Saturday, April 17 (Time TBD – most likely early in the morning or the afternoon) – Orlando Public Library (101 East Central Boulevard Orlando, FL).  Because of the location and time, my set will be entirely PG.  I know I have the poems to pull it off and I love the challenge of rocking a day time audience.  Once I get the details, y’all will know more.

What is The Monsters of Literature?  Think of the rock festivals back in the 80s and 90s where you had a combination of epic talent, parings you will never see again in this lifetime (such as Bon Jovi & Metallica).  People paid (and still pay) money to see these acts because of how awesome they are.  Imagine that…with literature.

You’re probably thinking why would they pay to see us?  It’s one thing for someone to read your work in a magazine online or in-print.  The live experience is completely different.  You get to interact with the audience.  Your work sounds the way you want it to sound to a live audience.  You get to interact with people and rock faces off with your talking.  People will pay to see you (with the right promotion) and they will want a) you to succeed and b) to have a good time.

This project is starting small.  I have five writers in mind that I want to pair off and do a live show with where we use our collective literary might to change/ruin lives.  Here they are:

Matt DeBenedictis (we’re working on a show in May as we speak in his neck of the woods in Decatur)

Roxane Gay

David Erlewine

xTx (I have a mask design in mind for you to hide your true identity)

Rion Scott

(note: Cynthia Reeser is putting together something in June with a couple of other writers, including myself and that could turn into a monster show.)

(additional note: there are so many other writers I want to work with so please, don’t be offended if you aren’t on the list – I’m starting small with this project).

What I need from these writers on the list:

1. A venue that allows us to charge a door where we can split the profits.

2. Press contacts that I can research and help bombard for promoting our show.

3. Fearlessness in the face of strangers.

We can do this if we put our energy into it.  If Henry Rollins can talk for a living, we can write, perform our work, and get paid to do it, too.  Why high-five ourselves when we can knock down high-fives from strangers?  We can be heroes.  We can be monsters.

P.S.: My story, “Maladroit“, is up in Weirdyear.  Please check it out when you have a moment.

If you’ve enjoyed my work whether online or in print, whether it was fiction, flash fiction, or poetry, then you should get a copy of Dodging Traffic.  E-mail a copy of your order from SPD to senryujournalist@gmail.com with your mailing address and I will mail you something special as a thank-you.  It could be a CD.  It could be a chapbook.  It could be a custom poem just for you.  Believe me, I’ll appreciate the support.

P.S.: After getting some Dodging Traffic, you should also check out other fine Ampersand Books, including Under What Stars, Do Something! Do Something! Do Something!, When You Say One Thing But Mean Your Mother.

My poem, “The Kama Sutra of the Kraken”, is up on Poor Mojo’s Almanac(k).  You can check it out here.

Finally, Ampersand Books got a write up in Poets & Writers.  It’s in the March/April 2010 issue but you can read it here.

I have new flash up in DOGZPLOT here.

After four tries, I finally got into Nanoism.  My contribution goes up this Friday.

The bad:

The Encyclopedia Show in April will be on April 23.  I hope this changes but it probably won’t.  This means I will not be a contributor.  I am a panda adopted by wolves sad.

That is all.

After my business trip in Indiana, I hope to be off the road for six weeks until Richmond and Chicago on the first week of April.  I really could use the time off at home to regroup physically and financially.  The recharge will be good for me and the missus.

I have three poems up in the February issue of Word Riot here.  You should go here.

February 5 – her birthday

March 5 – our getting together anniversary

October 11 – our wedding anniversary

At first, it was economic reasons why I stopped (X-mas + her birthday five weeks later + Valentine’s Day = Ramen) but then I realized Valentine’s Day doesn’t hold personal meaning with the missus; we didn’t get together that day.  My wife initially hated that I stopped getting into Valentine’s Day but she’s begrudgingly accepted why I’m not into it.  If I treated our anniversaries the way I treat Valentine’s Day, the missus would remove some of my organs while I’m awake and I would deserve it.

However for you lovers out there, I end this with a poem I wrote last year when I wrote a poem every day the week of Valentine’s Day except on Valentine’s Day; I hope I can get it into a Hallmark card.

Candy & Puppies

This is the Hudson River after we got off the ferry that took us out of Jersey and into New York City. We dodged Snowmageddon Part One. Would we dodge the sequel?

CakeShop is an excellent indie rock venue in the Lower East Side and also where Melissa Broder holds her monthly Polestar Poetry Series. This month was her book release party for her debut poetry collection, When You Say One Thing But Mean Your Mother, from our label, Ampersand Books.

Here we have fine products from Ampersand Books, available through such fine places as Small Press Distribution, Amazon, and Ampersand Books. Why haven't you bought a copy or copies of these fine products?

Here I am opening the show. At first the audience was all "what the fuck is this guy from Orlando doing here" but we connected in our brief time. I mixed in a couple of new pieces into the set, including "The Kama Sutra of Hansel & Gretel" and "Whir". We had fun and no one stabbed me after. Yay.

Joseph Riippi's novel Do Something! Do Something! Do Something! is part of the reason why Dodging Traffic, When You Say One Thing But Mean Your Mother, and Under What Stars exist. Do Something! Do Something! Do Something! is terrific and so is his reading style.

Here is Melissa Broder performing some poems from her collection. I had the honor of fine tuning When You Say One Thing But Mean Your Mother and it's a solid collection of poems.

Proof people came to see us. Take that, SuperBowl!

Melissa, Joe and I after the show, proving to our publisher we were all in the same room for the first time ever.

At Junior's in Times Square where the missus and I split a slice of cheesecake and I have a chocolate egg cream, one of my all time favorite guilty pleasures. This is how you celebrate performing in New York City for the first time. This is also how you start to gain six pounds in a week.

This concludes Part 1.  More to come.

Here’s some good news: my poem “The Kama Sutra of Mickey Mouse”, is up in this month’s issue of The Northville Review, one of the pickiest magazines out there.  Getting in was a tremendous honor.  See my poem here and then go read the rest of the issue to see why they have great editorial vision.

Here’s some amazing news: Ampersand Books now has distribution through Small Press Distribution.  All of their titles, including mine, will be available through them.  Click here to see the proof.

Stay warm, y’all.