A PUMA IN SEARCH OF HER CUB (flash fiction)

* This is an older piece that I've reworked significantly for a couple of reasons. First, it had so much spammy comments that I figured I'd be better off just re-posting. More importantly, though, a fellow writer (he knows who he is) gave me a stupendous piece of advice earlier. Here's me trying to follow it._______________________________________________________Rebecca was having that kind of day. When one of the stock room boys referred to her...

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TWO GUYS AND A FLASK (poem & podcast)

Please click play to enjoy an audio reading TWO GUYS AND A FLASK Inside a rundown trailer somewhere within the steel-framed heartland, they drank in the dark, these two guys and a flask. Percy was sprawled on the stained couch, while Hank sat slouched on the floor near its torn arm. They both basked in the warm comfort of their friendship and conversation. In between long and peacefull lulls, they chatted about their life, recalling old...

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MY GOOGLE SEARCH STORY...

Storytelling can come in a variety of manners and forms and it's amazing what can be done with so little. Hemingway knew that. So did Raymond Carver. Last Winter, Google produced an ad that aired during the Super Bowl that told a story from the perspective of a man who finds love in Paris through as assortment of a Google tools. It was stupendous. Check it out HERE. It's a must-view. As a result of how popular it was, Google is now inviting people...

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WHISKEY MADE TO ORDER (FOR THE MAN IN YOUR LIFE)

OK... Every so often a gift comes along that is so supremely wondeful that I'm compelled to put it on a ridiculous wish list that I know I'll never get fulfilled. Don't tell anyone, but I once put a Breitling on my Amazon Wish List. Shhhh.The other day, I stumbled across the web site Whisk(e)y Your Way, an innovative program for those who truly love whiskey.I ask all you enthusiasts who love your hooch: Imagine developing your very own brand of whiskey...

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THAT SMUG SMILE (flash fiction)

It was the night before he went back to Korea. Well, maybe two nights before, but Cindy distinctly remembers Jimmy saying,"I'll be right back, hon. Just gonna go see Auggie a bit."By "a bit" he meant he was going to the corner tavern for a few beers. Being that she wasn't done cooking, Cindy figured the extra time would come in handy and he could say goodbye to his bar buddies.When he didn't come home until after midnight, she regretted the gamble...

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MARK TWAIN DEAD 100 YEARS TODAY (DOWNLOAD HUCK FINN)

Samuel Langhorne Clemens died 100 years ago today.Perhaps better known by his pen name -- Mark Twain -- he was the prolific American author and humorist noted mostly for his novels "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" (1884) (the very epitome of "The Great American Novel") and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" (1876).A friend to presidents, artists, industrialists, and European royalty, he was also a renowned humorist and beheld a keen wit in his scores...

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ALA ANNOUNCES MOST BANNED & CHALLENGED BOOKS (FIND OUT WHAT THEY WERE)

The American Library Association’s Office of Intellectual Freedom (OiF) has published its annual list of the most frequently challenged books. First, let's explain what they mean by "challenged": A "challenge" is defined as a formal, written complaint, filed with a library or school, requesting that materials be removed or restricted because of content or appropriateness.During 2009, the Office of Intellectual Freedom received 460 reports, “on...

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IS AN 'ON THE ROAD' FILM REALLY HAPPENING?

Jack Kerouac fans may wet themselves here and props to Slashfilm for getting the scoop on this one. Production Weekly had a late-breaking item reporting that "Tron Legacy" star Garret Hedlund (pictured below) is in talks to play Dean Moriarty in a big-screen adaptation of the ground-breaking Jack Kerouac novel "On the Road." It's set to be supposedly directed by Walter Salles.The site says that filming will start this summer but, truth be told, shooting...

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A RUBBER DUCKY'S LAMENT (flash fiction)

Props to my bud Tim Twelves for posting the sketches you see below on his Facebook page. It bummed me out so much, that I figured I'd spin a yarn about it.Bert would give anything to go back to the time when their apartment was alive with love and friendship.It's been all too quiet for three years now and God, how he missed Ernie's verve, his laugh and spirit. He left so suddenly and to this day Bert grieves as much as he did as the day it happened....

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REFLECTIONS OF A PIT BOSS: SINATRA, THE SANDS AND A THOUSAND SWINGIN' NIGHTS

Back around 2000 or so, I stumbled across the web site of Ed Walters, a pit boss for the Sands in the '60s, who knew Frank Sinatra and the rest of the Rat Pack. I thought it would be great to interview him for Casino Player, the publication I wrote extensively for. Originally, late editor Adam Fine wanted to run the piece in two parts because it was too long. Sadly, he never found the room (since it was the beginning of the magazine's dwindling ad...

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MEET MICHAEL MADSEN ... BUKOWSKI-ESQUE POET

Most of us know thesp Michael Madsen from his character work in such films as "Sin City," "Donnie Brasco" and "Reservoir Dogs." How many of you knew that the tough guy actor was also a poet.Yes... A poet who has already published several poetry collections.Madsen has been writing poetry for over 10 years and began his writing on match books, napkins and hotel stationery in between his time working on movie sets and traveling around the world.In 2005,...

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PULTIZER WINNERS FOR FICTION AND POETRY

Let's congratulate this year's winners for The Pulitzer Prize in Fiction and Poetry.For distinguished fiction by an American author, preferably dealing with American life, the award goes to "Tinkers," by Paul Harding (Bellevue Literary Press). It explores a powerful celebration of life in which a New England father and son, through suffering and joy, transcend their imprisoning lives and offer new ways of perceiving the world and mortality.Also nominated...

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A STRIPPER'S CREED (flash fiction)

She couldn't think with Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar On Me" piping into the break room for the 989th time. How she hated those fucking stripper songs. For three years, she'd been at it -- this dancing thing -- and while she realized she was almost a cliche, the money kept her happy. Or at least happy enough.Her stripper's creed was simple and sparse: Grease monkeys tipped the most; cops tipped the least; and don't ever ever cross the line in the...

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SUITCASES (poem & podcast)

Please click play to enjoy an audio reading SUITCASESI got the suitcases outof the garage. I justneed the big black one.Packing.Gotta love it.This is an importanttrip. Lots riding on it.I never quite got used tothe concept of flying.I mean, I’m an old proby this point, butit still fills me withdread every time I seethose terminal signs pepper thehighway on my approach.All sorts of fucked up shitgoes through my brain.Is the pilot drunk?How’s the weather?Any...

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THE BIGGEST LITTLE MAN IN THE WORLD

Hemingway was a boxing guy...A man's man who - over a bottle of scotch - could take in a prizefight as he jotted all gory bits in his Moleskine. Then he'd turn it all into a kick-ass short story. In fact, he loved the sport so much that he set up a ring in his yard and paid local fighters to box with him.It's no shock that boxing showed up in some of his work.Need proof? In "A Moveable Feast," Papa H’s memoir of 1920’s Paris, he waxes about teaching...

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THE VINTAGE TYPEWRITER AS ART

As modern scribes, I think we have it pretty easy. We have the option to move entire chunks of text around, delete asinine sentences, copy entire chunks, cut, paste... You name it.That said, though, I remember as a kid typing on my mom's electric IBM and I have to admit, it was pretty rad. Sure, I made scores of mistakes, used White-Out like a champ and my tabs were an ungodly mess -- but as young as I was, I knew it was romantic.Hell... On my college...

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GENTLEMAN'S CALL (flash fiction)

The last thing I remember was leaving the pool hall. And that smell.Like most billiards joints, this one was on the second floor. It sat above a massive fabric emporium boasting in brilliant red neon that they sold 'Over a million feet of fabric.' We were leaving around 3 or 4 a.m. and I kept looking up at her wondering if I was walking too fast or if she was just too goddamn slow. As fucked up as I was, I remember questioning whether she had let...

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OLIVER STONE TO ADAPT MacDONALD NOIR NOVEL

Gee, who woulda thunk I'd have two back-to-back Oliver Stone posts, but... Word hits the interwebs today that the famed writer-director of such hits as "Wall Street" and "Platoon" will adapt "The Deep Blue Goodbye," a 1964 novel by pulp author John D. MacDonald with Leonardo DiCaprio set to star.The book is the first in a long series of novels featuring Florida detective Travis ‘Trav’ McGee. In typical Hollywood fashion, the film will possibly be...

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