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In Texas, I rented my own apartment. Six hundred and fifty square feet, six hundred and five dollars a month. There were two pools, and I swam in them from April to October. In Texas, I knew more single men than I knew single women. In Texas, I reneged on a plan to stay single…

…like predatory lending, but less unethical and way more fun! Glenn Shaheen’s book is currently available for pre-order at Powell’s, Amazon, McNally Jackson, and Chapters Canada. The cover image is by local Houston artist Dawolu Jabari Anderson.

Since March is always a rough month, marking the anniversary of the death of my childhood best friend, I often try to plow through the weeks. I worry if I stop to reflect or feel miserable (who has time to mourn?), I’ll be thrown off-track, unable to get back to my regularly scheduled programming. A…

The LA Times’ Jacket Copy blog has a list of 21 Dos and Don’ts for an AWP Newbie. It’s a pretty good list! But please, may I direct your attention to #14: 14. DON’T: Ask the people at a lit-journal table about a submission you haven’t heard back about yet. They probably have no idea…

Last week, I received in the mail what I thought to be an extra-plump issue of Crazyhorse. It was, in fact, two issues of Crazyhorse — the newest single issue, plus a special issue celebrating the 50th anniversary of the journal. I know of more journals that have struggled in recent years than I know…

There’s a great interview between Elissa Schappell and Karen Russell (whose forthcoming Swamplandia! is incredible) in the Winter Reading issue of Tin House. In it, Russell mentions listening to hip-hop as a way to overcome writing anxiety: Sometimes if I’m in a really low self-esteem phase I listen to hip-hop, because those gentleman are making…

The Fall/Winter 2010 issue of the Colorado Review is now on sale. It’s a gorgeous issue and features this year’s Nelligan prize-winning story, Katherine Hill’s “Waste Management,” which is both hilarious and touching. It also features not one but two poems by a great friend and poet, Brian Nicolet. I’ve been a longtime reader of…

Since attending the National Book Foundation’s inaugural “5 Under 35” celebration in 2006, I’ve become a bit enamored of the program. It’s honored some writers I’d already found and loved, and introduced me to others whose work I am grateful to have come across. It’s a wonderful program, and I was very happy to have…