Kiss Me, I’m A Geek

They say the only true love is Geek Love.

Well, they don’t, but they might after this party.

So you know how I co-manage that totally rad magazine, Armchair/Shotgun? Well A/S is jazzed to co-chair this scintillating Lit Crawl event. You should join us, as well as the discriminating bon vivants on the list below, at PowerHouse Arena on April 1st.

The $15 admission includes one drink and a $5 credit at the powerHouse Arena. Proceeds benefit Lit Crawl NYC. Featuring a lineup of bookish guests, including Emma Straub (Laura Lamont’s Life in Pictures) and Teddy Wayne (The Love Song of Jonny Valentine), and an Event Committee of editors, publishers, and publicists from the lit world.

Purchase tickets here.

Or, if you’re into the whole social media thing, see the Facebook event.

Geek Love Event Committee:

Co-Hosted by Emma Straub & Teddy Wayne*

Co-Chairs:
Paul W. Morris, PEN American Center
Suzanne Russo, Lit Crawl NYC

Justin Alvarez, The Paris Review
Elissa Bassist, The Rumpus
Amanda Bullock, Housing Works Bookstore
John M. Cusick, Armchair/Shotgun
A. N. Devers, Writers’ Houses
Fernanda Diaz, OR Books
Mark Doten, Soho Press
Rachel Fershleiser, Tumblr
Katie Freeman, Riverhead Books
David Goodwillie, American Subversive
Brigid Hughes, A Public Space
Maris Kreizman, Slaughterhouse 90210
Michele Legro, Lapham’s Quarterly
Andrew Lloyd-Jones, Liars’ League
Halimah Marcus, Electric Literature
Lincoln Michel, Gigantic
Richard Nash, Small Demons
Steph Opitz, Council of Literary Magazines & Presses
Stephen Pierson, Canteen Magazine
Sarah Reidy, The Other Press
Tom Roberge, New Directions
Rachel Rosenfelt, The New Inquiry
Benjamin Samuel, Electric Literature
Evan Simko-Benarski, Armchair/Shotgun
Rob Spillman, Tin House
Hannah Tinti, One Story
Karolina Waclawiak, The Believer
Joel Whitney, Guernica
Greg Young, The Bowery Boys

* You may enjoy Master Wayne’s author drink review with A/S, here.

 

Recommended Reading: “The Kill Sign”

“I pass churches starting to fill up with black-suited people and I wonder what good that is. The mysteries of Jesus, the everlasting life, all that, what are we supposed to do with it when we can’t even figure shit in this life out? The dying won’t stop right here and now. I don’t know what heaven will do for a dog, anyway. I drive on past the steeples.”

 

 

Read this gut-socking story by Marvin Shackleford, originally appearing in Armchair/Shotgun,  featured in this month’s Recommended Reading, presented by Electric Literature. Marvin is a literary dervish, whipping up all sorts of verbal froth out on his Texas Panhandle farm. I was so thrilled to include his story “The Kill Sign” in Armchair, and double-thrilled it’s now featured in E-Lit’s awesome online program.

I highly recommend you make your day a little more spectacular, and read it.

Armchair/Shotgun No. 3 Is A’Comin

What have we here? Oh, you know, just the printer proof of Armchair/Shotgun issue 3. looking gorgeous. Come see the real deal in just a couple weeks… Armchair/Shotgun – Issue No. 3 Party & Reading @ BookCourt

Armchair/Shotgun’s Live Radio Drama; 61 Local, MAY 19TH!

This Saturday, May 19th, in conjunction with Lit Crawl NYC,  Armchair/Shotgun (including yours truly), along with authors Dolan Morgan, Zachary White, and Alanna Bailey, will perform a radio drama… Live! On Stage! With Sound Effects and Everything! at 7PM sharp at 61 Local. (Or whenever you have acquired your beer…) And we’ve chosen the ever iconic… drum roll please…Flash Gordon! There will be EVIL scientists! And TERRIBLE monkey-men! And, of course, BEAUTIFUL maidens! (You’ll have to forgive the excessive use of exclamation points. But, we think you’ll agree, Flash Gordon deserves a lot of exclamation points.)

DETAILS:

61 Local
61 Bergen St.
Brooklyn, NY 11201
7PM for 45 minutes
Free!
Map

CAST AND CREW:

Zachary White‘s ‘The Story About My Coat’ appeared in Issue 2 of Armchair/Shotgun. He lives in Brooklyn.

Dolan Morgan‘s work appears in Armchair/Shotgun, Contrary, Field, The Believer, The Lifted Brow and others. In exchange for his book, Google Place Reviews, he throws people’s money away in the street.  For more information visit him at www.dolanmorgan.com.

Alanna Bailey is a Native Los Angelino transplanted in New York City where she is a Marketing Consultant by day, and a WordSmith by …well, most the rest of the time… She graduated from Eugene Lang in 2008 with a Bachelors in Cultural Studies & Media and Creative Writing. She firmly believes that every single person’s individual story is their strength; and is worth being told–and heard.

John M. Cusick is a co-founder and managing editor of Armchair/Shotgun. He is the author of Girl Parts (Candlewick Press, 2010), and the forthcoming Cherry Money Baby. He is also a literary agent with Scott Treimel NY. He is currently writing a musical about the MTA.

Vicki Lame is Armchair/Shotgun’s resident publicist. She is also an editor for St. Martin’s Press in New York’s historic Flatiron building and has previously been published on Thought Catalog. She lives in Brooklyn.

Laura McMillan is a managing editor of Armchair/Shotgun. Her most prominent stage role was as Hamlet in her high school’s production of Tom Stoppard’s ’15-Minute Hamlet’. The actual production lasted approximately 20 minutes due to excessive giggling and an extended swordfight. She resides in New Haven.

BONUS:

The after party will also take place at 61 Local.

Pictures From Last Night’s Armchair/Shotgun Panel at Greenlight

Last night I moderated this event at Greenlight Books in Brooklyn. I’ve always wanted to be a moderator!

Our fabulous panelists were Paul Morris, formerly of BOMB, now Director of Membership, Marketing, and Literary Awards at PEN American Center; The Atavist founding editor Evan Ratliff; fellow lit-agent Erin Harris of Irene Skolnick; Halimah Marcus, Managing Editor at Electric Literature; and Tess Knoebel, Founding Editor of Abe’s Penny.

Thanks to Armchair/Shotgun managing editor Laura MacMillan for snapping photos.

We packed the house!

I was terrified I'd drop my iPad. So I put rubber cement on my fingertips.

Evan Ratliff of The Atavist and lit agent Erin Harris.

 

For a play-by-play of the night’s festivities, check out this great coverage from Electric Literature.

My Lit Mag in NY Times Magazine

As you may recall, when I’m not writing novels or battling forty-story robots from the future, I also co-manage a literary magazine. I’m so proud and honored that Armchair/Shotgun is listed with nine other “Literary Heirs” today in New York Times Magazine.

“What distinguishes these 10 is that they’re not only intello-chic statements for your side table. They’re also really good reads.”

Read the whole piece here.

And FYI: I’ll be moderating Armchair/Shotgun’s panel discussion at Greenlight Books on March 5th, featuring Abe’s Penny and Electric Literature, along with several other super guests. Come join us!

A Very Armchair/Shotgun Christmas

Hope ya don’t mind if I talk about a magazine near and dear to my heart.

As you may know, when I’m not writing or agenting, I co-edit the Brooklyn-based literary magazine Armchair/Shotgun. Like most folks in the indie-lit-magazine world, I’m mostly in it for the money:  the amphibious limos trolling rivers of champagne, the Mil V-12 helicopters dropping parcels of cash wrapped in gold leaf into my dollar-sign-shaped rooftop pool…

But seriously folks, few things in life give me greater pleasure and sense of meaning than publishing the superlative contributors of Armchair/Shotgun. A/S is a great little-big mag, and we are fortunate to work with some of the most talented poets, artists, and authors I’ve ever met (and I don’t say that lightly). These are artists I believe in. I believe in their talent and their drive, the sincerity of their work, and their consummate execution. Which is why I may ask you, dear reader, to consider purchasing a subscription or copy of Armchair/Shotgun this Holiday Season.

Printed on paper and available in bookstores, Armchair/Shotgun is a shareable, lendable, book-markable, spam-free reading experience. Its whisper-net connection is so quiet it’s not even connected to anything. The battery never runs out. The text is readable under any light source. You can access a new story or poem instantly, just by turning the page. And who doesn’t feel a little sexier with an indie BK lit  mag on their coffee table?

Eh? Eh? You know what I’m talking about.

So this Holiday Season, please consider the gift of an Armchair/Shotgun Issue or Subscription. Every dime (I mean it) contributes to the next issue’s printing costs and promotion. I wouldn’t steer ya wrong. This is worth the $10. But in case you don’t believe me, here’s what other folks think:

“Many of the pieces illustrate grassroots story-telling at its very best – with three contributors making their début bow – and there is a freshness and a spice to this collection that brings to mind the originality of the Beat generation.”

-Rory O’Sullivan, Sabotage Reviews

“…a bold statement in this twilight time of print… packaged with an artful and comforting sense of the importance of quality.”

-Tony Abbot, The Lit Pub

“[The Issue 2 release was] one of to most genuine readings I’ve attended since moving to Brooklyn. I’m now a fan.”

-David Backer, Luna Park Review

BUY, SUBSCRIBE, OR FIND US AT A BOOKSTORE NEAR YOU.

What I Learned from Fat Vampire

Coming back to a project after a three-month hiatus has been a real head trip. With that much time away from CHERRY MONEY BABY, I feel like I’m reading with fresh eyes.

Having just finished Fat Vampire, I’m marvelling at how author Adam Rex keeps a dozen plot-lines vibrating at once, without ever getting tangled. A flaw I noticed in this draft of CHERRY is what I call front loading: essentially, starting every major and minor plot line, and introducing every character, in the first ten pages. The result is like  a band where everyone’s playing at top volume. After all, in a novel some story elements are Lead Guitar while others are Backup Vocals or, say, Cowbell. A novel needs to be mixed down so everyone can be heard in consort. I needed a good sound guy.

So I’m editing like crazy, while simultaneous working on something Super Secret as regards Girl Parts. More on that one soon.

Oh and hey. If like me you’re a big fan of Ron Charles’ Totally Hip Video Book Reviews, you should check out Armchair/Shotgun’s exclusive interview today. It, too, is Totally Hip:

A/S: According to your Wikipedia page, you’ve been with the Washington Post since 2005. Can you describe what developments in the literary world / your daily horoscope inspired you to augment your written criticism with the Totally Hip Video Reviews?

Ron Charles: As any viewer of the Totally Hip Video Book Review can tell, I developed this web series for the kickbacks, the cranberry juice, and the women.

Read the whole thing here.

Humble Pile

It’s next to my desk. It’s enormous. It’s moving. It might even be…thinking. But I’ve come out in defense of the slush pile.

“Armchair/Shotgun has its own pile, which, if it were physical rather than electronic, would teeter seventeen stories high. We remove author names before consideration, and are, I believe, alone in this practice. The result: our authors are first-timers as well as established writers. I’m not sure why more journals don’t do this, but my guess is laziness. It’s easy to read a submitter’s bio and dismiss her writing because Suzie Q. Schoolmarm has never been published and started writing last week. Amazingly, it’s easier to dismiss a person than a manuscript.”

See me post on Armchair/Shotgun‘s blog, SHELLS.

BEAngover

Coming down after a long, loud week at the BEA. Mostly was a hermit this weekend, watching a lot of t.v. and wasting the beautiful weather. Emptying my jacket pockets I find a dozen business cards (oh right, I remember her), cheap pens, and receipts for $6 bottles of water. I expect these things to dematerialize in my hand like the Star of Astaroth from Bedknobs and Broomsticks, but they persist. It’s the exhausted thrill that’ll fade. Ho-hum, we had fun, but now it’s back to work.

So here’s the question: what to do between projects? I’m waiting for my agent to get back to me with notes, which will certainly mean more work on the New One (either that or he’ll pass it to my editor, which means a little more waiting, then, again, more work on the New One), so I’m wary of stepping off into another book just yet. But at the same time I go a little crazy without a project. I’ve considered short stories, but frankly, they frighten me. My best bet is brainstorming the next novel, which is only slightly less terrifying. “The journey of a thousand miles…” and all that, but the first step still has to have a direction, and that’s the toughest part.

But what am I complaining about? It’s a beautiful day. I’ve got all these cheap pens, and tonight it’s drinks and BBQ at Flatbush Farm. Life could be worse.