Why you should submit to Avery Anthology

What is the Avery Anthology, you ask? Well, it's like a literary magazine but as the founders of the anthology say, " it's not a means to an end" but rather the other way around. This is not one of those publications that you publish in on your way to being published somewhere else. Ander Monson has work for the 1st issue of Avery and you can too! Dan Wickett at Emerging Writer's Network blurbed this anthology and yours truly may just submit something to them. I urge you all to check it out. It's also been added to the blog roll on the side of my page here. Do check it out. This is going to be one of the coolest anthologies you'll ever read and if you're smart, you'll submit something and maybe, just maybe if you're cool like Ander, they'll publish you. It does look like I'll be pressing send from my yahoo account and passing on a story. C'mon, you all know you want to . . . all the cool kids are doing it and if you don't well . . . you'll be missing out!

I have to run, as there's lots of work to be done! And August will be uninterrupted writing time for yours truly. Which means I only have a few days left of really getting down to it! Oh and not melting in my 114 degree apartment or say sitting in the dark due to a power outage. Gotta love summer in the San Fernando Valley (and I firmly believe this is all related to Global Warming because this is ridiculous!!!)

Go check out the blog at Avery too! Happy Writing!

The overwhelming TBR pile

If you are like me and you have an insatiable desire to buy books, then you will also understand how the To Be Read pile ends up towering over the bedside lamp on my nighttable. I have yet to move the TBR stack or to make it smaller since I have also run out of bookshelf space. There's really no more room for books anywhere in the house, but you can be sure it won't stop me from buying more or reading more. I'm in the midst of Bruce Bauman's "And the Word Was" and it's quite good. Also on the plate, T.C. Boyle's latest, Talk Talk. It looks great but I haven't had a chance to read it yet. Rest assured, it will be finished by the time the August issue of Bookslut comes out. Also, Seth Greenland's"The Bones" looks awesome. I know it's been out for awhile, but I heard him read from the book at his final tour reading at Skylight with Bruce Bauman and the novel sounds like it'll be great read!

Additionally, you should check out some of the books being reviewed at Bookslut this month. Lara Vapnyar is one author who's fiction has always appealed to me. She published in the New Yorker in their debut fiction issue several years ago and then published a collection of short stories, There are Jews in My House. Her new work, (reviewed at Bookslut) Memoirs of a Muse looks great. Also, The Memory Artists by Jeffrey Moore is featured at Bookslut. The interview made me want to read the book even more than the press it's been getting. One to check out . . . And you'll have to wait for Danielle Dutton's second release, Attempts at a Life which will be published Spring 2007 by Tarpaulin Sky Press. If you enjoy authors who play with form you'll love Danielle and likewise, Jenny Boully's new work One Love Affair. She had previously published The Body by Slope Press and both books are intriguing.

So, for now, those are a few things on the TBR pile. Now if Tod Goldberg would only share some of that new Richard Ford with me. If you like Ford, you'll probably want to order an advanced copy of The Lay of the Land, which isn't due out until late October.

If you have other good recommendations, feel free to email me with them. I love finding great treasures like My Sister's Continent. Happy Reading, people!

The Book You Absolutely Must Read This Summer

For those of you who haven't found a great novel to read for the summer, you must go now and buy My Sister's Continent by Gina Frangello. Let me now tell you the reasons why you must read this book! #1: Gina Frangello is incredibly smart and witty and she's Italian, what other reason do you need??? #2: She knows her psychology and she won't blow psych theories at you or make it necessary to have taken psych 101 to understand this book, #3: Anxiety-ridden sexual encounters are exceptionally well-written, #4: You won't be able to put the book down, #5: This book will keep you thinking about it long after you've read it. For more proof of this and additional info on the book, you can read my review at Bookslut (and please ignore the 2 places that weren't edited and that I didn't catch.) Gina Frangello is such a gifted writer and there will be more to come in the future from her. And, while you're at it, check out the literary magazine, Other Voices. She's the editor there and it's a great site with well-written stories. And you might even want to subscribe to Other Voices because it's that good! I will be giving my Summer Reading suggestions for any of you who care or who are in need of help in that regard. You can be sure My Sister's Continent will be at the top of the list!