The Grip of It Exists! Pub Day Extravaganza!

My novel, 11 years in the making, The Grip of It, exists in the flesh today. You can read chapters of it at Barnes & Noble Readouts, and then maybe you will order a copy? 

Lots of positive reviews to be grateful for over on the book page of this site. 

Today is also the pub day of for four books by people I admire/love very much: 

Benjamin Percy's The Dark Net

Megan Stielstra's The Wrong Way to Save Your Life

Kristen Iskandrian's Motherest

Augustus Rose's The Readymade Thief

If you're already in the bookstore or placing an order, why not tack one of these books on?

And why not preorder Lindsay Hunter's Eat Only When You're Hungry while you're at it? You won't regret it. Masterpiece. 

Grateful. Happy. Tired of talking about myself. Blessed. 

Rejection 374

I received a kind rejection for my too-long story from The Oxford American. 

One week til The Grip of It comes out and it had a little cameo in this month's Marie Claire! #grateful

Rejections 372 and 373

Maybe my fave shot from the weekend: the Bavarian Alps from the ruins of Falkenstein Castle. 

Very kind and encouraging note from the Nashville Review and a form rejection from Hayden's Ferry. 

I just got back from a research weekend in Munich and the surrounding area and I'm ready to sit at a desk again while my body heals from traipsing around with a heavy backpack. 

Rejection 371

Nice rejection for a longer story from Kwame Dawes at Prairie Schooner!

Also, I am in a modern building next to this little palace, aka the Oberpfalzer Kunstlerhaus in Schwandorf until the middle of July and pretty much radioactive with productivity (though always sure I could be doing more). 

Rejection 370

Cutting down on slime.

Salamander didn't want the story I sent them. It was 12,000 words. Yesterday I finally finished cutting it down to a much more reasonable (though still long) 6,900 words. Let's see how this goes. 

Rejection 369 & Story Published

I received a very kind rejection for the reprint of a piece in an anthology to which I'd been invited to submit. They'd decided to take the anthology in a different direction which my piece didn't quite fit into. That seems like a particularly soft way to turn me down, and I appreciated it. 

I also have a new story called "Truth and Rules" up in the magazine Lost Balloon today. Thanks to Chelsea Voulgares for having me!

Rejection 368

But, you know, they can't even spell so. JKJK. 

BOAAT declined the story I sent them. 

Rejection 367 and Residency Acceptance

This is where you'll be able to find me in June and July. 

The Laurel Review let me know they don't want the long story I sent them, which is too bad, BUT I was accepted to a 6-week residency at the Oberpfälzer Künstlerhaus in Schwandorf, Germany, so I have zero complaints. I'll be there with two visual artists and a composer, and I'll be within a few hours of the castles I want to research for the new novel. Great luck all around!

Rejection 366 and Story in StoryQuarterly!

Thanks to Fifth Wednesday for reading and considering my big long story, even if it wasn't a fit. 

And even bigger thanks to StoryQuarterly for including my story that's an ode to Shirley Jackson's style, "Half Dollar," alongside work by so many people I admire, including, but not limited to Wendy Ortiz, Claire Vaye Watkins, Alix Ohlin and Stephen Dixon. Such an honor. All gratitude to Paul Lisicky. Order your copy here!

Rejection 365

Alaska Quarterly Review turned down the paper submission of a story I sent them. 

Jeff VanderMeer, author of the Southern Reach trilogy (Annihilation, Authority, and Acceptance), Borne and City of Saints & Madmen had really kind words to say about The Grip of It though!

"The Grip of It is a stunning, smart, genuinely creepy page-turner that I couldn't put down. It's got depth, thrills, twists, and great writing. I'd recommend this novel to anyone. One of the few haunted house stories that sticks the landing."