chapbook

Allison

Review from Janet Writes

I met Janet Dale in a fiction writing workshop in 2009 and we became friends and writing partners. We’ve written together, edited together, and collaborated on many pieces. We wrote a chapbook together and are currently working on another series of pieces for a collection.

Her poetry chapbook ghosts passing through came out on September 6th, and I celebrated her book birthday here. You need to grab a copy of her book! She has a fiction background, as you can tell from how we met. But she also writes CNF along with poetry, so you get a bit of everything in this chapbook.

These poems are haunting memories you grasp for and miss but can never forget. Dale relates love, loss, and memory to science, physics, and outer space. Poems include Morse code and inspiration from Buzz Aldrin and Sylvia Plath, which gives you an idea of the diversity in this volume.

– me

Read the kind words she has to say about Won’t Be By Your Side here.

Allison

Taylor Swift as Books

If you’re not active on bookstagram you might be unaware of Taylor Swift as Books, an amazing account that perfectly matched Taylor Swift’s style to indie books. In the spirit of the account, I made my own (because I’m not cool enough to REALLY get one…yet?):

My fave due to the sweater color, her legs and the metal legs behind her mimicking the booths, and of course the pops of color with her lipstick and shoes matching the ketchup bottle.
If the blue top was darker, this would have been my one and only. Look at the lines in the skirt compared to the lines of the booths and tabletop!
The blue coat and hint of orange beneath at almost too perfect!

Allison

Alien Buddha Reading Sunday 9/18

Listen to the recording HERE. My section starts around the 53 minute mark.

This Sunday from 1-3pm CST, Alien Buddha Press is hosting a reading. It’s audio-only through Twitter Spaces, so grab your phone and listen in without needing to primp for Zoom vide. You’ll see a colorful ring around @thealienbuddha‘s profile picture when we’re live. If you follow the press already, the Space will be at the top of your newsfeed. Whichever approach you use, just click to join and listen to these great writers:

Allison

Won’t Be By Your Side Blurb from Brett Biebel

I’m honored to share this blurb for my forthcoming chapbook, Won’t Be By Your Side.

48 Blitz was the first book I was completely on board for in my initial role at Split/Lip Press, which means Brett Biebel was the first author I got to work closely with and really hype up on social media. I kicked off my “Five Questions” interview series with Brett and still remember his engaging answers. He recorded himself reading one of the stories (“Warriors”), which you can hear on his book’s Split/Lip Press page, linked above.

That story exemplifies what you get from his flash fiction collection. Insights into the lives and minds of people you might not think twice about—as the back cover copy says, the book is “inviting readers to immerse themselves within, rather than fly over, the wide-open Midwestern prairie.”

Some of my favorite stories include:

  • “The Messenger,” which features a politician holding rallies at bowling alleys
  • “Message to the Grassroots,” which is about a fast food company trying to figure out how to spin the unfortunate death of one of their customers
  • “Dear Abbey,” an ode to young love and moving on
  • “Capacities of Self-Abuse: An Ethno- Porno-Graphic Immersion,” which is about, yes, masturbation and the study of
  • “Kansas City Blues,” which is an evening with a newlywed couple already facing stress
  • And ALL the stories about Mulberry’s: their unique marketing approach, possibly offensive commercials, and just the subtle mentions in many stories.

I love how Brett’s collection has 48 distinct stories, but you’ll read a name and think, “Wait…” and flip back a few stories to see the character mentioned in passing. It’s an immersive way of storytelling that truly feels like you’re among these people, hearing stories from people who know each other.

I’m so honored that Brett agreed to read and blurb my chapbook because I greatly admire his writing, and I hope you’ll check out 48 Blitz. In the meantime, check out this amazing story he recently published in Atlas and Alice: “Holy War.”

Allison

Won’t Be By Your Side Blurb from Keely O’Shaughnessy

I’m honored to share this blurb for my forthcoming chapbook, Won’t Be By Your Side.

I met Keely O’Shaughnessy when I was a priority editor at Flash Fiction Magazine. She’s the managing editor and fearless leader, and an amazing writer to boot! I kicked off Chapbook Week showcasing her book, The Swell of Seafoam, which you can get right now (free!) from Ghost City Press. The microchap is stunning, with the mysterious sea taking on a prominent role in each story.

Since then, Keely’s second book, Baby Is a Thing Best Whispered, came out with Alien Buddha Press. Once I stopped staring at the gorgeous cover, I dove in and the stories swept me away. The relationships in this book are realistic, even when that means they’re fraught with uncertainty and anxiety. Keely deftly inspires those emotions in the reader.

A few of my favorite stories include:

  • “Some Girls are Just Trashy and No Good,” about girls at the fair testing the limits of who they are and what they could become, with descriptions so vivid you can smell the food in the air as the colorful lights flash before your eyes.
  • “Adult Teeth,” about a family of women that hammer their baby teeth into a tree.
  • “Hidden in the Margins of a Gideon’s Bible,” a micro flash which… you just have to read.
  • “Love Is Riding the Log Flume at Splash Town in Late Summer,” which is about love and loss and the passage of time, told with heart-wrenching, brutal honesty.
  • “How to Bake Cookies When Your Child is Dying,” giving you step-by-step instructions on how to make cookies and think of anything other than your child dying, while deftly inserting emotion into each part of the recipe.

I need to stop before I highlight every story, but you get my gist. This flash fiction collection is one you don’t want to miss!