Jacke Wilson

February 4, 2014

Small Press Shoutout: SALT Publishing!

Back again with another small press shoutout! This week we hop across the pond to look at Salt Publishing, which for 15 years has been independently dedicated to creating “A New British Fiction Movement.” Why are they called Salt? Maybe it’s an acronym? Maybe it’s a tribute to the number-one spice? Meat preservation? The taste Continue reading

Authors, Fiction, Publishing

Arts, Literary fiction, other press, Publishing, Salt Publishing, Small press

February 3, 2014

Jacke’s Jacket: New Blurb

It’s a great day in Jacke news – a new blurb from the fabulous Ronica Dhar! Jacke Wilson’s work has for many years engaged me with its themes about the Midwest, politics, and contemporary culture. Alternately full of intrigue or expertly rendered deadpan comedy, Jacke’s stories (or perhaps satires? I’d have to ask Jacke to Continue reading

Authors, Fiction, Novellas, Publishing, The Race, Writing

bijou roy, blurbs, Indie Publishing, ronica dhar

February 1, 2014

Who’s Cheating America? The Billionaire vs. The People

Okay, we had some fun with King NFL earlier this week. But what about its owners? Aren’t those the real fatcats? Well, I guess that all depends. If you’re talking about my beloved Green Bay Packers, then it’s time to sit down and be quiet. The town owns the team. You won’t find a better Continue reading

Who’s Cheating America

daniel snyder, fatcat, nfl, trees

January 30, 2014

Who’s Cheating America? The Highly Profitable Nonprofit!

Ah yes, here we are, in the week of one of our great secular holidays. Maybe the great secular holiday in America. Except that the NFL is, perhaps, closer to a religion than we care to admit. Don’t we worship our teams? Aren’t these gods we scream for? Isn’t this sweaty, feverish feeling something akin Continue reading

Who’s Cheating America

charity, fatcat, nfl, nonprofit

January 28, 2014

Small Press Shoutout: Other Press!

Back again with another small press shoutout! This week we look at Other Press, which focuses on authors with a “passion to discover the limits of knowledge and the imagination.” Oh boy! The editors of Other Press come with some gilded resumes indeed. Here’s an excerpt from Publisher Judith Gurewitch’s bio: Born in Canada and Continue reading

Authors, Fiction, Publishing

Arts, Literary fiction, other press, Publishing, Small press

January 27, 2014

Welcome, Nook Readers!

Fans of Barnes & Noble, your days of waiting are OVER. The Race: A Novella is ready and available for sampling and purchases on your favorite Nook product. My thanks again to Mark Coker and the folks at Smashwords for the distribution platform. It’s great to be able to reach all my readers, on whatever Continue reading

Authors, Fiction, Novellas, Publishing, The Race

Barnes and Noble, Ebooks, Indie Publishing, Nook, The Race

January 25, 2014

Thoughts on France’s Menage a Trois

I’ve done some thinking about love triangles and politics. In fact, I’ve set a book in that world. The Race takes place in Wisconsin. One of its recurring themes is the loneliness and solitude of strivers trapped in out-of-the-way places. Although they live – and thrive – in a flyover state, both the Governor and Continue reading

Fiction, The Race

France, Humanity, Politics

January 21, 2014

The Celebrated Yarn Spinner of Whatagenius County

Ben Tarnoff takes an insightful look at Mark Twain’s push to employ his humor for something deeper than mere entertainment. Mark Twain loved frontier humor, the impish wit and yeasty vernacular, its fondness for the gargantuan and the grotesque. He also understood its deeper value: not merely as entertainment but as a survival tactic. Twain Continue reading

Authors, Fiction, Uncategorized, Writing

Humor, Mark Twain

January 20, 2014

Terrible Poem Breakdown: Another Apologia (of Sorts)

Some thoughts on the Terrible Poem Breakdown series, which continues to be one of our more popular sets of posts here on the blog. Even though I try to make it clear that the poets have expressly consented, it seems I risk being viewed as too negative. Readers, I get it: poets deserve our empathy, Continue reading

Authors, Terrible Poem Breakdown, Writing

Death, parenting, Poetry

January 18, 2014

The Failure of the Unpublished Author: Dead or Dying?

We’re fans of failure on this blog (as we are in life). And of course, The Race: A Novella has a failed lawyer as one of its pole stars. Now Tim Parks brings things full circle with a look at failed writers, which of course we’re HUGE fans of as well, when we’re not self-hating them. (Oh boy Continue reading

Authors, Fiction, Publishing, The Race, Writing

Failure, New York Review of Books, Tim Parks