'Small Economies' reviewed in News-Gazette

Margo Dill has reviewed my Small Economies in the News-Gazette, Champaign-Urbana. ("Flash Fiction will fit into your busy summer schedule," June 24, 2012, F3). "These stories focus on everyday life, on the struggles many of us go through on a daily basis," she writes. "Readers will be drawn into a story because they can relate to the main character's feelings and situation." The review includes a reminder that Lania Knight and I are reading and signing books at 4 p.m. Wednesday at the Illini Union Bookstore.

Reading next week at Illini Union Bookstore

Lania Knight and I will read from recently published work at 4 p.m. Wednesday, June 27, in the Author’s Corner at the Illini Union Bookstore, 809 S. Wright St., Urbana. Lania will read from her novella, Three Cubic Feet, published in June by Main Street Rag. I will read from my chapbook collection of short fiction, Small Economies, published in January by Mayapple Press. I'm delighted to be on the same stage with Lania. She earned a doctorate from University of Missouri andis an assistant professor at Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, teaching creative writing. Her novella is the coming-of-age story of a young gay man in Springfield, Mo. Her work has recently appeared in New Stories from the Midwest, PANK, Patasola Press East Coast Women's Anthology, Jabberwock Review, and Midwestern Gothic. We're both members of the Red Herring Fiction Writers. The reading is open free to the public. A book signing will follow.

Happy 100th (issue), Hanging Loose

Hanging Loose marks its 100th issue with a demonstration of why it's been around so long. “Couldn't put it down” is usually reserved for novels, but Hanging Loose kept me turning the pages, wondering what strong, sly, smart or stunning piece is next. Read my review in New Pages, as well as reviews by other writers of a fresh harvest of lit magazines.

Two poems of mine in Citron Review

Citron Review is an on-line journal of poetry and short fiction, founded in 2009 by MFA graduates of the Creative Writing program at Antioch University of Los Angeles. It's a pleasure to have two poems in the Summer 2012 issue, "Arriving at the Age of Reason," and "Rain." Give them a look, and then click on the orange link at top right to check out the company I'm keeping.

Haven't seen a lighthouse for a year, but . . . .

The New Poet is an on-line journal founded by David Svenson, an MFA graduate from Florida International University in Miami, where he was an assistant editor at Gulf Stream. I'm very happy to have a poem, "Lighthouses," in the second issue of The New Poet.

'The Cossack' rides into town

The Cossack Review is a new literary magazine publishing on-line and as a Kindle edition three times a year, with a print edition planned next February. It includes poetry, essays and fiction, including a poem of mine, "Still Life." I'm delighted to be in the inaugural edition.