I want to believe!

First up, a big thanks to Robert Swartwood, who let me blabber on about a particular kind of murder book. Rob's latest is a collection of short fiction called, Phantom Energy, which looks like a winner.

Second, I just received my formal invitation to panel at The 26th Annual Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival in March of 2012. Yes, this is the festival with the Stella/Stanley shouting contest. I am not overstating things when I say that being asked to participate is a dream com true.

But to darker matters. The free kindle version of Death Wishing has been available since  Friday, but the early ratings on Amazon are disappointing enough that the publisher has suggested we pull the offer early. I'm opposed to that, at least right now, mainly because I don't want to let negative reviews chase me off the experiment, especially now that the freebie is available internationally (except UK and Europe, looks like).  My attitude towards the one star ninjas is that their points of view amount to rejections, and I've got plenty of those that I don't think twice about.  If, however, it looks like I'm dropping off the Top 100, I'll reconsider my martyrdom.

Everyday Genius:The Final Three! March 29-31

I am sad it's over but relieved, too. After Wednesday Everyday Genius is some other art-tard's baby.

Monday

The first man will do anything for the moon.

—from Cami Park’s “Night Walk” (Plus “As If to Become, as If One Actually Were” & “It Is a Wonder”)

Tuesday

So when Kim asks if I want to go for a ride, I say sure.

—from Robert Swartwood’s “Summer of ‘84”

Wednesday

And like that my days in the garden began to go by.

—from Steve Himmer’s “Whose Hands”

Seriously, I thought this was a hoax when I first heard about it

But MSNBC actually interviewed David Erlewine, Robert Swartwood, and J.S. Graustein about the shortest of short fictions.

Of course this is wonderful for all of us in the vsf biz, and I have complete faith in Swartwood and Graustein to represent the form, but Erlewine may go power mad if we don't watch him closely.

Also, Nanoism is running a neato contest that has my brain smoking.

Push the button, Frank

I will, I will push the button!

My VIPs on very short fiction blog is now open to the public. I'm so thrilled by the generosity of the writers who have helped out so far: David Erlewine, Robert Swartwood, Gabriel Orgrease, Erin Fitzgerald, Roxane Gay, Joseph Young, Ryan Bradley, and Scott Garson. New entries coming soon by Ethel Rohan and Lauren Becker.

No design to speak of, just an oppressive blue blogger template, but the essays are fantastic. And the most remarkable part is that the writers generated all this amazing content in just 6 days.

This is a riot

I'm pretty sure I'm not jealous. One of my students made the top 20 cut for Robert Swartwood's Hint fiction contest. Actually, I'm thrilled.

NEVER pass up an opportunity to be clever

Robert Swartwood's 'hint fiction' lark has turned into something very real--he now has a deal to produce a Norton anthology of H-fics which will include the top twenty from his blog contest where he asked for submissions of fiction less than or equal to 25 words. The prizes, when the contest was posted ranged from amazon gift certificates to indie books. Now the prize for participation may well be eternal freaking fame.

Here's the fun part for me: I told my students in my junior level fiction writing class they'd get extra credit for entering the contest. I think 4 did.

Too Fun: Hint Fiction Contest

Robert Swartwood makes Garson look extravagant. Write a story of 25 words or less and post it here