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Red Fez Blog Talk Radio is a spin off of Red Fez Magazine, which I have appeared in and talked about HERE way back in May. Their radio show is usually pretty wild, so tune in and listen or call in at (323) 417-6786.
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Appearing on Red Fez Talk Radio, Saturday 8/20, 11 PM EST
Red Fez Blog Talk Radio is a spin off of Red Fez Magazine, which I have appeared in and talked about HERE way back in May. Their radio show is usually pretty wild, so tune in and listen or call in at (323) 417-6786.
Friday, August 12, 2011
Review of "Mostly Redneck"
I reviewed Rusty Barnes great book of short stories, Mostly Redneck on the Boston Small Press and Poetry Scene Blog.
I’ve known Rusty Barnes for close to eight years and I previously have read every one of the stories found in Mostly Redneck. After absorbing the book cover to cover, my first reaction was how heavy the plots, the prose and the words were. Also, don’t let the title fool you, as rednecks are stereotypically viewed as unintelligent, Barnes is a word craftsman of the finest kind. Language, pace, place, conflict and plot are carefully considered within each story and I found myself comparing the author to writers such as Andre Dubus II and Raymond Carver, masters I respect greatly.
Story wise, if you can take a punch in the face and be able to brag about it, this is where it’s at. Teen pregnant lovers kill the fathers of their babies. People party and have sex in the woods. Scores are settled in complete beat downs. Women compete against each other for men and their own self-worth. Men want women that are unavailable or they hit the road and never come back, leaving others destroyed.
Two of the stories which stood out for me were “Rick’s Song”, where the main character, Jimmy starts a new life, one torn apart from a car accident, by taking a crappy job at a Chinese restaurant. The other story I loved was, “O, Saddam”, a fine satire, completely different than the rest of the book. (Note: The mostly in Mostly Redneck). Here, a tour guide in Boston becomes involved with Saddam Hussein, who is hiding out as a nut vendor. Barnes creates a brilliant display of humor and heaviness intertwined within the set up.
Mostly Redneck, packs a wallop and as mention full of excellent writing. The denseness of subject matter was in stark contrast to the physical length of the book (153 pages) and the smallness of the font which were both, in my opinion, too small for my want for more and my aging eyes.
Story wise, if you can take a punch in the face and be able to brag about it, this is where it’s at. Teen pregnant lovers kill the fathers of their babies. People party and have sex in the woods. Scores are settled in complete beat downs. Women compete against each other for men and their own self-worth. Men want women that are unavailable or they hit the road and never come back, leaving others destroyed.
Two of the stories which stood out for me were “Rick’s Song”, where the main character, Jimmy starts a new life, one torn apart from a car accident, by taking a crappy job at a Chinese restaurant. The other story I loved was, “O, Saddam”, a fine satire, completely different than the rest of the book. (Note: The mostly in Mostly Redneck). Here, a tour guide in Boston becomes involved with Saddam Hussein, who is hiding out as a nut vendor. Barnes creates a brilliant display of humor and heaviness intertwined within the set up.
Mostly Redneck, packs a wallop and as mention full of excellent writing. The denseness of subject matter was in stark contrast to the physical length of the book (153 pages) and the smallness of the font which were both, in my opinion, too small for my want for more and my aging eyes.
Friday, July 29, 2011
As far as independent books go, who does Ben Tanzer check out? ( * )
When I first read this question I thought about that famous New Yorker cover where it shows New York City as the center of the universe and the rest of the world sort of slowly unfolding under the shadows of the city’s awesomeness. This wasn’t because it made me think of New York City though, it was because it made me think that to answer this question I had to start with Chicago, because while there is a lot of indie literary things going on everywhere these days, I’m not sure it compares with what’s going on here. How’s that for grandiose? Still, and I am bound to leave some people out, but starting with Chicago there are really so many indie writers doing so many cool things to check out, Lindsay Duncan, Robert Duffer, Spencer Dew, Gina Frangello, Lauryn Allison Lewis, Brandon Will, Jason Fisk, Victor David Giron, James Tadd Alcox, Kathleen Rooney, Tim Jones-Yevlington, Mark Brand, Pete Anderson, Joseph G. Peterson, Jacob S. Knabb, David Masciotra and Luis Humberto Valadez. And then looking around the county you have BL Pawelek, Nick Ostdick, Barry Graham, Caleb J. Ross and Brandon Teitz out across the Midwest; Michael FitzGerald in Montana; J.A. Tyler in Colorado; Hosho McCreesh in New Mexico; James Greer, xTx, Matty Byloos, Ryan Bradley, Joshua Mohr and Lavinia Ludlow all points West; down South there are your neighbors Jamie Iredell and Collin Kelley; J. Bradley, Nathan Holic and Gregory Sherl in Florida; Alex Kudera in South Carolina; S. Craig Renfroe in North Carolina; Shannon Burke and Corey Mesler in Tennessee; Thomas Williams in Oklahoma; Jason Jordan in Kentucky; Mary Miller and Elizabeth Crane in Texas; and finally, and loosely, in the East, Paula Bomer, Greg Olear, Tim Hall, John Reed, Ken Wohlrob and Shya Scanlon in New York; Mel Bosworth, Laura Cherry, Ray Charbonneau, Rusty Barnes, Steve Himmer and Timothy Gager in and around Boston; William Walsh in Providence; Scott McClanahan in West Virginia; Dave Housley and Karen Lillis in Pennsylvania; Nik Korpon and Michael Kimball in Baltimore; and Amber Sparks in Washington, DC; and that’s a big list and I apologize, but I think it’s a good place to start.
( * ) Ben's answer was found in Baby Got Books.
Ben Tanzer is the author of the novels You Can Make Him Like You, You Go Your Way and I’ll Go Mine, Lucky Man, other works of fiction and non-fiction.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Thanks Istanbul Literary Review and Google
Two poems which came out May 2011 were mentioned at the Bagel Bard Group this morning. I saw them out in the world today for the first time.
Please read
Forgiveness
and
Wait-You Can't Hide It
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Curbside Splendor, "Last Call"
This is the second piece that Curbside Splendor has accepted. "Last Call" is a subtle story where I'm aiming for the reader to focus on two key phrases: "You can't do nothing" and "Certain things couldn’t wait." What does Frank do and why does he wait? Do you want to get angry at Frank, but somehow can't? Hmmmm, you never know how the life you led reflects in death. Don't waste life's time.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Finished! Sort of, wait...no not at all.
No new news lately as I've not been submitting and have been putting all my time and energy into finishing draft one of my novel, 
An Angry Therapist's Thursday Appointments. (Name subject to change but I like it).
In reality it's not close to being finished, although a version called the first draft certainly is. There is revisions and editing to do, which is boring to speak of and no one is really interested in hearing about. That will be followed by the hunt for an agent, which will lead to more boring to talk about revisions and editing. Next is the hunt for a publisher, which will lead to etc., etc., etc....you get the picture.
I will talk more about the book at some point and post the synopsis when it's time to do that. After that, people shouldn't be bored or not want to hear about that or else I've not done a very good job.
In reality it's not close to being finished, although a version called the first draft certainly is. There is revisions and editing to do, which is boring to speak of and no one is really interested in hearing about. That will be followed by the hunt for an agent, which will lead to more boring to talk about revisions and editing. Next is the hunt for a publisher, which will lead to etc., etc., etc....you get the picture.
I will talk more about the book at some point and post the synopsis when it's time to do that. After that, people shouldn't be bored or not want to hear about that or else I've not done a very good job.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
Seasonal Affective Disorder, previously in print is anthologized on the web.
Aleathia Drehmer, creator of Durable Goods (a print micro-zine that is sent all over the United States and several places internationally as well.) and Brian Fugett (Zygote in my Coffee) have teamed up to put the complete first year of Durable Goods on-line. Enjoy the many great poets that have graced their tiny pages.
My poem, Seasonal Affective Disorder appears HERE.
Thursday, May 26, 2011
What Do Men Want? They want to be sarcastic, tongue in cheek and be able to channel Kim Addonizio
My response to her great poem with one of my own will automatically lend itself to comparison, but just as my 1,000 batting average in softball after two games shouldn't be compared to any Red Sox team batting leader, What Do Men Want should not be compared to What Do Women Want.
Read, What Do Men Want on Poor Mojo's Almanac today! (Home of the Giant Squid).
Monday, May 23, 2011
Endicott Review, Vol. 28 includes an oldie "When I'm Drunk I Think About Phoenix"
From the academic world of Endicott College comes The Endicott Review, Vol. 28, Spring 2011, which includes my above mentioned poem. Usually I put up a journal's cover up on the blog but my scanner is shot and there doesn't appear to be a photo of it up on-line yet either.
Boston Area Small Press and Poetry Scene reviewed it HERE and mentioned the opening few lines of my poem. Thanks!
Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Limited Take on Massachusetts Poetry Festival, 2011--(occasionally I post as if this is a real blog)
My son was my travel buddy for the Massachusetts Poetry Festival in Salem, Ma., and the first thing we did was sign-in at their headquarters, drink the free coffee and eat the free pizza 
provided by The Upper Crust. A boy's got to eat, right? Then we went to the Sequential Poetry Reading by those who had books published in 2010. I didn't exactly lie about it but I was asked to read and my 2009 book held out nicely. We heard the amazing Amy M. Clark read and convinced (begged) Leslie Williams to stay for my reading.
MPF is a great poetry event so I wanted to dress accordingly but I'm also superstitious (note the play-off beard) and I had to feed my OCD so that the Bruins would win. It was completely under my control and since compromise is everything--here's the look, poetry wins while the Bruins, did THIS.
One of the highlights of the reading was meeting and exchanging books with Kate Hanson Foster who told me I looked taller than I did on Facebook. (note, I'm only two inches tall to the right). I told her that she didn't look at all like the Hanson brothers because below is how they look. I must say that her book Mid Drift is recommended reading.
Following that, we walked to the Main Stage and saw some incredible acts. First we saw Phil and Sarah Kay(e) who gave a fantastic performance of poetry in tandem. They finished each others lines, recited some others perfectly in sync and harmony and were relevant, talented, young, beautiful and entertaining. I noted that they were the Donnie and Marie of poetry. Check out their picture on the above link vs. the one on the left.
Next up was the always entertaining Steve Almond. You must have heard of him, but if you have not you have a lot of reading to do. Let's go to the video tape (which was not made in Salem).
My son and I then saw the Boston Typewriter Orchestra which were a lot of fun. This clip WAS from Salem.
Later in the day I was asked to be one of the readers on the trolleys. This was set up by Shari Caplan who specializes in improbable places to read poetry such as laundromats and, well, trolleys. Besides reading poetry to the riders, the trolleys had speaker placement on the outside of the cars. This allowed me to say things to random folks who were on the street, such as, "HEY BABY, BE BACK TO PICK YOU UP LATER", "THIS IS MR. MICROPHONE", 'MOVE YOUR VEHICLE" and "HEY, I WANT A LICK," to this guy:
provided by The Upper Crust. A boy's got to eat, right? Then we went to the Sequential Poetry Reading by those who had books published in 2010. I didn't exactly lie about it but I was asked to read and my 2009 book held out nicely. We heard the amazing Amy M. Clark read and convinced (begged) Leslie Williams to stay for my reading. 
MPF is a great poetry event so I wanted to dress accordingly but I'm also superstitious (note the play-off beard) and I had to feed my OCD so that the Bruins would win. It was completely under my control and since compromise is everything--here's the look, poetry wins while the Bruins, did THIS. One of the highlights of the reading was meeting and exchanging books with Kate Hanson Foster who told me I looked taller than I did on Facebook. (note, I'm only two inches tall to the right). I told her that she didn't look at all like the Hanson brothers because below is how they look. I must say that her book Mid Drift is recommended reading.
Arthur Boyas was another great poet to hear, as was Gwendolyn Jenson and Allen West, published by Bert Stern's Off the Grid Press who publishes poets a certain age or over. I'm glad I'm young, but when I get to be that age, I'm sending Bert a manuscript.
Following that, we walked to the Main Stage and saw some incredible acts. First we saw Phil and Sarah Kay(e) who gave a fantastic performance of poetry in tandem. They finished each others lines, recited some others perfectly in sync and harmony and were relevant, talented, young, beautiful and entertaining. I noted that they were the Donnie and Marie of poetry. Check out their picture on the above link vs. the one on the left. Next up was the always entertaining Steve Almond. You must have heard of him, but if you have not you have a lot of reading to do. Let's go to the video tape (which was not made in Salem).
My son and I then saw the Boston Typewriter Orchestra which were a lot of fun. This clip WAS from Salem.
Later in the day I was asked to be one of the readers on the trolleys. This was set up by Shari Caplan who specializes in improbable places to read poetry such as laundromats and, well, trolleys. Besides reading poetry to the riders, the trolleys had speaker placement on the outside of the cars. This allowed me to say things to random folks who were on the street, such as, "HEY BABY, BE BACK TO PICK YOU UP LATER", "THIS IS MR. MICROPHONE", 'MOVE YOUR VEHICLE" and "HEY, I WANT A LICK," to this guy:
It gave me ample time to chat and joke with the crowd and read some poems. Here's the only one my cinematographer son took.
No visit to Salem is complete without a burger and a coke from Major Magleashes, my favorite burger place in Massachusetts. Their burgers are so juicy that they soak the buns. I'd show you a picture but I don't like to take photos of food because I'm not one of those, "I always want to remember that hamburger" type of guys. (For you haters and blog lawyers, the Upper Crust pizza picture was pulled off the internet) Comparatively, I also don't enjoy other people's pictures of food because I can't eat or order what they just took, unless I'm there with them at the time of the infraction. In that case I'd say, "Why are you taking a picture of food?'. I did photograph my son, sporting a day-glo festival t-shirt, who has the same love of The Major as I do. Poetry and hamburgers must be in the genes! It was the perfect ending to a wonderful day.
Friday, May 13, 2011
Red Fez reprints two of my flash!
The very cool Red Fez has selected two of my flash Bipolar (originally in MiCrow) and Channeling (originally in Big Toe Review). The boy from Bipolar has been reincarnated for the third time as Ethan in my novel in progress, An Angry Therapist's Thursday Appointments.
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Where I'll be reading at the 2011 Massachusetts Poetry Festival, Salem, Ma.
Being a tiny little fish in the huge, giant, glorious poetry pond, I'm doing a few readings, one of them a sequential reading and one of them on an event trolley!
Sequential reading is in the séance room at Omen, 184 Essex Street.
Trolley line-up--ENJOY THE RIDE (I hope I don't get motion sick)!
Sequential reading is in the séance room at Omen, 184 Essex Street.
1200-12:04 | Eve | Rifkah | |
12:07-12:14 | Leslie | Williams | |
12:16-12:20 | Joyce | Wilson | |
12:21-12:28 | Ruth | Baden | |
12:28-12:35 | Mary | Bonina | |
12:35-12:42 | Arthur | Boyars | |
12:42-12:49 | Bob | Brooks | |
12:51-12:55 | Kate | Hanson-Foster | |
12:56-1:03 | Amy M. | Clark | |
1:03-1:10 | Mary | Cote-Diaz | |
1:10-1:17 | Richard | Fein | |
1:17-1:24 | Kate Hanson | Foster | |
1:24-1:31 | Timothy | Gager | |
1:31-1:38 | John | Holgerson | |
1:38-1:45 | Gwendolyn | Jensen | |
1:45-1:52 | Sandra | Kohler | |
1:52-1:59 | Andy | Levine | |
1:59-2:06 | Christopher | Locke | |
2:06-2:13 | Marie-Elizabeth | Mali | |
2:13-2:20 | Gordon | Massman | |
2:20-2:27 | kate | mccann | |
2:27-2:34 | Jessica | Moran | |
2:34-2:41 | Tam | Neville | |
2:41-2:48 | Marsha | Pomerantz | |
2:48-2:55 | Mark | Schorr | |
2:56- 3:00 | Janet | Aalfs | |
3:02-3:09 | Thtatelo | Seqhobane | |
3:09-3:16 | Zvi A. | Sesling | |
3:23-3:30 | Profound | Thought | |
3:30-3:37 | Allen | West | |
3:37-3:44 | Margaret | Young | |
3:44-3:51 | Gloria | Mindock | |
Trolley line-up--ENJOY THE RIDE (I hope I don't get motion sick)!
| 10:30:00 AM | Betsy Retallack |
| 10:45:00 AM | Ivory White |
| 11:00:00 AM | Betsy Retallack |
| 11:15:00 AM | Ivory White |
| 11:30:00 AM | Betsy Retallack |
| 11:45:00 AM | Ivory White |
| 12:00:00 PM | Margaret Young |
| 12:15:00 PM | Amy Tighe |
| 12:30:00 PM | Margaret Young |
| 12:45:00 PM | Amy Tighe |
| 01:00:00 PM | Kolleen Carney |
| 01:15:00 PM | Tara Skurtu |
| 01:30:00 PM | Kolleen Carney |
| 01:45:00 PM | Tara Skurtu |
| 02:00:00 PM | Kolleen Carney |
| 02:15:00 PM | Noemi Martin |
| 02:30:00 PM | Eric Roberts |
| 02:45:00 PM | Noemi Martin |
| 03:00:00 PM | Eric Roberts |
| 03:15:00 PM | Noemi Martin |
| 03:30:00 PM | Susie Davidson |
| 03:45:00 PM | Timothy Gager |
| 04:00:00 PM | Susie Davidson |
| 04:15:00 PM | Timothy Gager |
| 04:30:00 PM | Dave Walker |
| 04:45:00 PM | Timothy Gager |
| 05:00:00 PM | Dave Walker |
| 05:15:00 PM | Libby Rowe |
| 05:30:00 PM | Miriam Oneal |
| 05:45:00 PM | Libby Rowe |
| 06:00:00 PM | Miriam Oneal |
| Purple = Trolley 1 | |
| White = Trolley 2 | |
| Green = leaves from Salem Depot |
Sunday, May 8, 2011
Bagels with the Bards Anthology 6 is out with a schmear of one of my poems
The Bagel Bards is a group of poets started by Doug Holder and Harris Gardner, that meet once a week in Somerville, Ma. Every year they publish an anthology of poetry. I'm proud to know these folks and equally proud that my poem, "An Ocean Inn" was included in Bagels with the Bards 6
.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
I didn't write a poem a day for April
4/1 504 words
4/2 533 words, April total, 1037
4/3 1060 words, April total, 2097
4/4 554 words, April total, 2651
4/5 558 words, April total, 3209
4/6 729 words, April total, 3938
4/7 955 words, April total, 4893
4/8 0 words
4/9, 656 words, April total, 5549
4/10, 683 words, April total, 6232---target 5000
4/11, 445 words April total, 6677
4/12, 703 words April total, 7,380
4/13, 669 words April total, 8,049
4/14, 526 words April total, 8,575
4/15 367 words , April total, 8,942 ---target 7,500
4/16 660 words , April total, 9,702
4/16 589 words , April total, 10,291
4/17 0 words
4/18 443 words , April total, 10,734
4/19 512 words, April total, 11,245
4/20 688 words 11,933---target 10,000
4/21, 570 words 12,503
4/22, 778 words 13,281
4/23, 339 words 13,620
4/24 518 words 14,138
4/25 602 words 14,740---target 12,500
4/26 538 words 15,278
4/27 567 word, 15,845
4/28 0 words,
4/29 303 words, 16,108
4/30 604 words, 16,712 ---target 15,000
So now that it's May, I'm still rolling with it.
5/1 574 words
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