Today is another double-header, sending me from the literary and artistic haven for poets, writers and artists known as Troubadour21 to the subterranean bloke’s room populated by Bukowski, Kerouac, Carver, and Waits known as Bukowski’s Basement (I think Bukowski contributes more than is 1/4 of the rent to get his name on the sign).

At Troubadour21, a full story from Charactered Pieces is posted. This one called “Refill,” which originally appeared in the now defunct Green Muse Review. This story is a personal one, semi-autobiographical, yet despite what that description implies, it isn’t boring.

Over in Bukowski’s Basement, I talk a bit about my secret dream of being a barstool stereotype. It’s not secret anymore. The post also acts as the final installment of my Author Notes, this one about the non-fiction piece, “A Chinese Gemini.” Fitting, the piece spends some time in a bar.

The Blog Orgy Tour is winding down. But I promise that these final days just might be the best. I’ve got an AMAZING review coming from Craig Wallwork’s blog; a bit on my note-taking process at Jason Kane’s blog; I help some writers at Medialysis; I promote scribbling in books at LitDrift; I have a top five list at Deckfight; and last A FULL WEEK OF FREEDOM BLOGGING AT 3AM MAGAZINE. Click here for links to all the upcoming stops.

You want to be a part of it all. Contact me. I’ll swing by and mess up your blog, too.

Today’s Blog Orgy Tour stop drops me at Colin McKay Miller’s blog. I’m damn happy to be a part of his noble legacy. Click to read all about my fears of parenthood infringing on my god-given rights to waste time at a computer screen.

See all the other Blog Orgy Tour dates, here. But don’t just see them…SEE THEM.

The response to my free lit journal back issue offer has been beautiful. Thank you to all who have ordered a copy of Charactered Pieces, and thank you more for giving homes to those back issues sitting on my shelf.

Originally, I intended to offer free back issues through the end of the year. But, because I have so many back issues and because I am in the middle of the Blog Orgy Tour, I figured, I might as well extend the offer through the duration of the tour. So, until January 16th, every order of Charactered Pieces placed directly with the publisher, will include a free back issue of a literary magazine (you even get to choose). Orders though Amazon.com cannot count, unfortunately.

Click here to see the full list of remaining issues.

Click here to see the full list of Blog Orgy Tour stops.

The final bit of news: starting on January 17th, the price of the print version of Charactered Pieces will go up one measly dollar to $7. I assure you, the buy is still completely worth the price. Why the increase? I want to help OW Press put out another chapbook as soon as possible. With the current $6 price, another chapbook could take years (seriously, that’s how little profit is to be made at the $6 tag). The extra $1 will help tremendously in getting additional quality reading material to your face.

In summary:
free lit mag back issues through January 16th
$6 price for Charactered Pieces through January 16th

Support a small press. Buy stuff.

awesome photo credit:

Lists are all the rage for some reason. Some say the end of the year and/or decade has something to do with it. I blame scare tactics perpetrated by a pencil, paper, and bullet point-funded media. Today, I provide a few lists, my top five books, blogs, and cigars of oh9, over at Chris Deal’s blog. Note, these are items that I discovered in 2009; they are were not necessarily published, started, rolled in 2009.

See all the other Blog Orgy Tour dates, here. And as always, if you’d like to have me drop by, just let me know. I demand fuchsia colored M&Ms. So help me if there is a single purple M among them.