Pushcart Nomination for The Cord

 Thanks to BHC Press for nominating the The Cord for a 2023 Pushcart Prize!

Messing with Time

I get to talk about my new novel and some of my favorite novels today on Shepherd. Check it out at: https://shepherd.com/best-books/american-novels-that-mess-with-time

"Atlantis, Iowa" out today

I've got a short science fiction story, "Atlantis, Iowa," coming out today in the new issue of the HOZ Journal of Speculative Literature. For today (T Nov. 16) only, the issue is free via Kindle (https://www.amazon.com/House-Zolos-Journal.../dp/B09LRL9P2D). The rest of the week it's $3 and change. It's a long issue, and my story is on pg. 225.

Some Good News!

I've just gotten a release date for The Cord, my science fiction novel set on both ends and along a space elevator. BHC Press told me May 10, 2022, so get ready for lots of promotion!

Here are a couple other recent publications:

"What the Pandemic Taught Me About Soup.” (creative nonfiction) Global Insides: the vaccine. Ed. Debra Leea Glasheen. Chalant Publishing, 2021, pp. 21-23.

“Like the Mountains.” (fiction) Macro Magazine, vol. 5, Summer 2021, pp. 12-15.

Some recent publications

 Catching up on things. Here are some short pieces I've had come out recently:

“Taken, or Not” The Short Story Show Podcast

“Here’s a Thing You Weren’t Expecting” The Dribble Drabble Review, vol 3, Spring 2021.

“Ghosts, At First” Red Planet Magazine, Winter 2020.

“About an Average Day” The Sock Drawer, vol. 2, August 2020, pp. 66-73.

Article on The Last Caucus in Iowa

 Thanks to Melody Parker of The Courier for this article on The Last Caucus in Iowa. I've been doing a series of Zoom presentations in the run-up to the election. Contact me if there's a group you think would be interested in hearing about the book.

Also, I should have posted the book trailer before. Here it is:

The Last Caucus in Iowa to be published!

 

I'm thrilled to announce that at the end of this month Ice Cube Press will be publishing The Last Caucus in Iowa, my first-person account of the 2020 caucus in Iowa.  For more than a year, I attended events with over 20 candidates in meeting halls, living rooms and more than a few craft brew pubs. 

This book captures that experience as well as the controversies surrounding the caucus itself. Signed copies can be pre-ordered, and I'll be launching the book at the September 24 Final Thursday Reading Series and will make my way to Zoom at some point as well.

Thanks to everyone who followed the 20+ Candidates blog, which is where this project began, though the book expands a lot on the work of the blog. Thanks also to my family who accompanied me to many candidate events and let me turn them into characters in the evolving narrative.  

Daily Life 2nd Edition

I just realized that I never posted anything about the 2nd edition of Daily Life in the Industrial United States, 1870-1900, which Julie and I recently published. We will be giving a presentation about it at the Cedar Falls Historical Society in November.

First Review of Kurt Vonnegut Remembered

..and, whew!, it's a good one.  Much appreciation for such a well-written review.

Interview on The Daily Vonnegut

My interview about Kurt Vonnegut Remembered is now up on The Daily Vonnegut. Check it out!

Blog More Blog!

Check out 20+ Candidates, a blog in which I pledge to see as many Presidential candidates as I can as they visit Iowa (three so far with one in the pipeline).

First Look: Kurt Vonnegut Remembered

I'm happy to announce that there is now a release date for Kurt Vonnegut Remembered, the collection I edited for University of Alabama Press.  Update your calendars for a March 26, 2019 release!

Fall 2018 FTRS poster

Coming to a storefront window or bulletin board near you!

It's the Army of Brass blog tour!

I'm participating in the collaborative steampunk novel, Army of Brass, currently available on pre-order and scheduled to be released at the end of the month. C'mon, it's just a buck, what more do you want?!?

Join the worldwide Facebook release party on April 28-29 to meet the writers, learn more about the book and win prizes, including copies of "EPiCAD 2025," my reboot of Kurt Vonnegut's classic SF story, "EPICAC."  

Okay, if you need more persuading, here's an except from my contribution, a section of a chapter focusing on the villain of the novel, the Hunter Baron.

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excerpt from chapter three of Army of Brass

“Bah, you will find out nothing from that machine, Colonel,” the Baron scoffed, waving the man away. The officers were all captivated by the newest military technology—the telegraph, the dirigible, the programmable machine gun—as if they were weapons that would win the war. While he would not have earned the moniker of “The Hunter Baron” if he didn’t know the value of a good weapon, he also realized that a weapon without a warrior to wield it remained useless, which was why he had personally supervised the training of the Marksmen, turning them into the most awesome fighting force the continent had ever seen.

“I will return to Fairport myself.” He picked up his cloak, and all the officers stood at attention.

His personal retinue whipped into action, a half-dozen guards and aides gathering papers and weapons while they struggled hastily into their own cloaks. The equipment and people would all be loaded into his personal train car, but he didn’t need to wait, as they would simply meet him in Fairport.

The prodigal valet appeared to open the tent flap. “My lord,” he said, eyes cast downward.

His master grabbed him by the collar and lifted him off his feet. The man’s face turned red as he gasped for breath. “My tea, Jeffrey,” the Baron whispered. All noise around him ceased, his every word clear to each man in the room. “It was cold.”

The officers scattered when the valet soared through the air and landed on the map table. The Baron then addressed the entire room. “Do not forget that I am a patient man. I have waited many years to launch this campaign. But now that we have begun, I will tolerate no delays and suffer no errors. Is that clear?”

“Yes, sir!” the officers answered in unison.

“Good. I will now return to Fairport and expect notification when you hear from the spies.” He turned to the man still sprawled on the table. “Jeffrey?”

“Yes, sir?” the man responded meekly.

“We are ready.” The Baron gestured toward the closed flap of the tent. The valet sprang up with a muffled groan and held open the fabric so his lord could pass.

When he left the tent this time, the scene around him had changed. At the base of the rail line, men and machines were hard at work bending steel and laying wood to push farther north. He glanced briefly at the workers, bathed in sweat and covered in dust and grime, and smiled. Fear truly was the most powerful motivator of them all.

“Horses,” he called out, but his valet was already at his side with the reins extended. The Baron refused to take the rail line himself, no matter how fast or efficient they could make it. The Baron of Auster smiled at the man and the tiny rivulet of blood trickling down his scalp. The warlord took the bridle with one hand and placed the other on Jeffrey’s uninjured shoulder. “Excellent.”

The valet stared at the ground, but the corners of his mouth crept up in a smile, and his master let the sycophantic pleasure linger. All told, Jeffrey was a good man, a reliable man, but the Baron had little time to waste upon such thoughts.

He had a country to conquer.

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Want to read more? Check out Chapter 1 by Jason Pere.

You can preorder the ebook of Army of Brass and receive it April 27!

Plus, join us for the Facebook launch party April 28-29 to meet the writers, sign up for giveaways, and more!

Speaking of giveaways, we’ve got one going on for the entire blog tour, so between April 13-May 13, enter to win ebooks from our writers.