Good friend and fellow Blacksmith for Literary Progress Tim Hall hit a bit of a milestone this week: his own imprint, Undie Press, turned five-years-old. Quite an accomplishment, especially when you look at the quality of the books Tim’s released in the past five years.

I can still remember sitting in his apartment in Jersey City and hearing him say, “Undie Press, get it?”
Tim looked at me with excitement, mouth open, waiting for my positive reaction.
I stared at him blank faced, as in the dark as I always was to the inner workings of Tim’s genius.
“Underground and Independent,” he finally said.
“Oh yeah, I get it now,” I replied.
“And my logo will be a pair of underwear,” he then added.
“Underwear?”
“Yeah, get it, Undie.”

Thus a literary empire was born.

And Tim never stopped. Five years, four books. That’s a pace most lit writers can’t match. Every book was different and interesting, with his heart, soul, and blood on each of the pages. When I finally got off my ass to write and release my first book, Tim’s approach to underground publishing was the inspiration for the whole damn operation. I always admired his drive in finding a way to bring his art into the world, by any means necessary, with that distinctive mad genius that is Tim.

So to celebrate, I leave you with a bit of Undie Press history: a signed first edition of my still-favorite UP release, Half Empty.

Good friend and fellow Blacksmith for Literary Progress Tim Hall has a brand new exclusive series live on Act-i-Vate titled “Uplift the Positivicals.” Never one to do the same thing twice, this is Tim’s experiment in text comics. The first installment, “San Diego Sutra” went live a couple of weeks ago. Having just read Chapter 2, I can tell you the prose poem keeps getting better with each installment.

Click on these links to view each chapter:
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

You can also pre-order Tim’s new non-fiction book-length essay, How America Died: A Letter to the Future. The first printing is only 25 copies, and won’t be for sale anywhere except through Tim. Each copy will be numbered and signed, with an original, corrected manuscript page tipped in.

And of course if you aren’t hip to Act-i-Vate, do check out the innovative work there. Conceived by Dean Haspiel, the site has become a home for outstanding web comics by some of my favorite graphic artists (both old and new) including Dean himself, Nick Bertozzi, Rami Efal, and Josh Neufeld. Do give it a spin, you won’t be disappointed.

Good friend and fellow Blacksmith for Literary Progress Tim Hall made an appearance last week on Chicago Public Radio for a segment titled, “I’ve Only Had To Call The Police On A Family Member Once.” The title says it all. Needless to say it’s an eerie tale, but Tim does a great job telling it.

Grab the audio here, courtesy of CPR’s Vocalo site.

And do check out Tim’s latest book, Full of It: The Birth, Death, and Life of an Underground Newspaper.

The Blacksmiths for Literary Progress will have our own table at the 21st Annual Indie & Small Press Book Fair. We’ll be featuring new books and zines (and possibly old lamps, used furniture, and rusted cutlery) from Brian Cogan, Mike Faloon, Tim Hall, Karen Lillis, Ben Tanzer, and Ken Wohlrob. We’ll also have some free books to give away. Do stop buy, say hello and take home some damn good independent lit.

Here are the details:
Saturday, December 6, 2008, 10 AM to 6 PM
Sunday, December 7, 2008, 11 AM to 5 PM
Location: The New York Center for Independent Publishing
20 West 44th Street (btw 5th and 6th)
New York, NY 10036

A new video promo for good friend Tim Hall’s upcoming book Full Of It: The Birth, Death, and Life of an Underground Newspaper. You can pre-order a copy here.

It was a hell of a time on March 22nd. A nice crowd of people and the rest of the Blacksmiths For Literary Progress joined me at Freebird Books in Brooklyn to officially celebrate the release of my new short story collection, The Love Book. We drank beers, huddled around with friends old and new, and made with the prose like circus performers. We even had a nice sunset coming through the front windows as we read (check the photo). It felt fantabulous to be back at Freebird Books, where we always feel at home and the readings have never failed turn out great. Many thanks to Rachel and Peter for making it all happen. And of course it made me proud to do the gig with my fellow Blacksmiths — Brian Cogan, Tim Hall, and Mike Faloon — as it was the first time we could all be in the same room in over a year-and-a-half. If you were there, I thank you for making the trek out and supporting The Love Book.

And for those of you who missed it, here is a video of me reading an excerpt from “Taking the Happy Bus on Home,” the last story in the collection (and apparently the hands down favorite amongst fans). Also below, are a few pics from the evening. Enjoy.

What more could you ask for: booze, used books, and four bastardos a-readin’. I’ll be celebrating the release of my new short story collection, The Love Book, by hosting a reading at Freebird Books. Joining me will be fellow Blacksmiths for Literary Progress, Brian Cogan, Mike Faloon, and (flying all the way in from Chicago) Tim Hall.

This will be the first all-original member Blacksmiths for Literary Progress reunion since the infamous McLintlock Affair at the Grassroots Tavern that disbanded the group back in ’78.

C’mon down to scenic Red Hook and join us at the finest little book shop in all of Brooklyn. More info at www.freebirdbooks.com.

When: Saturday Mar 22, 2008 @ 7:00 PM
Where: Freebird Books
123 Columbia Street
Brooklyn, New York 11231

Here are two great quotes about the stories you’ll find in THE LOVE BOOK:

“If The Velvet Underground’s debut had been a short story collection, it may well have read like The Love Book.”

—Mike Bennett, author of One Among The Sleepless and Hall of Mirrors

“When Ken decided to shut down Bully, I wondered what he was going to do. The Love Book is part of the answer to that. Ken has transformed himself in the last several years from a Menckenesque curmudgeon, hilariously skewering all aspects of pop culture, to a serious short story writer with a truly original and refreshing vision. These are stories that actually dare to be about things—that is, they have characters who are invested, committed, or otherwise trapped in certain strange or absurd lives who are looking for freedom and release. It’s the basis of all great fiction, imo.”

—Tim Hall, author of Half Empty and Triumph of the Won’t

If you still haven’t picked up your copy of THE LOVE BOOK, you can buy via the links below:
US: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Lulu | Amazon Kindle

UK: Amazon | Lulu

Canada: Amazon | Lulu

And be sure to become a friend or fan on Facebook and MySpace.

I had a great time particpating in the first Meet the Authors event in Second Life with my fellow Podiobook authors Tim Hall and Seth Harwood. Our host Adele Ward (Jilly Kidd) did a fantastic job and the discussion covered everything from short story writing to podcasting to “don’t quit your day job kid.” It was great to see a good crowd show up for the event. I read a (somewhat) short excerpt from “The Fabulous Omar” which is part of my new collection of stories, The Love Book. Tim read a great piece called “Club It Up” from his Triumph of the Won’t collection and Seth read “Rebuilding Men” from his podiobook of stories A Long Way From Disney

Here are some photos from the event:

I’ll be reading an excerpt of “The Fabulous Omar” from The Love Book while talking part in the first ever “Meet The Authors” show in Second Life. I’ll be showing up as my alter ego Beelzebubba Rasmuson along with fellow Podiobook authors Tim Hall and Seth Harwood.

The Full Details are:

Lineup: Ken Wohlrob, Tim Hall and Seth Harwood
Host: Jilly Kidd, produced by Joysco
Location: Joysco Convention Center with a simulcast at sLiterary Events Center
When: Saturday, June 23, 3:00pm SLT (6:00pm EST)

Come visit us in-world for the event. We’ll be participating in a panel discussion on short story writing, podcasting, and also reading excerpts from our new audiobooks being released by Podiobooks.