Couple new things up – a shirt for NXNW Records and an untitled album cover for a Stupefying Stories anthology. In the works are a European tour poster for Massenger and the cover illustration and package design for the second volume of the Give Back compilation series, released by 1859 Records.

Meanwhile, things are going well with agent interest regarding Smoke City. Though I’m trying my best to remain at work on additional short stories, and (drum roll not required, but it’d certainly be pleasant of you) I’m currently gathering notes and starting preliminary sketches/brainstorming for the 26^th issue of Avow. It’s an exciting process that shouldn’t be that daunting after putting the thing out for nearly twenty freaking years, but it still is.

Also gathering material together to apply for an Oregon Literary Fellowship, which provides generous grants to Oregon authors. Given my current publication ratio, it might be considered a pointless move, but still – sometimes the process is the most important part. One of the questions asked in the application form is this: “Describe the main concerns of your work, or something about your process or intent,” and I have a hard time not seeing the value in reflection like that, even just, you know, the act of trying to summarize that into a paragraph or two.

Anyway, things are afoot here. As always, if you need information about my writing or would like to commission me for any design or illustration work, please feel free to get in touch.

Enjoy the weather,

Keith

Spring is sprung here in Portland. Allergies abound, we’re flocking the parks and rivers, the sidewalks thronged with all of us grinning idiots. It’s like Portland has collectively come out of our windowless basement apartment and stretched our arms towards the sun. Feels pretty awesome.

In the literary world, things are going great. Some nice movement on the novel, as well as a chorus of the usual rejections. Meanwhile, I’m plugging away at new short stories and I’m also starting to slowly kick around the idea – stay with me here – of another book. Still a ways away, but the idea is rolling around in the skull. Gathering momentum.

Regarding visual stuff, I’m working on a sticker series and an album cover for 1859 Records, and a shirt/hoody design for North By Northwest Records. They’re both fun, but man, is it tough to draw Alaska. Look for those soon. Oh, also, a series of illustrations for the soon-to-be-launched literary journal website, The Ne’er-Do-Well.

Recent novels that made my jaw hit the floor: Nightwoods by Charles Frazier, and Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel. Both of these books are full of this flat-out joyousness of language. Sentences that I had to read twice because they were just so damn good. Highly recommended.

Okay, that’s it from me. Hope everyone’s well, and as always, get in touch if you need any art or design work done, or are interested in my writing.

At this point, I think I’ll go outside again.

The book is done. After many drafts and the sneaking insistence that I’ve lost all subjectivity on the matter, I wrapped it up after it’s bajillionth edit. It’s titled Smoke City, comes in at 91,000 words, and I’m going to start the process of submitting it to agents soon. It’s exciting; if I could utilize the same tenacity I have for getting my fiction rejected to, say, jujitsu or kickboxing, I’d probably be a pretty fearsome dude. Anyway, I’m looking forward to it.

Meanwhile, it seems that spring really is springing. Cherry blossoms are blooming, pasty, sun-flinching people are walking around in shorts, it’s great. This winter was pretty tough, and that’s coming from someone who likes crappy weather.

A few new things up, most notably my album packaging for the new TODOS CAERAN/TEL FYR split LP, released by Dog Knights Productions and Pint-Sized Records.

Lastly, my friend Mike (who plays in this band) has written a novel called Dog Police! It’s awesome, and he’s decided to publish it serially online. Every two weeks is a new chapter, and each chapter features an illustration by an artist. Mine is coming up, but that’s not why you should read it.  You should read it because it’s awesome.

That’s about it. Time to start the synopsis/query letter process. Hope everyone’s well.

Consider getting involved – they have some cool incentives available.

Tons more info in available here:

http://www.thinkspeak.org/how-to-help/

Thanks again,

Keith

Meanwhile, I’ve wrapped up another edit on the as-yet-unnamed novel. 93,000 words. I’ll definitely be giving it another run-through or two, as I’d like to carve 10,000 words off of it. And the title is still driving me crazy. Christ, how do authors do this? Summate the scope and breadth of an entire book in, like, one to five words? Short stories, no problem. A book? I’m choking on a title here. So we’ll see. I’m hoping to start sending the manuscript out to a few readers in two or three weeks.

I’ve been coming up against quite a few application fees recently – I just submitted my scholarship application to the Tin House Writer’s Workshop, for one, something I’m beyond excited about. Still, even when applying for the scholarship, there was an application fee. That, combined with the fact that I’ve submitted to a fair amount of contests and awards lately (both for individual short stories and the story collection I’ve gathered together), and it starts to add up. The majority of these awards also require reading or application fees. As a young writer, I swore I’d never be a part of something like that; it seemed so wasteful.

My attitude’s shifted in the past few years – I have no problem with that part of the publishing industry, via the small press or otherwise. For one, part of me has come to believe that I’m not necessarily just standing at the lip of some dark chasm and flinging a handful of twenties to the wind. My work’s improved a lot over the past few years, I’ve gathered some publication credits together, and I feel like I honestly have a shot at some of these contests.

Secondly, I view these fees, which are almost always directed towards small literary foundations or university presses, as simply part of the machination of things. “Consumer activism” is a bit too lofty of a term; I just consider putting my money in things I believe in. I love books and writers and the act of writing. I continue to be stunned by the work that I read that’s released by major publishers and small presses alike. The awards themselves, as well as lateral costs like web maintenance, mailings, etc., etc. all have to be funded from somewhere. It makes sense to me.

Lastly, our writing group is going great – we’ve had to put a cap at nine people in the group, something I never would have thought when we first started a few months ago.  Very excited about the quality of work being shown.

Okay, that’s it form me. Hope everyone’s well,

-Keith

FUN WITH PROBLEMS by Robert Stone (stories)

Awesome story collection by the author of 1975’s DOG SOLDIERS, a National Book Award winner. FUN WITH PROBLEMS contains one of my favorite short stories of the year, “The Archer.”

RAISING STONY MAYHALL by Daryl Gregory

One of the two zombie novels to make the list. Searingly creative, dense with allegories, and a shining example of the fact that good sci fi and fantasy is as much about character as it is anything else.

BILLY LYNN’S LONG HALFTIME WALK by Ben Fountain

Fountain had a short story collection published some years back, BRIEF ENCOUNTERS WITH CHE GUEVERA, that I didn’t really care for. But his first novel, a contemporary war novel that takes place far away from a battlefield and over the space of only a few hours, is hilarious, touching, and at times unrelentingly biting in its contempt for certain factions of ra-ra, gung ho America.

THE WITCH OF HEBRON by James Howard Kuntsler

Dystopian fiction that continues where his previous novel, WORLD MADE BY HAND, left off.

501 MINUTES TO CHRIST: PERSONAL ESSAYS by Poe Ballantine (non-fiction)

I fell in love with Ballantine’s stuff after reading his novel GOD CLOBBERS US ALL. His essays are just as funny and bitingly self-deprecating. Look for a new nonfiction book, LOVE AND TERROR ON THE HOWLING PLAINS OF NOWHERE, in 2013.

THE ASK by Sam Lipsyte

Sam Lipsyte is one of the darkest, funniest writers I’ve ever read.

AMERICAN TALIBAN by Pearl Abraham

Entirely convincing novel of how a smart, middle class American kid could conceivably find solace and cultural identity in Islam and ultimately decide to become a part of the Taliban.

THE ORPHAN MASTER’S SON by Adam Johnson

Gorgeous and brave story that spans decades and is set in North Korea.

SWAMPLANDIA! by Karen Russell

Lyrical and at times hilarious, SWAMPLANDIA! was one of the books up for receiving the Pulitzer in 2011 – the year the selection committee actually decided that none of the books chosen were worthy. I don’t know if Russell’s first novel should have necessarily won, but I know that it’s a better novel than I’ll ever write.

TOXICOLOGY by Jessica Hagedorn

Hagedorn writes about New York and the world of film, art and writing that’s totally convincing.

ABLUTIONS by Patrick DeWitt

Probably my favorite book of the year, and most certainly the best second-person novel I’ve ever read. The fact that I even typed the second half of that sentence should say something about how many risks DeWitt takes.

ZONE ONE by Colson Whitehead

The second incredible zombie book I read this year. This one is straight up literary fiction, dense and heavy.

NOTABLE MENTIONS:

UP JUMPS THE DEVIL by Michael Poore

WHEN WE GET THERE by Shawna Seliy

GOLD by Chris Cleave

GOD BLESS AMERICA by Steve Almond (stories)

GIVE US A KISS by Daniel Woodrell

New show poster up, but that’s it for this time around. Design and illustration projects have taken a bit longer than expected, but that’s how things go sometimes. For example, I’m working on a split LP between four bands and six different labels. Sometimes it takes a while for everyone involved to come to an agreement on ye olde creative process. But there should be some new stuff to show you soon. Meanwhile, uh, there’s a moose in the poster section.

On the writing front, I’ve been hard at work editing the novel. I’ve realized just how vital the editing process is for me as a writer; my first drafts, Jesus. They’re bad. The story – the details, consistency of tome, sense of place – really begins to take shape after the rough draft has been put out there. I’m sure there are some writers who only do an edit or two. I’m not one of them. I’m doing at least 2-3 hours of editing and rewriting a day, and managing to get through about, oh, 5 pages of the manuscript at a time. It can be dismally slow going sometimes. A lot of that is due to the fact that not only and I cleaning up previous work, I’m writing additional material – the ms is now up to 92,000, and will have to be cut down significantly once I’m done with this draft. But that’s how the process works, at least for me, and I can see the book taking shape as I go. It’s a fun process. Challenging, and slow going, but rewarding.

Some friends and I will be having our first writing group meeting this weekend; I’m beyond stoked for it. I joined a group when I was living in Milwaukee, and it proved pretty invaluable to my writing. If only because it gave me deadlines that I didn’t want to slough off; couple that with the fact that I actually know the people in the group here, and know the quality of the work they can do, and like I said, I’m excited.

Meanwhile, my short story “All That Business With the Heart” should be out in the upcoming issue of Blue Earth Review in the early months of 2013. After working on a single piece of writing for so long, it’s gonna be fun to be able to go play around with some short stories for a while.

Okay, that’s it from me. Hope everyone’s doing well. If you have any questions, drop me a line.

-Keith

On the design/illustration front, I’m still working on a lot of great stuff, but it’s taking a bit longer than expected. Sometimes it’s tough to get bands (or multiple bands, or real estate agents, or magazine editors, etc.) to agree on stuff. But I still managed to post a few new things, including a cover for the upcoming issue of Razorcake. I had a heap of stuff to work on, and deadlines were looming, and then Todd Taylor (Razorcake publisher/editor) asked me to do both the new issue’s cover and an interview layout, and he needed it within a week or so. I did it and managed to stay on track with the other work as well. Not ENTIRELY happy with either one of them, but they’re passable. And we’re our own worst critic.

My job at the elementary school is great, and I’m considering the idea of trying to write out some of the curriculum I’ve made up over the years and see if any of it is actually feasibly marketable. An interesting idea, anyway. Meanwhile, I’m hanging out with some pretty awesome 4^th and 5^th graders.

The novel is nearing its 2^nd edit and will probably clock in at around 90,000 words, though that’s still up in the air. I met with the historian, who was able to research, confirm, and greatly expand upon the material about 15^th century France, executioners, and Joan of Arc. (It’s not a historical novel per se, but certain historical figures do play a pretty integral part in it, and the information unearthed was awesome, weird, and invaluable.) I’ll wrap up this edit, give it one more run-through and then send it out to a few readers/buddies to get feedback. Then at least another edit, and then it’ll maybe be time to consider sending it out to an agent.

Meanwhile, I’m idiotic enough to already miss Wisconsin winters (at least when the heating bill was paid by the landlord, that is) and enjoying watching fall wreak its havoc on Portland.

Good stuff recently:

The Witch Of Hebron by James Howard Kuntsler (novel)

Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone (novel)

Sawdust City by Arms Aloft (album, get it at kissofdeathrecords.com)

That’s it for now. Thanks for checking in, and as always, drop me a line if you have any questions.

-Keith

My short story “Hospitality” is out in the new issue of the awesome Camera Obscura Journal. Look for it at your local bookstore, or you can order it here. Meanwhile, my short story “All That Business With the Heart” has been accepted by the University of Minnesota’s Blue Earth Review and should be out in the next issue. I’ll keep you posted.

In other news, I’ve finished the first draft of my novel, and am really enjoying the editing/fine-tuning process. I’m hoping to have a workable draft by the end of the year, if not a bit before.

Also, working on illustration/design stuff for ABOLITIONIST, 86′D RECORDS, the resuscitated Ne’er-Do-Well Literary Magazine, an awesome 4-way split LP with Canadian and European bands TODOS CAERAN, BONEHOUSE, POLINA and KADDISH, and will be doing (for the 6th year in a row, I think) the promotional poster for the Human Rights Film Festival held in Zagreb, Croatia. Things are cooking.

Thanks for checking in. As always, if you have any questions about my writing or illustration work, please drop me a line.

Talk to you later,

Keith

Things are in various degrees of cooking all around here. Doing some fun but not quite fascinating sales/collateral work for a local firm, some stuff that I’ve actually been requested to use a pseudonym for (super-secret!), and a rad double-band shirt for THE 132 and CIVIL WAR RUST. I’m also about 10,000 – 15,000 words shy of wrapping up the first draft of the novel I’ve been working on for some time. There is still a lot – a LOT – of editing and revamping to be done, of course, but the beginning of the end is in sight, and that’s a good thing.

Meanwhile, I’m going to be reading with Alex Wrekk, and Chicagoans Jill Summers and Johnny Misfit in a few weeks over at Portland Button Works. It should be a good time, and I’m going to try to write something new for it – that was one of the challenging thing about reading on tour with the Taxpayers last month: I really ran the risk of getting bored of my own stuff, reading the same thing more than a night or two in a row. Anyway, drop on by, it should be a rad time. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 27th, 8 PM. PORTLAND BUTTON WORKS, 1322 N. KILLINGSWORTH, PORTLAND. And that may very well be my favorite flyer I’ve done in the past few years – look for the entire version in the POSTERS & FLYERS section.

Talk to you later,

Keith