Dire Series Summer 2026 Schedule

 

June

4    Christy Cashman

18  Tony Gloeggler

July

9  Laurin Macios

23 Susan Buttenwieser   

August

6 Miriam Manglani  

27 Jessica Harmon

Kooshioning the Blow appears in 10 X 10: Flash Fiction Stories, #38/

    Zvi Sesling's 10 X 10: Flash Fiction Stories comes out about once a month (whenever he accepts 10 stories), and I'm thrilled that my flash fiction, Kooshioning the Blow is included in Issue #38. 

   I've been published here four times previously, and this time I'm in  the issue with Huina Zheng, Eileen Tabios, David Henson, Swetha Amid, Pablo Libedinsky, Debra Myers, Robert David Garnham, Austin Alexis  and Joan Leotta. I've embedded it here for your convenience. 

    The story itself was a nice break from the serious true crime writing I've been working on of late. Back to the odd, strange and bizarre world flash fiction allows, and I often use. The main character wears a rubber koosh-ball suit. Why? Read by scrolling below it to find out!

SCROLL ON THE ISSUE!

Seven writers discuss AI usage in writing and pros/cons of

Very interesting discussion on a very talked about subject. 

 

TV Appearance: Art About with Jen Campbell talking about/reading from, Shadows of the Seen

     Bev Cam from Beverly, Massachusetts has a great show promoting art called Art About, which Jen Campbell totally rocks with!

    Here's the show and the production of the show is solid, so give it a watch. (It's only 27 minutes)

    The story behind this story is that I reveal some very personal information which influenced the book's characters.

Side note: I needed make-up to take the shine off my head. 

The "Red Hot Chili Peppers Stole My Drugs" essay, and the art of begging for votes.

     I've been telling this story since it happened, so when the March Madness brackets for essays about sad songs invited me to write one about a song from the 90's I picked Under the Bridge, and wrote about the isolation of recovery. Read it at the bottom of this link. 

   

To win your bracket it involves getting people to vote for you as your opponent is doing the same thing. It feels weird. Begging people to vote for you, by flooding their social media feeds with this request so you can win lacks integrity, and my feelings are the over-and-over begging can come across as pathetic. Usually friends, who won't even read the piece will click it because it's as easy to do as a 'like'.  These contests play like a high-school popularity contests and less about quality of he work. That's my head talking. 

    In reality, the concept itself is very cool and a blast, and I had fun writing about recovery through the lense of the the Chili Peppers song. 

    I didn't post like a maniac and beg for votes,  so I lost. More specifically, I forgot the competition was running and my game happened on March 4th, without me mentioning it at all and I lost. If I had only remembered, I would have been begging to the devil. 

 

  

I forgot because I was at AWP in Baltimore in the middle of a book tour, where hawking books somehow showed much more integrity. The elevator pitch, I repeated over 5,000 times really sold Shadows of the Seen.

        "Shadows of the Seen is a novel dealing with the gun issue written in three distinct narratives. There is a politician who is actually a liberal in beliefs who runs on right-wing gun talking points to have a career. There is a mass shooter, and finally there is someone with nothing to live for who breaks up a mass  shooting, but of the two, you don't know which is which until the end." 

    Then I weaved my way home doing a reading in Philadelphia for the Philadelphia Writers Circle hosted by the wonderful Jane-Rebecca Cannarella and Alex DiFrancesco. The event was held at Ray's Happy Birthday Bar, a remarkable dive that removes the Bathroom Out of Order Sign for use, but it also has a sign in the bathroom that reads, Hand Towels Available at the Bar right next to the sink.

    The next night, I went on to Mid-Town Manhattan, to read for The Italian American Writers Association, who also hosts readings in Boston and Philadelphia. My co-feature, Tony Gloeggler was a poet I had a lot in common with professionally  Tony ran group homes before he retired, and some of his poems about his job were gut-thrashing realistic and sweet. 

    I left with 3 boxes of books, and came home with a handful. I didn't beg for your votes, but read the essay anyway. I'm so very grateful to have been on a successful book tour, where, fool that I am, secretly fell in love a bunch of times, but I won't bring that up, the same way I won't bring up voting for an essay in order to win. What I will bring up was the support, the purchases, the friends I ran into, the old friends I met with, and the folks running these events were all simply amazing. I also found 5 nice recovery meetings in all these cities, which keeps me from being under a bridge. 

Say "Hi" to me in Baltimore, Philly, and NY

 Next Three and where I'll be at AWP in Baltimore, then Philly, then NY. Old friends and Dire acquaintances, I will have time to hang out!

Three Songs from The Timothy Gager Uno (live)

 Click the orange picture to hear them! 

Recorded LIVE at the Midway Cafe in Jamaica Plain, Ma, 2.14.26

1) Down To the Shore

2) Into the Light of Your Eyes

3) Driver's License 

Check out my Two Orb Poems, from Outspoken, WGBH, public television studios in Boston

 Amanda Shea hosts this great series at WGBH studios, Channel 2, Boston. Some great readers and people that day. My two poems:

 Heaven and Hell (The Earth is Round), 

and Orb, I. 

can be heard, beginning at 4:30

(The other time I was at WGBH can be seen HERE)

Featured Today In Boston Literary Magazine---I talk Books, writing, give Samples, and of course, Recovery

 After a hiatus Boston Literary Magazine is back, and I'm pleased to write them an essay in their second issue.  

Of course, Robin Stratton is a tour de force, and an amazing human being. My writing world became a whole lot bigger because of her and her publishing arm Big Table!

Read it and you can find out a little more about me. Thx.

These New Orbs, Second Blurb by –Mignon Ariel King

Mignon Ariel King was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts and has never left her home time zone. An alumna of Simmons University, she worked for a decade as a database assistant by day and an adjunct English instructor by night at various small colleges. King is the publisher of Tell-Tale Chapbooks and Hidden Charm Press. Her blog is Making Books Rock (dot) wordpress (dot) com.

"These New Orbs" will be out soon. First blurb from Richard Hoffman

                                                                Richard Hoffman is an amazing poet, and a friend. When it comes down to it, friends are those who will give you blurbs, and his is very generous. I'm extremely grateful he liked the book

You can read some of his work off his website. HERE, I'll make it easy for you all. 

Here are my TOP 10 MOST VIEWED BLOG posts from 2025 (and why I think you read them)

     TOP TEN MOST VIEWED BLOG POSTS FOR 2025! Links to each one and reasons why found below. Big boosts for ones with multi-media, either video or audio. Also, posts about Shadows of the Seen received a lot of looks. 

     More likely you'll give a shit about as much as the Top 10 Most Iconic Pop Culture Moments of 2025.

Below is My TOP 10 MOST VIEWED BLOGS OF 2025

(and why they were viewed)

Why are they viewed? 

1) Virtual Dire Series Schedule, Jan-May 2025

2) Virtual Dire Literary Series, This Summer 

 In the top two spots these SHOW need to know as people kept losing track of when the Virtual Thursdays Dire Literary Series was happening. Sometimes it's on a Friday, sometimes not every other week. 

3) Excited that No More Bears is up with audio file at Pine Hills Review

It's all about the audio file, which is a very cool feature. 

4) Officially Released: Shadows of the Seen

First novel in two years deals with gun issue in USA. 

5) My poem, We, choreographed , spoken, and danced to by Betsy Miller at Mass Poetry Festival 

Multi-media posted on this page, and just 'wow'! A dance troop danced to one of my poems at Mass Poetry. Plus Mass Poetry Festival was pretty amazing. 

6) New Poem Published Today, The Stars That Refused to Burn Out, after Andrea Gibson

A poem published  honoring someone who passed in 2025, the great Andrea Gibson. 

7) Coming May 14, 2025, and you can take a deep dive. 

The deep dive is an audio review about the upcoming Shadows of the Seen. More media please. 

8) Shadows of the Seen now available for pre-sale. 

Three months after the 'deep dive' people bought into this! Thank-you!

9) Flash Piece Dogs up at Literary Underground. 

2025 saw Cats, Dogs, and Bears published as three separate published pieces. The post for Cats, appeared just out of the Top 10

10)  Art is For The People, RIP, Tom Tipton

People that knew me, knew the Dire Series (live) and Out of the Blue Art Gallery, came here.

2025 Publishing Year in Review

 Here is everything I put out in the world in 2025, plus brutal photos of my legs...

BOOKS 

Shadows Of The Seen,, May, 2025, Pierian Springs Press

SHORT, FLASH, AND MICRO FICTION

"Miracles of the Circus"
December 13, 2025 Meat for Tea, The Valley Reviews, Vol. 19, Issue 4

"Strange Facts About The Human Body You Know About
(after Tales for Men Who are Lost at Sea)",
December 3, 2025 Oddball Magazine

"Dogs", September 6, 2025 The Literary Underground

"No More Bears", August 27, 2025 Pine Hills Review

"Cats", June 22, 2025 The Freshwater Review, Volume 28

"On To The Next Thing", January 31, 2025 10-by-10, Issue #24

POETRY

"These New Orbs"
" Between Them"
September 13, 2025 Meat For Tea, Volume 19, Issue 3 (Faux)

"The Stars Who Refuse to Burn Out after Andrea Gibson"
July 23, 2025 Oddball Magazine

"lepidopterans"
"The Storm He Can No Longer Remember"
"When The Mind Goes First (for my father)"
July 1, 2025 North of Oxford

"Reply To Someone Who Has Had a Lifetime of Losses"
April 3, 2025 The Long Islander Newspaper (print)

"Loses"
March 20, 2025 Ink In Thirds

"Where to Look for Deceased Parents"
March 10, 2025 The Literary Underground

"Sill"
"The Ordinary"
"The Uninvited Dance"
March 1, 2025 Bagels with the Bards Anthology, #17, Print

PODCASTS

The Two Deans (Dean and Dawes): Dating, Dread and Disasters (also found on Spotify, I Heart Radio, Podcaster, Amazon) 

==================================================================================================================================================================================

Also, on a personal note. I had to stop running for 6 months as I ruptured my hamstring, detaching it from the bone in June. The pattern of bruising is common for significant hamstring injuries. 

I also had knee surgery (scope) in late September. In early December after months of Physical Therapy, which was amazing, I began to slowly run and build up stamina and "speed". So grateful for the ability to recover. 

Dire Series: Winter (January-May) 2026 to before you know it, Summer

 

January

15   Sarah Lippmann

29:  Rebecca Fishow

February

12: Sandra Simonds

 27: Nishi Chawla SPECIAL FRIDAY

March

13:  Lisa Borders SPECIAL FRIDAY

26:  Anne Starr

April

9  John Compton

16. Millicent Borges Accardi

23  Jennifer Bannan

May

7   Susan Rich (with Jennifer Markell and Erin Murphy) for the anthology Birdbrains

21 Wayne-Daniel Berard