Waylon Jennings Anthology Now Available!

A collection of crime fiction/noir stories inspired by the music of Waylon Jennings is now available. I edited this little beauty, but the credit belongs to the writers who contributed amazing stories and Gutter Books for carrying on despite the prevailing, fascist winds of New Puritanism stinking up the entire publishing industry. We've got a variety of tales here to delight anyone who enjoys stories about bad behavior. Just looks at this roster of talent:

• January Bain
• Meredith Craig
• Burke de Boer
• Christine Boyer
  
• Michael Bracken
  
• John Floyd
• Tom Hoisington
  
• Trevor Holiday 
• Ian Klink
  
• Matt Phillips
• Russell Thayer
• Joseph S. Walker

The kindle version is now available for your reading pleasure. As always, please read it and review it at Amazon no matter what you thought of it.

Pulp Modern News

 Pulp Modern is officially closed to submissions until further notice.

We'll Make Great Pets

 

Maybe I've been wrong all these years.

I remember standing up for myself in junior high when the school's army of yuppie scum decided they'd try to bully me. First I pulled a switchblade knife and threatened to kill them (it was the 1980s, guns were still just used for drug business in school at that time). Then I wrote horror stories in which I did just that and passed them around for the yuppies to read. They labeled me a psychopath, which was fine by me. I never got bullied by yuppies again. Not to my face.

The reason the yuppies tried to bully me is because I didn't wear designer clothes like they did. That automatically meant I didn't think like them because, well, I didn't give a fuck what clothes I wore. The rest of my life I battled against conformists of all stripes. I always thought that was the correct thing to do. That being your own person (i.e., developing your own opinions about each and every issue) was noble. Being a follower was looked down on. Not intellectual. A sign of not much going on in the brain department.

But it has proven a losing battle. Conformity is constantly enforced by the brainless twits who weasel themselves into positions of power and influence. It could very well be that oddballs like me just weren't meant to survive. Especially at this point in the human adventure. I constantly see calls for the "post-biological" society to snuff troublemakers like me who refuse to do what the masses are doing. It could well be that the human adventure is over. That the conformists have won and are ready to merge with technology and become perfect circuits in a bigger machine.

A circuit must be obedient, attend to its task without hesitation, without questioning why it's doing what it's doing.

I apologize to the masses. I will not stand in the way of your glorious march to joining with technology once and for all and surrendering your humanity to the ultimate collective.

God speed. You won't remember what humanity actually was when you finally get your way. You can always look in your electronic library for my books. One thing I will not do is cease writing about actual human beings, actual human behavior. And if it makes you weep for a time when you had the option not to be a conformist pig, so much the better.

New Stuff!

 To my many loyal readers of this here blog, I apologize for not posting more often. I've become busier than I can handle over the last few months, so some things, unfortunately, get neglected. I'll try to "do better," as the New Puritans frequently instruct celebrities they believe actually give a shit about their opinions...

But I digress.

Tis the season to read books by Alec Cizak! 

First off, we have COOL IT DOWN, the final book in the Unholy Trilogy that started with DOWN ON THE STREET and continued with BREAKING GLASS, the book I believe got me on the radar of the New Puritans infecting crime fiction. Cool It Down tells the story of what happened to Lester Banks, the protagonist of Down on the Street. Will Chelse Farmer get her revenge on the old pervert? You have to read and find out...

Next, there's L.A. STORIES, a project years in the making. It's a collection of three novellas that would have made great grindhouse movies in the late 70s and early 80s. My contribution, TEMPLE OF THE RAT, was originally my novella for DRIVE-IN FICTION, way back in 2012, when there was still some sense of civility in the indie scene. I ultimately decided it was too sick for a collection of drive-in novellas and worked on it over the years until I got the idea, back in 2017, to find two other writers familiar with Los Angeles to write companion novellas. The two other writers, Scotch Rutherford and Andrew Miller, have generated controversy themselves, making this just about the most appropriate inappropriate book to show up in 2022. Additionally, the book opens with an outstanding foreword by Rex Weiner. 

I'm very proud of TEMPLE OF THE RAT because it is not in any way biographical. I had to conjure these characters who are nothing like me and inhabit their shoes for the many years I worked on revising the piece. It freaked me out at times, but eventually, as with all characters I invent, I found ways to have empathy with them and that, of course, is the key to creating three-dimensional characters. It's a very, very sick story (the original title, in fact, was...Sick). I know some people don't like trigger warnings, but I think this is a case where readers should be warned. There are stomach-turning moments in the novella, and I don't want anyone who's used to the more refined way I normally tell a story (even about bad people and bad situations) to be shocked by how far I've gone in this novella.

Both books are currently available and I encourage anyone willing to read them and leave a review. If you don't like them, feel free to leave a critical review, just don't click one-star and leave it at that. Always let an author know what you think could be improved.

So Much Things To Say!

If you've been asleep for a while, you're forgiven for missing the fact that my imprint, Uncle B. Publications, LLC, has been busy putting out books.

In addition to the latest, greatest Pulp Modern, Uncle B. released a Johnny Cash tribute called Now, There Was a Story!, featuring crime stories by Stephen J. Golds, Jackie Flaum, Don Stoll, Robert Petyo, C.W. Blackwell, and many others. The stories are all based on the covers Johnny Cash recorded for his landmark record, Now, There Was a Song!

In conjunction with David Cranmer and Beat to a Pulp Press, Uncle B. has released the first of two volumes collecting the complete adventures of the Drifter Detective. Jack Laramie, aka the Drifter Detective, roams the Texas landscape of the early 1950s doing freelance P.I. work. Volume One features novellas and novelettes by Garnett Elliott, Wayne D. Dundee, and me. Kevin Tipple provides the foreword.

Uncle B. is also publishing poetry books and the first up is legendary Verna Hampton's Sister FM Diva Poetry Inna Mi Yahd. Hampton's poetry is lively and timely and I'm thrilled we're helping her get her verse out to the world.

Cool It Down, the followup to Breaking Glass and Down on the Street, will be here within the next few weeks from ABC Group Documentation. For those of you patiently waiting to find out what happened to Lester Banks, here's a gift:

Behold, the cover art for Cool It Down...

Pulp Modern 2.7 Lineup and Mr. Cizak Appearances in the Wild

Choosing stories for the latest issue of Pulp Modern was more difficult than ever. The best writers, both independent and "established," are eager to see their work in the digest and there's only so much room. The decision to cut great stories has never been more painful. Here, however, is the lineup for the first of two issues celebrating Pulp Modern's 10th anniversary:

SARAH CANNAVO

C.J. DOTSON

STEPHEN J. GOLDS

EDWARD A. GRAINGER

KAREN HARRINGTON

TIA JA'NAE

ANDREW MILLER

NATHAN PETTIGREW

ANTHONY NEIL SMITH

The issue will also feature another article by Anthony Perconti. The usual cast and crew will be involved in putting the issue together, including art director Richard Krauss and illustrator Ran Scott.

As you wait for the new issue to arrive, feel free to read some of my work on the Internet and in print publications, including:

"Levels," a controversial flash fiction piece (that would not be controversial in a rational world) appears at Punk Noir.

"The Little Dizzies" appears in 4:20 Noir, a collection edited by J.Travis Grundon and produced by Richard Krauss for Uncle B. Publications, LLC.

"Cymbaline," a more traditional Alec Cizak crime fiction story, appears in the brand new magazine Guilty. Make sure you buy the book and give this new market some business.

At some point this year, my novel Cool It Down should be available. It picks up the story of Les Banks two years after the events of Down on the Street.

Finally, Uncle B. Publications, LLC, will begin a regular publication schedule in September. Look for a Johnny Cash-inspired anthology, a volume of Drifter Detective novellas, and a new line of poetry chapbooks.

This is it, folks. This is the revolution we've been aiming for since 2010, when I started All Due Respect and started this amazing journey.

PULP MODERN 2.6 Available!

The latest issue of Pulp Modern is now available.

Holiday Madness!

 In addition to finally choosing three correct point-spreads last week and winning back all the money I'd lost so far this football season, this last week has brought several new appearances by Mr. Cizak and/or his fiction.

A story of mine originally titled "Old 55" appears at a relatively new publication, NOVEL NOCTULE. The editors went to town on the story, making my clipped, obscure prose more articulate. They also changed the title of the story to "Civilized Folk." I appreciate the work they put into preparing the story for their publication, so I'm not going to argue with their decisions. They have a vision, they made the story coincide with that vision. The reader will be better off for it. I'm very impressed with this publication and I encourage readers to support it and writers to submit stories that are genre appropriate.

Speaking of editors, as editor of PULP MODERN, I was interviewed by the folks who put together the ALIEN BUDDHA ZINE. I discuss a lot of things. One thing I say in the interview might cause some controversy. I'm not going to go into it unless someone brings it up. Long story short, I should have articulated myself better. We'll see how it goes.

On the horizon is the next issue of Pulp Modern (look for it in early 2021) and my novel Cool It Down, which completes the unofficial trilogy started with Down on the Street and Breaking Glass.

Good way to end 2020 and start 2021. Let's hope 2021 is a better year for everyone!

Ladies and gentlemen...Your PULP MODERN 2.6 lineup!

 

C.W. Blackwell at Pulp Modern Flash

If you haven't already done so, please stop by Pulp Modern Flash and check out C.W.Blackwell's story, "Memories of Fire." If you dig it (and, I know you will), let C.W. know in the comments section. C.W. Blackwell is one of, if not the, top writers in the indie scene today. If anybody in New York has half a brain, they'll sign this guy real soon.

PULP MODERN FLASH LAUNCH

With the end of summer comes the beginning of the next chapter in the online independent fiction movement. Here's your lineup of authors for August:

August 3 - C.W. Blackwell

August 10 - Tom Leins

August 17 - Ara Hone

August 24 - Gabriel Hart

August 31 - Michael Bracken

The year is almost booked, so get your flash fiction in ASAP. Keep in mind that we are looking to book all horror for the month of October, so stories in those genres go to the front of the line.

Big News from the Pulp Modern Empire

All living creatures must evolve in order to survive. Can a fiction digest be a living thing? Who the hell knows. Point I’m getting at here: Pulp Modern is going to go through some changes. This is nothing new with Pulp Modern. Almost the entire first volume was an exercise in constant exploration and experimentation. Maybe that was Pulp Modern’s time in college or something. Since the launch of the second volume in 2017 with Richard Krauss taking over as art director, the journal has quietly evolved from the use of altered public domain images to accompany stories to original art thanks to Ran Scott and several others. Well, it’s time to evolve some more. 

First order of business: pay the writers more. Not much. Writers of standard short stories will now earn twenty-five dollars. It’s still not professional, I know, but I’m still not a millionaire and I’m still paying for this out of my pocket (with help from my wife and from Richard as well). This means competition will get a little fiercer for writers looking to appear in the digest. That’s good for everyone, however. 

In addition to fiction, Pulp Modern will now include non-fiction articles and poems. Pay will not be as significant for those contributions, however. On a side note, I am working on bringing back the Patreon account for Pulp Modern, so if we can raise sufficient funds, these numbers will change, all to the benefit of contributors (I have never made a profit off Pulp Modern and I’m not concerned with doing so any time in the near future; Pulp Modern exists as a platform for truly marginalized voices—the voices of great, independent writers).

As if this news isn’t exciting enough, we are also starting a flash fiction site on the Internet, Pulp Modern Flash. We will publish (roughly) one new story a week (similar to Beat to a Pulp and the original All Due Respect site, back in the day). As with the fiction digest, all the major pulp genres are welcome (Crime/Noir, horror, science fiction, fantasy, adventure, and western). While there is no financial compensation at this point for the flash site, we will, from time to time, compile and publish collections of stories from the site and authors will be paid if their work is included (and, again, if the Patreon account ever produces decent funds, the numbers here will change as well).

Please see the guidelines (you have to scroll to the bottom of the page for the Pulp Modern Flash guidelines) for all the necessary information.

PULP MODERN 2.5 NOW AVAILABLE

The latest and greatest issue of PULP MODERN is now available HERE.

Mr. Cizak has an official YouTube channel

I have started a YouTube channel called Alec Cizak Television for your enjoyment. I read from my work as well as the work of other writers. I have links to other videos on YouTube I was involved with in some way. I have also created a playlist to serve as a virtual drive-in movie theater. If you can broadcast YouTube on your television, you can click on this playlist at night and enjoy just over three hours' entertainment. I will be switching out the movies once a week. By the way, this week's movies are Day the World Ended and Xtro. The first feature is family-friendly, the second is more grindhouse oriented. I will switch the movies (and previews, cartoons, etc.,) every Saturday, so look to make this your new lockdown tradition! Also, I'll post my own content on a regular basis, so make sure you check back. My wife and I are, additionally, creating a short little television series. Look for the first episode of that to be on the channel in the next couple of weeks.

Here is a trailer I made for Lake County Incidents, oh by the way:

Ladies and gentlemen, your PULP MODERN 2.5 Lineup:

We've spent a lot of time in lockdown putting together the new issue of Pulp Modern. Ran Scott is working hard on the illustrations while Richard Krauss and I make last minute adjustments to the text and layout. This issue also features a wonderful cover by Rick McCollum. The biggest stars of the show, as always, are the writers. Here's who you can look forward to reading in the new issue:

ANDREW BOURELLE
"DOC" CLANCY
TIMOTHY FRIEND
ADAM S. FURMAN
NILS GILBERTSON
PETER W.J. HAYES
SERENA JAYNE
MANDI JOURDAN
VICTORIA WEISFELD

Look for the Volume Two, Issue Five on June 9!

New Drifter Detective at Mystery Weekly Magazine

Anyone interested in reading more about the Drifter Detective, feast your reading eyes on the latest issue of Mystery Magazine Weekly. My lengthy DD story "The Don Juan of Eldorado" is the cover story. They did a wonderful job illustrating it. You won't be disappointed!

First PULP MODERN submission window of 2020

The first 2020 submission window for Pulp Modern will be Wednesday, January 8. From midnight to 11:59PM, PM will be accepting stories. Please review the guidelines.

Your Holiday Reading Needs

The holidays are here. Time to buy presents for your friends who read books. I got all your needs met. Let's start with a double-shot of Tech Noir. Switchblade Magazine came up with this project and ended up with an overflow of great stories. Editor Scotch Rutherford split the stories into two camps and sent one over to Pulp Modern. The result is the best thing since Marvel Team Up. You need both issues. If you're an Alec Cizak fan (and, by the way, thanks if you are!), you need both issues. I put together the editorial talent responsible for the PM issue and I have a story called "Post-Biological Stress Disorder" in the Switchblade edition. Get them both. Read them. And review them.

If you didn't get the memo, ABC Group Documentation published a collection of my horror stories (weird fiction is the more appropriate term, but outside of the pulp fiction community, few people know that term) called Lake Count Incidents. It's gotten great reviews so far. It's worth reading, trust me. It has some adult material, but nothing gratuitous.

If you missed Pulp Modern, Volume Two, Issue Four, shame on you. Both PM issues released this year were fully illustrated. Folks are picking up on the fact that this is a stellar issue. Buy it. Read it. Review it.

I also had short stories in Tough 2 and Switchblade #11. These two journals
have taken over as the premiere crime fiction journals of the contemporary age. As a side note, the original All Due Respect blog is making a comeback thanks to Chris Rhatigan and David Nemeth. That means there will be three solid markets for crime fiction writers (and they all pay).

Remember: You could spend your hard-earned Christmas money on corporate-approved fiction that takes NO chances. You could read the same thing, manufactured over and over again, just given a slightly different title and a slightly different cover, and feel safe and comfortable because you know there won't be any surprises, won't be anything that challenges the worldview the corporate media has pounded into your head and convinced you reflects your actual opinions and experiences...OR, you can read something that will remind you you're alive because it will shock you, offend you, rock you right out of your safe space and send your pulse into hyper-drive. Independent fiction like the journals mentioned here are the last gasp of free expression. No other medium is working as hard to challenge the status quo. And if art doesn't challenge the status quo, what the fuck is the point?

Some notes on NAPTOWN NOIR

If you haven't checked out the submission guidelines at the Uncle B. Publications website, you may not be aware I am editing a charity anthology titled NAPTOWN NOIR. The proceeds will go to the Indiana Literacy Association. It is my belief that nothing liberates like literacy. With few exceptions, I can't think of a more important social cause.

For those who don't know, Naptown is the nickname jazz artists gave to Indianapolis in the 1930s and 40s, when America's music still ruled the world. Indianapolis was a major stopover between the South and Chicago. Near what is now MLK and Indiana Avenue, a thriving jazz scene existed during this period. All the greats stopped in Indy and played there. As the country turned its back on jazz in favor of the more simplistic rock and roll sounds hustled to the youth, the jazz scene in Indy, and the rest of the country, for that matter, died down. By the way, Indy does have a wonderful jazz club today near Broad Ripple. It's called the Jazz Kitchen and I suggest a visit should you spend any time in Indianapolis.

So, what am I looking for? I am not interested in stories filled with gratuitous violence, sex, or foul language. It's not that there isn't a place for such things in crime fiction, this just happens to not be such a place. Remember the old James Cain novellas, how he flew very adult topics in just under the radar? That's what I'd like to see. I am not interested in mysteries, whodunnits, or police procedurals. I am looking for CRIME FICTION. Think Jim Thompson or Elmore Leonard. I am also not looking for stories beating readers over the head with some sort of message (even if I myself am often guilty of doing so!).

Finally, there must be an Indianapolis element of the story that demonstrates the writers knows Indy well. You don't have to be from Indianapolis, but you certainly need to study the town and its history. I will spot a Chicago or L.A. story 'fixed' to sound like a Naptown story from a mile away. Do your homework.

I look forward to reading submissions as they arrive.

All Your Holiday Reading Needs Met

The special edition of Pulp Modern, Tech Noir, is now available on Kindle from Amazon. Don't forget to buy the companion issue from Switchblade (it started as a Switchblade project that Pulp Modern eventually got involved with). The Pulp Modern issue features unbelievable art by Ran Scott and, as always, outstanding art direction by Richard Krauss.

As previously mentioned, Lake County Incidents is available in both print and kindle editions. This is my contribution to the great line of horror anthologies that influence me, including Dark Forces, King's Night Shift, Bierce's Can Such Things Be?, and Campbell's Alone with the Horrors (contains some of the scariest f'ing stories ever written). Most of the stories in this book were written after Scott Parker shamed me a bit on social media, saying he'd never written anything that couldn't appear on television. I took that as a challenge to write stories that pack the same punch my noir stories do, only without the excessive profanity you'll find in my crime fiction. I like the idea of flying challenging ideas under the radar like that. This is a book meant to be enjoyed by anyone from about 14 to 104 years old.

Some of you may have noticed an announcement regarding Uncle B. Publications moving into the field of book publishing. Here are some projects lined up for the next year or so:

David Cranmer and I have been discussing putting together a single volume of all the Drifter Detective novellas and stories. Look for that to be one of the first non-Pulp Modern releases from Uncle B.

I'm working on a collection of novellas with a couple of other writers from Los Angeles. Don't want to give too much away, but my contribution to that volume could never be shown on television...

I will be putting together a Naptown Noir anthology of crime stories that take place in my hometown, Indianapolis. Proceeds will go to an Indiana literacy charity.

I will also be putting together two rock and roll anthologies -- one will be a collection of stories inspired by the music of David Bowie. The other will be called Now There Was a Story!, in which the songs on the Johnny Cash album, Now There Was Song!, are turned into stories. Those will also be charity volumes, the charities as of yet to be determined.

If any of these anthology projects sound interesting to you, contact me and we'll talk further.

LAKE COUNTY INCIDENTS now available!

My collection of weird fiction, LAKE COUNTY INCIDENTS, is now available. Get yours in time for Halloween!

Deadlines: A Tribute to William Wallace

William Wallace was a big supporter of my work. I contributed a story to the charity anthology Deadlines: A Tribute Anthology called "Las Vegas Foot Massage." There are many familiar names in this anthology (if you're down with the underground, that is). It's sitting there on Amazon with no reviews and that's truly criminal. Open your wallet for a good cause, read the book, and leave a review.

Interview at Thriller Magazine

I recently answered some questions for Thriller Magazine. You can read the interview here.

Lake County Incidents did not make it in time for your summer reading. It'll be here for Halloween season, which is much more appropriate, to be honest.

Mr. Cizak at BULL Magazine

I have a story at BULL you might enjoy. It's called "Snotknockers" and deals with, among other things, the wounds left by childhood bullies and society's double-standards when it comes to revenge.

Mo' Fiction at FFO

I'm pleased to have my flash fiction piece "Temporarily Embarrassed Millionaires" at Flash Fiction Offensive. Thanks to Jesse, Beau, Jim, and Mick (and anyone else involved) for keeping that site running.

It's Summer. Things Are Heatin' Up!

First of all, in case you missed the news, Pulp Modern has returned:

Despite the best efforts of the feds and corporate publishing stooges to prevent it from happening, Pulp Modern returns with a vengeance. Featuring brand new fiction by Rex Weiner, Russell Thayer, C.W. Blackwell, Albert Tucher, Matthew X. Gomez, Scott Forbes Crawford, Adam S. Furman, Adam S. House, and S. Craig Renfroe Jr. Issue four marks a return to Pulp Modern's roots with original illustrations by Ran Scott, Alfred Klosterman, Dan W. Taylor, Rick McCollum, and Brian Buniak. The stories begin with a wild L.A. trip courtesy Rex Weiner, the man responsible for Ford Fairlane, and travel the gamut of crime before shifting to sword and sorcery, science fiction, and closing with a pair of brutal rural horror stories. Get a glimpse of the future of genre fiction, get a copy of the latest edition of Pulp Modern. Edited, as always, by Alec Cizak and designed by Richard Krauss and featuring the cartooning genius of Bob Vojtko.


As if today weren't awesome enough, here's the big cover reveal for my collection of horror stories, Lake County Incidents, to be released real soon by ABC Group Documentation:

Summer's here and the time is right for readin' in the streets!

Remember to read and review these books on Amazon so this fucking movement gets to where it needs to be!

Ladies and gentlemen, your Pulp Modern Volume 2 Number 4 Lineup:

The following heavyweight champs of independent fiction provide some amazing stories for the new issue of Pulp Modern:

C.W. Blackwell

Scott Forbes Crawford

Adam S. Furman

Matthew X. Gomez

Adam S. House

S. Craig Renfroe Jr.

Russell Thayer

Albert Tucher

and

Rex Weiner

Look for the new, completely illustrated issue this May!

Something Wicked is on the Way...

Photo by Don McCullin

I've got some nice publishing notices I'll reveal more about in the near future. I've also got a collection of weird fiction coming soon called Lake County Incidents. The stories take place in three small towns I invented that sit in northern Indiana, just below Gary. Should be here just in time for your summer reading pleasure (and nightmares).

Mr. Cizak at the Flash Fiction Offensive

Photo by Yuan Sang

I've been working for nearly a year and a half on the final book in the accidental trilogy that started with Down on the Street and continued with Breaking Glass. Not sure why the last book has taken so long, but the good news is I finished the rough draft and will begin with the wonderful work of revising it when summer starts.

One of the things I do to keep my writing skills sharp is write flash fiction pieces that force me to consider what's actually important in a story. I just had a piece published over at Flash Fiction Offensive called "Progress." I feel it's the kind of story that would have given Hitchcock a nice chuckle. Many thanks to Jesse, Beau, and Jim, the editors at FFO, for making sure this excellent venue continues. There are certain places I will always enjoy sending work to, and FFO is one of them.

Shouldn't take you but a second to read and if you've got what uptight, polite society calls a sick sense of humor, you should enjoy it.

Lots of Stuff

Been a long time. For those of you desperate to know what's going on in the life of a super-duper underground writer, here's an update:

December, 2018: Due to work reasons, had to move from Montana back to Florida. Packed up everything into a U-haul trailer and drove with my (then) girlfriend across the country, experiencing a delightful variety of dangerous road conditions. It was quite an adventure. I was grateful not to be alone for the journey.

Just before heading to my hometown, Indianapolis, for Christmas, I got word that a woman helping me search for my biological parents had tracked down my biological father. Quite astounding. I met him and two of my step-sisters while in Indy. Very amazing to meet my genetic tribe.

Shortly after returning to Florida (on Valentine's Day, to be exact), I proposed to my girlfriend on the beach and she said yes. We got married fourteen days later.

As for writing and publishing, at some point here my collection of macabre stories, Lake County Incidents, should be available from ABC Group Documentation.

Richard Krauss and I continue making improvements to Pulp Modern. The next issue is being slowly built, month by month, with single-day submission windows. We're working with a few artists to bring original artwork to the journal. If you haven't been around to visit Pulp Modern lately, now's the time to correct that. Issue four should be available in the summer.

I'm putting the finishing touches on the rough draft to the final book in the "Unholy Trilogy," this time featuring the title of a song from my favorite Lou Reed-associated work, the unbelievable Velvet Underground record Loaded (hipsters probably hate this record, I think it's fucking brilliant. Not one bad song from beginning to end. The older I get, the closer that record inches to the number one spot on my Top 10 Records of All Time list). Unlike Breaking Glass, this book is a bit of a return to the hardboiled style of Down on the Street. It's got some Magical Realism going on and, thanks to Bob Kraft's Excellent Adventures at a Florida massage parlor, has become rather topical. It probably won't be available for at least another year, though.

I'll have some short story and flash fiction publication announcements to make soon. In April, for instance, I'll be at Flash Fiction Offensive with a nasty little piece called "Progress."