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.

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.

Newest Word Pirate Ken Weaver is reading at the Why There Are Words reading series this Thursday at in Sausalito. It’s at 7 p.m. at Studio 333. The theme is Body Language.

Go Ken!

The short story I read last week is now up on Bang Out’s site, so now you can read it too. It is called “Five People Describe Burning Up,” in keeping with the “heat” theme.

Read it here.

Check out Word Pirates co-founder Joy Lanzendorfer’s short story “Rabble of Butterflies” in the Spring 2010 issue of Superstition Review. It’s a great read. Go, Joy!

Word Pirate Morgan Elliott’s work in the most recent issue of ZYZZYVA. They published a short graphic comic titled “Kallio Kiss.” Well done, Morgan!

You can check out more about the Spring Issue of ZYZZYVA here.

My short story “End of the Line” is in the 2010 issue of So to Speak. Published by George Mason University, So to Speak is a feminist journal of language of art. “End of the Line” is about an old woman, Mrs. Dumas, who accidentally takes the wrong bus and gets lost in the city she has lived in all her life. If you get a chance, order a copy and take a look!