I live in the fort in my living room now

I IS TO VORTICISM by Ben Mirov

Recently Ben Mirov sent me his chapbook I IS TO VORTICISM

I read through it several times and it's wonderful. The poems are beautifully written and both weird and quirky enough for me to enjoy them.

In his poem, "Orgasmanism," he writes:
"When I think of our relationship
I think of a magician with a dove in his pants
or a giraffe that must fall six feet to be born."

In, "Monkey Heart," he writes:
"I love my fucking life.
Even my secrets
and the terrible things I've done."

In, "Until a green flash consumes my raft and I," he writes:
"If I throw the baby into the sky the sky
won't accept it.
But if I drop the baby into the sea the sea
will absorb it."

It's a really solid collection and well worth the $9.00. I just spent almost nine dollars one a bag of charcoal. So go buy it. And visit Ben's blog.

Author Bios

I'm tired of my generic "Brandi Wells has been published in blah blah blah," third person bio. Not gonna do that anymore.

What's the best bio you've ever seen (or used) in a print or online publication?




**Also, check out Laura Valeri's new story at Night Train

mlp anthology

Got my mlp anthology in the mail today. Excited to read the ones that I haven't read yet. Nice to have them all bound together.

You should buy it.





In trying to save money and not buy 20 books a month, I've been printing out short stories, mostly from lit journals that put a few of their stories online each issue. I think I have at least 400 pages.

Matt Debenedictis

I really liked these stories by Matt Debenedictis:

in dogzplot

in flashfire500

in decomp

and in thirst for fire


So I ordered his chapbook




If you have a cheap chapbook (less than $10.00) you should tell me. I will probably buy it. Or you can send it to me for free because you know I am poor and can't afford socks that fit. Right now my socks are sagging halfway into my shoe. I have large feet. I think they are a size nine.

ever ready

Oh man, Mississippi Review's flash fiction issue, edited by Kim Chinquee is online Go read it.



I read this story by Jesse Ball yesterday. I recently bought this and I'm excited to read it.




I'm writing a story about deer. This is mostly because I think my 3.5 lb chihuahua looks like a deer. Also, my parents go out in their back yard and shoot deer sometimes. The deer are just sitting in the back yard next to my parents' cats. They aren't scared. They don't run away. Then they get shot and made into deer sausage and ground deer and then they are breakfast and spaghetti and chili. My story isn't about any of that though. It is just about deer.

Also, I am writing a story about my brother. It is nonfiction but I will call it fiction and maybe there will be deer in that story too, so it will be like fiction. My brother is a garbage truck driver and he used to be married to a hooker in Reno. Now he lives in rural Georgia next to a cow field with his wife and child. They nicknamed his child "ever ready." They have a giant tub of mayo that they eat on everything. My eyes water when I'm in their house because I am allergic to something, but I'm not sure what it is. I'm not writing about any of that either, but the story is about my brother.

Shane Jones's The Failure Six

Just finished Shane Jones's The Failure Six

I liked it in the same way I liked his other book Light Boxes

I like his writing style, the words he chooses, the images he describes. He writes beautiful easy sentences, not full of junk, not crowded with filler words. He creates these wonderful images, foxes on leashes, fox fur on the walls, and geometric shapes on people's faces. It's easy to become quickly immersed in Jones's world.

I have to admit, I was a little let down at the end, probably because I wanted there to be more. At the book progresses, the sections get shorter and shorter, which works well for the narrative arc, but I felt disappointed. The thing Jones does so well is draw you in and make you enjoy the world he has created, so when it comes to an end so quickly, I can't help but feel sad.

That said, I'll buy anything he writes. It's more than worth my time and the meager amount of money I have. Would highly recommend both The Failure Six and Light Boxes.

What's your favorite thing you've ever written? Is it published online or in print? Is it unpublished? Can I read it?

google reader might be ruining my life

I feel good about my last few months. More time spent writing and drafting and redrafting. Less submissions that shouldn't be submitted. I feel more comfortable working on and sometimes waiting on a story to be finished. Often I feel better if I take a long break after I think the story is finished and then reread it later. I'll see there's more to be done. This means I haven't been submitting much. The few things I have coming out are mostly from folks that solicited work from me. I like it when people solicit me on facebook. It makes me feel like facebook is useful for something other than stalking people.

I've also been reading more. Right now I'm reading Brian Evenson's Fugue State, Blake Butler's Ever and Shane Jones's Failure Six. They're easy to read at the same time. It's hard to read a shitty book and a good book at the same time. I was trying to read World War Z while I was reading Homeland, but it made me kind of fucking sick.




I like these poems by Peter Davis at Sir Magazine.

Really, the whole issue is good.

I once sent Brian Foley a story about a tiny man hanging out a car window or something. It was really awful. I also sent Blake Butler a story about the coca cola polar bear being unemployed. It was pretty bad too. They were both very nice about the stories.




The new issue of Robot Melon is up too. If you read the first thing by Wagner Israel Cilio, you will want to read the whole issue.

I wish there were more things to read by Stephen Daniel Lewis.

Often the lit mag/journal that someone writes makes me like the editor as an author more. I bought an issue of Bust Down the Door and Eat All the Chickens and thought, "fuck, Bradley Sands is a winner." (I mean, I already liked him. That just reaffirmed it). I wonder if there are editors who pick really stellar work, but whose writing I wouldn't enjoy.

xtx and my cat

Amazing story in Oprah, Read This by xtx

Also, here is an excellent picture of my cat. Please don't feel sorry for him. He deserves this for destroying all the blinds in my apartment.