-I have a new story up at Cherrybleeds.com. Thanks to Tony, and you should pick up his book CONFESSIONS OF A TEENAGE JESUS JERK, out on Soft Skull Press. The brilliant Goodloe Byron designed the cover.

-Speaking of Goodloe, I finally met the inimitable Pablo D’Stair of Brown Paper Publishing at the AWP conference in Denver and he will publish OLD GHOSTS, the novella that was serialized online. New and improved and all that, of course. He’s got some ideas for the edition that make me a bit itchy, in a good way. More to come later.

-A brief recapitulation of the dramatic (pre-hangover) events aka The AWP blog at Caleb J Ross.com. Too, there will be more of these coming in as the contributors sort out their lives.

More to come as I remember it.

Godspeed.
Nik

Otherworld Publications of Louisville, KY is thrilled to announce the signing of author Nik Korpon for the release of Stay God in December of 2010.

ABOUT NIK

Nik has been published in numerous magazines and journals, including 3:AM, Out of the Gutter Cause and Effect, Gold Dust, Colored Chalk, Troubadour21, Sex and Murder, The Mechanics Institute Review, short-story.me and Sideshow Fables, as well as the upcoming Shadow Kindred Anthology from Living Dead Press. His novella Old Ghosts is currently being serialized on Troubadour 21.com. He also has a chapbook forthcoming in late 2010. He reviews books for the Outsider Writers Collective, co-hosts Last Sunday, Last Rites, a monthly reading series in Baltimore, and is a Fiction Editor for Rotten Leaves Magazine. Somewhere between all of that, he is writing his second novel.

ABOUT STAY GOD

Damon lives a content life, playing video games and dealing drugs from his second-hand store while his girlfriend, Mary, drops constant hints about marriage. If only he could tell her his name isn’t really Damon. If only he could tell her who he really is. But after he witnesses a friend’s murder, a scarlet woman glides into his life, offering the solution to all of his problems. His carefully constructed existence soon shatters like crystal teardrops and he must determine which ghosts won’t stay buried—and which ones are trying to kill him—if he wants to learn why Mary has disappeared.

I’m incredibly excited to be with Otherworld. They are a husband and wife team. Very smart, well connected, and they care about books for the sake of books. It’s something we don’t see very often anymore and I’m proud to be a part of it.

More details to follow as I get them. There should be 100 limited edition hardcovers printed, then a larger run of paperbacks and e-reader things. We’ll also have some promotional stuff, and I’m hoping to do a few readings with my good friend and label-mate Richard Thomas. The first two chapters are available to sample on the right side of this page. More to come.

Godspeed
Nik

BITING THE HAND
I have a story, DEVIL CHILDREN UNITE, in a new vampire anthology from Living Dead Press. The anthology, called ETERNAL NIGHT, will be available soon. If you’d like to buy it from the Rotten Leaves store, we’d appreciate the support. This is a fantastic collection of stories that subverts the vampire mythology, and a collection of writers on the brink of breaking out.

From the website:

Blood, fangs, darkness and terror…these are the calling cards of the vampire mythos. Inside this tome are stories that embrace vampire history but seek to introduce a new literary spin on this longstanding fictional monster. Follow a dark journey through cigarette-smoking creatures hunted by rogue angels, vampires that feed off of thoughts instead of blood, immortals presenting the fantastic in a local rock band, to a legendary monster on the far reaches of town. Forget what you know about vampires; this anthology will destroy historical mythos and embrace incredible new twists on this celebrated, fictional character.

Welcome to a world of the undead, welcome to the world of Eternal Night. With stories from Axel Taiari, Chris Deal, Tony Schaab, Kelly M. Hudson, Simon West-Bulford, Jessy Marie Roberts, Christopher Dwyer, Anthony Giangregorio, Richard Thomas, Spencer Wendleton, Edward J. Rathke, David H. Donaghe, Caleb Ross, Nik Korpon, Rob X Roman, and G.R. Mosca

I’M A GENIUS, ONLY FOR TODAY
I’m the resident Genius at Everyday Genius, the web component of Publishing Genius. Thanks to Lauren Bender for the love.

SUBMISSION WOES
I contributed a column to the Writers’ Hub, the new website of the Birkbeck College Creative Writing Masters Program. It’s a fantastic new site with all kinds of information regarding all aspects of writing. This is especially cool, as I graduated from the same program two years ago. Thank you to James Vincent and Julia Bell for the opportunity.

OLD GHOSTS KEEP HAUNTING
Part Four of my serialized novella OLD GHOSTS is live at Troubadour21.com.

There’s also some big news to announce soon, so please check back.

Godspeed
Nik

OPRAH READ THIS > OPRAH, READ THIS is a collection of stories that each leverage the name-recognition of other writers to impart a meta-layer of interpretation. These are fictions. The writers are not. Here, we explore the overlap.

This collection will be live for 11 months: January 2010-November 2010.

There are a ton of great writers in here. My story, DEXTER MORGAN, MARRAIGE COUNSELOR, only slightly mars the reputation.

While you’re out around the website, preorder Tim Hall’s new chapbook, ONE DAMN THING AFTER ANOTHER, available from Outsider Writers Press. Chicago Subtext has some nice things to say about it.

Godspeed
Nik

While you’re surfing, check out Caleb Ross’s interview at JMWW Magazine, conducted by future LAST SUNDAY, LAST RITES reader David Erlewine.

Godspeed
Nik

Nik Korpon has tattoos. I do not. Based on this observation one could assume (likely, correctly) that Nik has lived a more eventful life than me. Tattoos—once a mark of individuality—their absence on a body has become more a statement than their presence. That statement regarding me: I don’t do much.

I think Nik and his canvassed body would agree that tattoos aren’t solely for social outsiders anymore. They have become a living road map of sorts, a declaration of history, of owning a specific time in the bearer’s life. Social outsider or no, we all hope to have a moment of import that warrants a tattoo-level reminder.

I’ve long thought about how I would break my tattoo-hymen, and have decided that no dot on the map is more worth marking that the publication of my first book. My book, a chapbook called Charactered Pieces, practically begs for such ceremony, as its central theme deals with just the sort of visual hiccup that are tattoos.

First, I want nothing too literal. I want intrigue from my audience, not a simple nod of recognition. Not the Tasmanian Devil, but a Rorschach version of the real devil, sort of thing. Second, I want to bypass any trends. In fifth grade, I would have killed for a Japanese symbol meaning “ninja.” I’d be embarrassed by that today (though truly, I still think it’s cool). Third, I don’t have much money.

So what would I get, should I get one? A single, thin, black rectangle:

This accommodates the first stipulation by being open to interpretation. To me, it would symbolize the spine or edge of my book. Perhaps as I get more books published, I’d get more bars on my arm. I don’t fear violating the second stipulation, as I doubt black bars will ever be all the rage. And for the money thing, I can’t imagine a cheaper design.

Maybe I’ll get it done at April 2010’s AWP Conference in Denver. Anyone willing to watch me cry? Contact me via my website below. Bring a camera.

Before I leave, let me bring you an apt installment of “Author Note on Story #3 (An Optimist is the Human Personification of Spring) In Hopes That You’ll Learn About Me Intellectually and Donate to My Pocket.” Apt, as this story contains images (tattoos are often images. Get it?):

Though I was familiar with the manipulation of text before Mark Z. Danielewski’s House of Leaves, it was that book that made me aware of just how far text could go to tell a story. Forget the literal interpretation which has for so long constrained the word. House of Leaves showed that words could be looked at in the abstract. “An Optimist…” is my attempt to test the idea of textual metafiction. Integrating Chinese fortune cookie fortunes into the text to enhance the story, “An Optimist…” marks a proud accomplishment in terms of my writing ability. I definitely want to further explore the integration of text and art.

While you’re there, read THROWBACK, Part Two, by Chris Deal, and an interview with Chris Dwyer, the new in-house writer at T21.

Godspeed
Nik

Also, I just posted pictures from the November edition of LAST SUNDAY, LAST RITES.

Godspeed
Nik

Also, thanks to everyone who came out to LAST SUNDAY, LAST RITES last night. We had a great time.

Cheers
Nik

Cheers
Nik