Pay it Forward

So, I firmly believe that when someone does good it comes back to them and well, that might be my naivete, but no matter, I'll continue in the footsteps of Haley Joel Osmont's character in that same movie, entitled, "Pay it Forward" and do just that. First things first, before I get into all that, let me tell you that I'm so incredibly excited about all the books I am in the process of reading. This month in my column, "Between the Pen and Paper"  (at The Nervous Breakdown)  I reviewed Travis Nichols's, Iowa and Matthew Simmons, A Jello Horse, both of which were fantastic and put out by indy presses (Big Letter Machine and Publishing Genius Press). I love these works and am continually amazed at how much raw talent exists out in the little universe of which we writers are a part. I'm reading Sara Veglahn's, Another Random Heart and Gina Frangello's, Slut Lullabies as well as a review coming for Kim Parko's, Cure All published by the wonderous Caketrain! Love them! Diagram will be running the review of Kim's work. Still on the agenda are Goldberg's, Zornoza's and Marisa Matarrazo's interview.

 I know, I've said it before but a girl can only do so much. Next I would like to point out, while on the topic of small presses that a brand new literary quarterly that will debut in June 2010 called, "Marco Polo Quarterly". These guys are looking for original, quirky, odd, artful pieces that break boundaries and blur the lines between real and surreal, poetry and prose. And, they're currently accepting submissions which you can peruse here. Yours truly will be contributing  a piece of original fiction to the debut issue as well work from Steve Almond, an interview with Nick Flynn, a lyric essay from Kevin Killian and poetry from novelist Joanna Rose. Okay people, there, I've said it, so go forth and put yourselves out there! Between all the writing and reviewing we'll see how I do at my conversion classes for Judaism. I am loving the temple I've decided to attend, Beth Chayim Chadashim (BCC) for those who live here in Los Angeles. I'm thrilled and excited and find it incredibly interesting and a total challenge. I once attempted  to commit to being a Jew (although half-assed) many years ago and right now, for me, it really resonates with me in a way that nothing else has or does. Lots to learn!

Okay, smart people--as you were. Go forth and read.

Not Just Words on a Page

It's March and you know what that means . . . aside from green beer and people pinching you for your blase attitude where Irish holidays are concerned --it's time for a few more suggestions from yours truly. i'll keep this short and sweet. Since life has handed me several lemons lately in more ways than one, I've had to do some reshuffling and here's what you can now look forward to: Marisa Matarazzo's interview (location now TBD), a review of "Other Resort Cities"  by Tod Goldberg ( yes, I know I keep saying it's coming, but it is), Andrew Zornoza's, "Where I Stay" at the Collagist and my latest thoughts on work by Lisa Jarnot, Matthew Simmons's  "A Jello Horse" and hopefully debut author, Zoe Zolbrod's latest, Currency. There's stuff coming and people, this year there will actually be some of my own work in print. Stay tuned for those locations. By all means, go to The Nervous Breakdown and see what's brewing and in the meantime, yours truly might be taking up trepanning, just to . . . um, you know, ease the pain of it all.