(Sigh) Yes, I know, the world isn't out to get me personally. It just doesn't give a fuck. About anyone. It's not capable of giving a fuck. But sometimes despite that you manage to get some people together and have a really good time.
I had a reading last night here in Chicago, at Bucket O' Blood Books and Records in Logan Square, the only place in town that wasn't too scccccchicken to let me read, and a cool-stuff emporium that makes me wish I had more disposable income and free time (never a likely combination). We had poetry from Marc Ruvolo, my reading from NVSQVAM, a bit from my as-yet-unpublished sci-fi book LYFE, and two good friends, Joanne Von Alroth and Benjamin Capps, who both turned out to have some absolutely amazing stories to read.
I don't just mean that in the disgusting 'my fwends are awwwwww geniuses!' way that some of my former overlings at the Chicago Reader would say it, I mean it in the, 'seriously, I had a fun fucking time listening to these guys, and I got all sorts of compliments on how I really know how to put together an evening's entertainment' way.
Attendance was low, as it is at these things; but it was high for these things. Ruvolo, the owner of Bucket O' Blood Books and Records and an excellent Gorey-esque poet--at my request he read his twisted, hilarious poem "The Lidded Box" to kick off the evening; check it out in THE GOTHIC BLUE BOOK, a local anthology of creepy-ass lit--says for a reading in a bookshop it was a smash hit.
So here I am, enjoying my day off from the angry shtick. I deeply appreciate everyone who did trek out to Logan Square, and also those who live in Logan Square and forewent or postponed the many other entertainment options available in that neighborhood, and also thank you to the friends who expressed their regret that they were unable to make it. Thank you for coming, TGGP, and thanks to my sister Liz and my old friend Brendan O'Mara for both bringing chums out to discover my sick little world! Ben needs to compile a collection of his off-the-wall Max stories. Joanne, already a noted journalist, needs to write more fiction. That's all. Good times. Good night.
I actually found your unfinished work more interesting than the main event. So keep plugging. Personally, I never had the stick-to-it-iveness to finish any project, which is why I've had a bass guitar since I moved to Chicago and still haven't learned to play anything.
ReplyDelete"Ben needs to compile a collection of his off-the-wall Max stories"
Agreed. I was actually under the impression he had and that's what he was reading from. Just how many of them are there?
Also, at the event you referred to NVSQVAM as your first published book. But the picture on the side says Girl Detectives is your first novel. So what's the deal?
NVSQVAM was the first book someone else (Chip) published. I published Girl Detectives myself as a print-on-demand on Amazon (essentially, free vanity publishing). I finished writing it back riiiight before publishers started really accepting e-mailed manuscripts, and you had to mail them the whole heavy thing. I was in school at the time and after a few rejections I just couldn't afford to keep mailing it out, so I gave up, self-published, started over with a new book, and waited for Chip to start a publishing house. :P (I actually had no idea he was going to do such a thing; when I started NVSQVAM I just felt like I was writing it into a black hole.)
ReplyDeletePS I did the POD thing because there was no Kindle as yet.
ReplyDeletePS I think those are all the Max stories that are written down so far, but Ben says there are many more incidents where those came from...
ReplyDeleteI thought there was at least one more, because he said the previous reading was enough of a "downer" that he decided to read the more lighthearted story about the movie theater.
ReplyDeleteI think the "downer" story had a different subject... I had asked him to read three stories, but to bring one or two extra things in case we had too much time and not enough material.
ReplyDeletePS When/why did you move here and where did you move from, if I might ask?
ReplyDeleteI moved a little over a year ago from the suburbs (actually not too long after I scoffed at the plight of an el-rider*). Didn't like commuting (particularly after my car broke down), liked being within walking distance of work.
ReplyDelete*And despite that I was under the impression you lived in southern Illinois. Probably a combination of that Carbondale picture and the setting of your book.
I lived there for a while, that was not inaccurate... got out though. Not a fun place for an adult.
ReplyDelete