Come enjoy a round (or two) of lively fiction and craft beer at one of the Bay Area’s premier beer bars.

Join us March 13 as the writing group Word Pirates puts a new twist on the old art of telling a good story over a round of beers. Accompanied by thirty craft beers on tap (plus cider!), the five Bay Area writers will read works of short fiction at TAPS Restaurant & Tasting Room in Petaluma. The event is free and open to the public.

When: Tuesday, March 13, 7 p.m.- 8:30 p.m.

Where: TAPS Restaurant & Tasting Room
205 Kentucky St.
Petaluma, CA 94952

For more information:
[email protected]
(707) 364-3746

About Word Pirates:

Word Pirates is a professional writing group in Petaluma founded by Joy Lanzendorfer and Marcia Simmons. The group meets twice a month to practice the art of creative writing, and members have published short stories, nonfiction, illustrated stories, poetry, and books.

Ken has a story up in the new issue of Twelve Stories. Excerpt:

Because he didn’t travel well, Alexander Gödel packed his bags (an upright suitcase, an Italian calf-skin attaché, and a sparkling-new bowling ball tote to house his goldfish) and headed to his local airport. In purchasing tickets to a foreign country—“somewhere with tall women and almond trees,” he requested—he was kindly informed that a passport would be necessary, as well as an airport offering international flights.

Read the rest here.

The Word Pirates are moving into book publishing. Marcia Simmon’s first book DIY Cocktails is out!

Marcia wrote this book as part of the Drink of the Week blog. According to the site:

“We’ve concocted the only guide that teaches you to create your own infallible drinks. Using a simple system of basic ratios, you will learn to:

* Mix new flavor combinations for the perfect new blend using the Flavor Profile Chart as a guide
* Master advanced mixology techniques from infusing liquors at home to creating custom-flavored syrups
* Serve the perfect drink every time, whether it kicks off a rowdy party or winds down a romantic evening!”

Buy Marcia’s book here.

Word Pirate Ken Weaver has a new short story up at failbetter. It’s called “Wood Liquor.” Excerpt:

Jacinto’s decision to switch from ethanol to methanol was purely economic. Backing heavy sacks of sugar and maize all the way from Punta to home, Punta to home, Punta to home, often stole the greater part of his day: leveraging prices, choosing durable sacks, sidestepping the unlabeled plastic bottles that seemed to pursue him like mice. Plus, Marietta’s calling of him. “¡Jacintito!” she would tease him each time he passed. “¡Tus chinelas – tan celosa!” And it was true: the streets had never been kind to his shoes. Her voice would linger as he lugged each fragile sack along the streets of Bluefields, the dirt-path wheel ruts where the sidewalk ended, the steep hillside home… But beyond this. Beyond the barbed wire and rusted panels marking the boundaries of his small property, there were almendros, pinos, ceibas. Trees for a hundred kilometers inland, uncut and unguarded. Free. The decision had been easy.

Read the rest of Ken’s story here.

Hey, check it out! I have a short story up in LitnImage. It’s called Flatten, Poke, and Blow. Excerpt:

Judith’s parents’ barn is full of wooden spools. There are dozens of them wound with rope as thick as tree branches. Being in the barn is like being inside a giant sewing kit.

Our moms told us to play out here because it is Judith’s birthday and they’re setting up for the party. I know Judith from Sunday school. Every week after church, our parents take us to brunch at Adele’s diner, where they put paper umbrellas in our Cokes. Judith and Julie, our parents always say. Judith and Julie.

“My boyfriend is this one,” Judith says.

Read the rest here.

All right, this kid is a spoiled brat. I never once had a reaction like this at Christmas–my parents would never have allowed me to spit in the faces of their presents. But also, this kid’s attitude toward books makes me sad.

Besides, I keep begging everyone to give me books for Christmas, and no one listens!

Merry Christmas, Word Pirates.

My short story “Swat” is up on Necessary Fiction. An excerpt:

I hate flies.

A day that begins with killing a fly is a good day.

I hate the way they sneak into bins and loiter around food. I hate the way they well up like thick, black rain. Their buzzing pollutes a room so that the air is bad to breathe. I hate how they rub their nasty little hands together, like they are plotting something. Or how they start to move when they think you aren’t looking.

Read the rest here.

Want some advice from Ford Madox Ford on how to tell if your novel (or any novel, really) is any good? “Open the book to page 99 and read, and the quality of the whole will be revealed to you,” he said. It may sound arbitrary. But if you think about it, page 99 is far enough in that you should have already established your characters and setting … so whatever is on that page is representative of the tone and heart of the book. It would be in full swing by that point but not far enough along to be mired in who did what or how this ties to that. (Although you could chose page 87 or 102 for the same purpose.)
A new site called Page 99 Test is taking that advice seriously and will soon allow people to upload page 99 of their novels for criticism from internet people.

via Guardian UK