choose between honest arrogance and hypocritical humility. I chose honest arrogance and have seen no occasions to change.” In the spirit of that sentiment, share your honest arrogance with us.

Happy Fourth of July Weekend, Americans. And for the rest of us, TGIF! Coming Monday, a fun fun interview wtih the editor of You Must Be This Tall To Ride, B.J. Hollars.

Things I’ve Been Reading

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I had several firsts this week as I enjoyed my first issues of American Short Fiction, Keyhole, and Quick Fiction. I was duly impressed by all three publications. Actually, I lie. I’ve read the Handwritten Issue of Keyhole, too and I’ve read the ASF Pin Ups online. Okay, not so much for the firsts.

I was most skeptical of ASF because that’s simply my nature. The stories in the Summer 2009 issue, however, were remarkable and ASF‘s reputation as a home for excellent fiction is very well-deserved.

Contents:

Elegy for Elwood LePoer (1971-1992) by Christie Hodgen

Mask of Destiny by Karen Gentry

Two stories by J. Erin Sweeney

Brightness, Luminosity, and Distance by Kirsten Marcum

The Universe in Miniature in Miniature by Patrick Somerville

Of these six stories, I enjoyed four. Of those four, I’m going to talk about three–the stories by J. Erin Sweeney and Kirsten Marcum. Sweeney’s Scenes From The Fight Class is a tight, aggressive three paragraphs quite literally drawing scenes from a fight class. But it is the last line that is the most powerful, “NO one can hurt you, they say, without first moving this.” I love stories that are specific and vague, literal and full of subtext all at the same time. This story accomplishes these things deftly. Her story Response reminded me a great deal of Ryan Boudinot’s The Miner in Monkeybicycle 6, playing on allegory in a reality where people avoid food to avoid illness. It is a haunting little peace that again uses the same economy of language to tell a very rich story. Excellent stuff.

Kirsten Marcum’s Brightness, Luminosity, and Distance is a story of a woman (Carrie) who leaves her husband, goes to a class reunion, meets a classmate (Ruth) she didn’t really know who is dying of cancer and then moves in with that woman until she dies. This is my kind of story–the one where the characters are all kinds of fucked up but you still yearn for them and love them. They do things that make you cringe and still you can’t look away. This story accomplishes what I often note in submissions we reject–it’s fine to write about subjects that have been written about time and again, but do something different. In Brightness, Luminosity, and Distance, that difference is there and it is brilliant.

Quick Fiction 15 is a tight tight collection of writing and I was introduced to many writers with whom I was not familiar. So many of the stories in this issue were stark and horrifying and simply astounding. Stefan Kiesbye’s story of a shoe store clerk with a tendency to stalk and a much older woman should be disturbing but it is also somewhat poignant. The real standout of the issue is Andrea Kneeland’s The Practical Application of Beauty, about a man and a hustler and a hotel room and a very unhappy ending. What I particularly appreciated about this story (that title!), was the attention to detail. For example, “The skin of the eyelids was rice-paper thin, the slight bulge of the iris, the shape of its immobility visible beneath.”   Other favorites were Elizabeth Ellen’s Heist and her portrayal of a woman between two lovers, Stolen Goods by Spencer Wise a clever piece about a boy and a bathroom and pictures of his sister and inappropriate behavior, and The Cost of Lighting by Mabel Y, a story that, like all the stories in this issue, does so much with so little.

Keyhole 7 is one of those issues that made me chuckle because a couple of the pieces had been in our submission queue back when we were lagging behind so I had read them and it was a good reminder as to why editors should stay on top of things. This is a strong issue and I appreciate the editorial vision that creates cohesion betweeen a wide range of writing styles.   This issue included more of Scott Garson’s Gymnopedies which I really enjoyed. That enjoyment increased when I opened my dictionary to look up the definition of a gymnopedie. That was useful. I am, as ever, a rocket scientist. Ryan Call had an excellent story, I Pilot My Bed Deep Into the Night, from the same weather torn world in which his story in Caketrain 6 is set (more on that issue later). Gary Moshimer’s The Fat Lady Sang is one of those stories that has so many witty, sly lines that you stop underlining passages because you’ll only end up marking up the whole of every page. The story I enjoyed most, however, was Tim Jones-Yelvington’s Everyday Zoology.

In Everyday Zoology, the story begins with a lovely epigraph from Jorge Luis Borges. I am not often a fan of epigraphs but this one was well-placed. This is a story where the writer makes the ordinary extraordinary. The prose is dense and imaginative and for me, at least, the story really spoke to the idea of something animalistic in all of us. I was also impressed by the way TJY expressed motherhood in this story as something dreamy and lonely and routine and unique. He used the second person (something with which I am quite obsessed) and for this story I thought it was a smart smart move. The second person doesn’t always work, but when it does, it really does.   The last line is also fantastic. It brings such a masterful conclusion to this story: “You open your mouth, fanged and shrieking.”

Why Selling Points Matter and Other News

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Short but sweet, the people at Salt Publishing give us 100 words of advice why selling points for books matter: Check it out at http://saltpublishing.com/blogs/index.php?itemid=670

There’s a new issue of decomP that looks excellent as always.

Keyhole is offering a free sample of their Handwrittne issue.

Alice Hoffman temporarily lost her mind on Twitter, then regained her sanity and deleted her Twitter account.

There’s a new issue of DIAGRAM.

There’s a new place online where women writers can hang out.

Umm, a blog-based reality show about writers? Lauren Becker, you are a visionary!

Nominations are open for the 2008 Best of the Net. If you have suggestions about which stories PANK should nominate, please let us know.

A conversation between Ben Brooks and Shane Jones.

A directory of book trade people on Twitter.

Should we all quit blogging?

A profile of the poet laureate.

Shaman Drum in Ann Arbor has closed. Support your independent bookstores when you can.

Reader Request: The Whole Online Thing

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On Twitter this weekend, I was taking requests for things to blog about because I’m all about service. And I’m lazy. Nik Perring suggested I talk about how the Internet is affecting the short form,   what it’s doing for readers and writers. I don’t really have any deep thoughts on this subject because so many others have tackled it quite eloquently, but I’ll toss out a couple things. We aim to please. These are just my opinions, and I’m no authority on anything, so please, take this with a significantly sized grain of salt.

The Good

Online writing has great reach. While many writers are still hung up on print publication, the reality is that your writing will be more widely read online. For example, we print 500 copies of PANK each year. For PANK 3, 128 copies went to contributors.   This year, we’ll   have more than 40,000 visitors to our website. In the big picture of the Internet, our online readership is tiny, but still, 40,000 unique visitors is a lot more than 362. I understand the importance of print publication for the academics among us. Matt, Mare and I are all “academics,” so we’re sensitive to the issue.   At the same time, I would love to see more acknowledgment, within the academy, of the legitimacy of online publishing, particularly in terms of readership. Part of that legitimacy will come from academics making a case to their tenure committees as to why a publication in many online magazines is as if not more legitimate as publication in the Random Ass Review that prints 150 copies a year. As an aside, if anyone decides to start a magazine called the Random Ass Review, I’ll subscribe.

There’s an abundance, an overwhelming abundance of good writing online. I don’t doubt there was a time when there was a bunch of crap writing in online magazines, but in the past several years, the quality has gotten beyond reproach. I would put any issue of most online magazines up against the traditional print mags.

Online publishing is more flexible in making room in the canon for experimental writing. mud luscious and abjective and elimae, in particular, come to mind. The work they are publishing consistently challenges (in a great way) my expectations in really exciting directions. Online publishing also encourages multimodal storytelling–incorprating image, text and sound to create really innovative reading experiences.

Online writing is flexible in terms of being able not only to reach more readers but to showcase more writers. We publish one print issue a year but 12 monthly online issues and that allows us the ability to develop really great relationships with more writers.

All of this contributes to more people reading more short stories (and of course poetry) and giving writers more and better opportunities to showcase their craft.

Continue reading →

Ask the Editor: Lauren Becker, Fiction Editor, DOGZPLOT

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Once a week, more or less, we’re going to interview an editor or other person of interest that you may not know a lot about. Our first interview is Lauren Becker, a PANK contributor past and future. She is also the 6th most popular search term for our website AND the fiction editor of DOGZPLOT.

1. What would Tim Gunn from Bravo’s (formerly) Project Runway say about the majority of the submissions you reject for DOGZPLOT?

I’m concerned (left hand on chin, right waggling at submission).

2. What is your biggest editorial pet peeve?

It’s a tie.   The first is when a writer states in the cover letter that s/he doesn’t think it’s a good fit for us (worded in many different ways) but decided to send it anyway.   Which implies that my time is not valuable.   I’m a writer, too.   I’ve done tons of research for good markets for submissions.   It’s a courtesy and I’m big on manners.

The other is when I receive another submission from a writer minutes to hours after sending a rejection.   Perseverance is great.   But please let me clear my palate.   A little sorbet of other writers’ work.   I promise I won’t forget you if you re-submit days or even weeks later.

3. Other than PANK, what is your favorite magazine these days?

Ummm, this is a tough one.   I’d say the two (other) journals I consistently read, start to finish, are Wigleaf and Hobart (web).   Haven’t been able to afford print due to unemployment but I’d read these two, regardless.

4. What do you enjoy most about editing?

I absolutely love reading an amazing first line that turns into an amazing story.     The first issue I edited should be up any day now.   They’re all great stories; some are breathtaking.   Selecting each story gave me great joy as a reader and made me feel like I hit pay dirt as an editor.

5. Do you read every submission all the way through, even if it is excruciating?

Pretty much, yeah.   I figure someone has taken the time to write something and put it out there for judgment (which is scary), the least I can do is read it, even if I know from the first paragraph that I’m not going to take it.   There’s always the possibility that setting aside a not-so-great first paragraph could reveal a gorgeous story.   Keep in mind I’ve only been editing since April; jadedness is not out of the question.

The only ones I generally don’t read in their entirety are those over 5,000 words.   I try to stick with stories of fewer than 2500 words.   Web readers don’t have the same attention span as print readers, I’ve found.   I’m still peeved at the guy who sent me almost 15,000 words.

6. If you had to give potential DOGZPLOT submitters one piece of advice, what would it be?

This is not original advice, but it’s highly relevant, which is why it’s so often repeated:   Read the magazine before submitting.   The guidelines, the stories, my name.     If your story doesn’t seem like it will fit, wait and send me something that you think will.

7. What kind of bribes are you willing to accept?

You are psychic.   I was about to add something to my last answer.   Cash is fantastic.   I take Paypal.   Gift cards for anywhere but chain restaurants.   Chocolate.   And checks with two forms of identification.   You could also just compliment my writing and tell me I’m pretty.

8. DOGZPLOT and PANK meet at a bar, have drinks, hit it off. Do they a. go to a sleazy motel and have a one night stand or b. make out in the bar but leave it at that or c. exchange phone numbers, start dating, and live happily ever after? Show your math.

Keep in mind that my answer is based on the equation (showing my math) DOGZPLOT = Barry Graham.

d.   have sex standing up in the dirty bathroom of a dive bar without exchanging names.   He’s a romantic.   And I know PANK likes it dirty.

If it were me and PANK, … combo of b and c.   Unless PANK got me really, really drunk.

9. Would it be possible to have a Bravo reality show about creative writers and editors? How would it work?

Yes!   Throw a bunch of writers/editors with the biggest personalities/egos in a house together and make them compete in cooking and dress-designing competitions.     Add a few timed challenges using really bad prompts, such as:

– Write a poem about a foot cramp.   Must include the word “epiglottis.”     Extra points for rhyming.
– Write a creative non-fiction piece about a housemate (to be assigned), disclosing embarrassing personal information.   Extra points for making them cry.

Anyone who overuses adverbs gets no protein or adjectives for a week.

10. What is your favorite cocktail?

Not that into cocktails.   Maker’s neat.   Water back.

11. Does your editorial work influence your writing? If so, how?

Yes.   I don’t know how but I’m virtually certain it does.

12. Duotrope: virtue or vice?

Both.

Virtue:   I love that submissions tracker so much you wouldn’t believe.   I am not good at tracking.   I would rather die than take an hour to set up and populate a spreadsheet.

Vice:   It’s addictive to check when journals are responding to submissions.   And then to drive oneself crazy with speculation.

There is all sorts of calculus and/or other really hard math involved here.   One must click on the journal’s name.   Look at acceptance/rejection rates.   Look at average response times.   Look at the date of the last response and how long it took.   Depending on what kind of writer you are, think of yourself favorably or use even positive indicators as evidence that you are a horrible writer and person. Think about how cool it would be to have that credit in your bio.   Get mad at yourself for jinxing it.   Repeat 1-15 times daily.

13. What are you working on right now?

I can’t tell you.   You might steal my idea.

I’m actually pretty stuck right now.   I have one short about a one-night stand I need to play with.   The story.   Not the one-night stand.   I have some other stuff I’m not motivated to work on right now.   In general, I am trying to get back into short story territory.     And my parents would like me to write something they can show their friends.   I’m thinking the one-night stand one is not going to be a big hit at Rosh Hashanah services.

14. Is there anything exciting on the horizon for DOGZPLOT?

I have no idea.   Barry never tells me anything.

Actually, he is doing a thing in Atlantic City July 31 – August 2.   He says it’s a reading, but I’ve never heard of a three-day reading, so I think it’s a little bit of reading and some gambling and debauchery.   I wish I could go but

I’m starting my new job.

I am maybe putting on a reading (like 1-2 hours. Not three days.) with some other folks in the Bay Area.   Maybe in October.

And, of course, there is the imminent DOGZPANK joint reading at AWP 2010. (ed: DOGZPANK will be epic + legendary.)

15. What question should I have asked?

What am I wearing? (ed: You’re right. We were remiss.)

Your Title Matters

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Lately, I’ve been reading a number of submissions that are pretty damn good, but have not great titles. While this is something that can be easily fixed most of the time, I do find it a little distracting. The title of a story or poem is important. It is the prelude. It is the amuse tete, if you will, so it was pretty excellent timing when Entertainment Weekly, or The Bible as I like to call it, put up a little thing about the 14 worst titles for celebrity memoirs. The Gray Lady also weighs in on the importance of a good title.

So it has been written, so it shall be!

DVD Giveaways

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That problem I mentioned about replicating books also happens with DVDs. Don’t judge. My collection is extensive. My memory is not. Comment with a funny joke and what you want and I’ll be in touch.

Today, to happy homes, I offer:

  • 21 (about those MIT kids who took Vegas on)
  • Spaceballs
  • Starship Troopers Marauder on Blu-Ray (DON’T JUDGE ME)
  • The Darjeeling Limited
  • An Inconvenient Truth
  • Lara Croft: Tomb Raider

Short Story Month Anthology

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From the Desk of Incredible Ashley (who will be doing more blogging for us in the coming weeks and months):

Dzanc books in collaboration with Matt Bell, Aaron Burch of Hobart, Steven McDermott of Storyglossia, and Dzanc’s Dan Wickett at Emerging Writers Network have compiled over 320 pages of 160 stories from the wonderful month of May – a month devoted to the short story.  To get a copy go to http://www.dzancbooks.org/support.html

Ten bucks minimum for it…even I could handle that!

And in the spirit of this project, PANK will give away 1 copy of this exciting collaboration to the first commenter. If you’ve already won something from us, you don’t get to play.