The new and improved Lummox Journal should be appearing sometime later in the year, but I’m telling you now because they’re running a special discounted presale on the magazine. If you order it now, you can save yourself five bucks. And five bucks is five bucks, right?

Of course, you’re going to need something to read while waiting for the journal to come out. Maybe you should support the small press and order one of the titles from the Lummox catalog. Everything I’ve gotten from them has been excellent, but you might start with Henry Denander’s The Accidental Navigator or Laurie Soriano’s Catalina — two recent releases that I loved. Just a thought.

This is possibly the best thing PigeonBike has put out yet. 50+ pages of solid writing. Excellent work from regulars I admire and have mentioned before, as well as a ton of names new to me, and awesome production value (editor R L Raymond really outdid himself this time).

I’m in there with two poems, one called “Architectural Salvage” and one called “Twelve fluid ounces.”

Rumor has it there’s only a dozen or so copies left, so get yours today!

Lush, the newest title from Rufous Press, has been released, and it’s a great read!

The book offers poetry, prose, and prose-poetry from a variety of writers, with works all connected by a “lush” theme. It includes some great pieces from people like Kevin Ridgeway and Tobi Cogswell, names I’ll be looking for in other publications from now on.

I’m in there with a short story called “If a Piano Falls in the Forest.” I like it. You might like it too.

This is the third release from Rufous Press, publisher of the recent Over Yonder (which I had a poem in). You might want to pick up a copy of that as well. While you’re at it, consider Juniperus Flamenco, an excellent book of poetry written by Jenny Enochsson and Ande Enochsson, the two writers running the show at Rufous Press.

“Sure,” I said.

You can find Longo’s article on Lowell here. Of course, it’s in Italian, but you can try here for a computer-translated English version (not perfect but better than nothing). It’s part of an interesting series he’s writing about his coast-to-coast travels across America.

So now I can call myself a published photographer. An internationally published photographer, even. Cool. If only I could read Italian…

I like Composite. It’s very eclectic, usually offering art, photography, poetry, fiction, and more, all related to a central theme.

The theme for this issue is “You Are Here.” My piece is called “Made in Malaysia” and you can find it on page 22 (hey, my lucky number!)

In an odd coincidence, at least for me, the other story featured in this issue is by fantastic writer Zarina Zabrisky, whose work I was introduced to just last night. Cool!

PigeonBike

I’ve got two poems tucked in there, alongside familiar names and favorites like Lawrence Gladeview, Rob Plath, Wolfgang Carstens, and a whole ton more. This should be a pretty great read.

And hey, while you’re pre-ordering Semi Permanent Death, why not grab one of the other PigeonBike print titles? Gladeview’s Never Mind the Beer Stains and R L Raymond’s Sonofabitch Poems would be my top picks. Just sayin’.

The book is loaded with typos, I’ll say that. It’s as though they ran a spellchecker on the manuscript and considered it good to go.

This passage, describing a character’s view through the porthole of a ship, made me laugh though:

Bulls screamed and swooped in the morning sea air, nervously searching for their breakfasts, diving to the surface of the water and pecking quick heads to emerge in a fluttering ascent with dangling silver morsels.

Yes, bulls. For a moment, I imagined Kerouac abandoning the realism of the rest of the book in order to introduce these magical flying bulls that live off fish from the sea. I imagined them playing a major role in the novel, maybe with the characters on the ship having to battle them on the high seas. Like The Sun Also Rises, but on a boat.

Then, of course, I realized it was supposed to be gulls. As in, seagulls. And I was disappointed. The book was ruined.

This is why proofreading is important.

My poem (“Cut the Cord“) can be found on page 12 of the magazine. Pretty happy to have made it in there, as the issue is full of good reading.

You should go check it out. I think you’ll like it.

take-it-to-the-street-poetry is a pretty cool project, with the goal of “offering words and art to those that have limited access to these gifts.” In short, people are encouraged to download the issues, print them out, and leave them in places where others may find them.

In issue #16, I’ve got a piece called “Waiting for a bus” and in #17 there’s one called “Disappearing is an art.” Lots of other great work in each issue, including stuff from favorite writers of mine like Mike Meraz and William Taylor, Jr.

So, go get each issue, print ‘em out, and spread the word!

The book itself is pretty interesting, a mix of American and Swedish writers. Poetry and prose, very eclectic. Proud to say I’m in there with John Yamrus once again.

It is for sale on Lulu right now, though I’m told it will be available via Amazon, B&N, etc., sometime soon. But why would you wait, when you can order it right now?

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PS: I had a couple poems up on the Rufous Salon site a little over a year ago, in case you missed them.