I first encountered THE2NDHAND when I bought a used book online. I can’t remember the book, but I do remember a broadsheet I received in the envelope, a fine short story by Patrick Somerville. It turns out that they also have a website where they post short stories, and they ended up liking “Faith” enough to put it up. I read an excerpt of this story at the Sulu Reading series in NYC, which was almost two years ago…? Man, where does the time go. Anyway, you can now read it in full. Much thanks to Rhian Ellis for writing After Life, which inspired this short story.
Category Archives: News
World Famous in Poland – Paryż nocą
That’s a quote from a movie, by the way — To Be or Not to Be, a Mel Brooks film. Somebody asks Ann Bancroft, who plays Brooks’ wife (who also happens to be his real-life wife), about her actor husband, and she tells them, “He’s world famous in Poland!”
Now I’m proud to say that I, too, am world famous in Poland, thanks to Marcin Kucharski. He liked my story “Paris, at Night” enough that he wanted to translate it to his native tongue. So for those literate in Polish, give my story a read.
Paryż nocą
Dziś był dzień ryżu, 20. kilogramowe worki ryżu w ciężarówkach z logo słonia. Dokładnie ten sam słoń pojawia się na torbach- z głową podniesioną ku niebu i trąbą wykrzywioną w kształt litery S.
- Słoń – powiedział Todd
Powiedział to, gdyż jakiś pracownik gapił się bezustannie na logo. Oznacza to, że się obijał.
- Właśnie! – wykrzyknął mężczyzna. – Nie mogłem przypomnieć sobie słowa.
Photos and Story from LitCrawl/Dirty Laundry (9/10)
LitCrawl 2011/Dirty Laundry! The Launderette on Second Avenue was packed, as you can see from the photo below:
credit: nytimes/Jake Sugarman
We got some love from the local arm of the New York Times, too. I read a flash piece titled Sacrifices, which appears below. But before that, some more pictures. Big thanks to my wife for taking these great photos and also editing my story.
9/10: LitCrawl/Dirty Laundry: Remains of the Stain
On September 10, LitCrawl will be happening all around downtown NYC, and I’ll be doing my small part. Dirty Laundry, the great reading series that takes place in various laundromats, will be on at 6pm that evening:
Dirty Laundry: Remains of the Stain
September 10, 2011, 6:00 PM
Launderette (All Ages)
97 2nd Ave
Emily Rubin, author of Stalina, will host “Remains of the Stain”, writings about dribbles, spills and other moments of lust and panic. Ten writers read short shorts inspired by memorable stains. Hear how a lipstick stain inspired a novel, and more.
6/12: BooksNJ 2011
Come on by to the second BooksNJ, which is happening on Saturday, June 12, at the Paramus Public Library. I’ll be on the panel Life on the Turnpike with John Hilferty, Jon Michaud, and Pamela Redmond Satran between 2 and 2:45pm. There are over 100 authors at the event, so it should be a pretty good time. The event runs from 1-5pm.
[PDF: full schedule]
5/28, 2pm: Atlantic City Free Public Library
Next Saturday (May 28) at 2pm, I’ll be at the Atlantic City Free Public Library to do a reading/Q&A for Everything Asian and everything not Asian, too. The nice folks at the library put together this nice flyer:
[in PDF]
So if you’re in the mood to gamble away your life savings, stop by the library before you do so.
Also, an advance notice — next month, on Saturday, June 12 between 1-5pm, BooksNJ 2011 will be held in Paramus, NJ. In addition to myself, lots of fine authors will be in attendance, so mark it down in your calendars.
Madness, Thy Name Is Second Novel
For the last month, I could see the end, that moment when I’d write the last sentence of my second novel. I imagined there would be exaltation, relief, a supreme sense of satisfaction rolled into that single keystroke when I’d tap the period and put an end to this work that began on August 11, 2002.
[more]
An essay for The Nervous Breakdown about the experience of writing the second book. It’s mostly not pretty.
121951 Words
It starts with the words His father was against the idea, and it ends with and so was he. In between, there are about 121K words, three parts, 26 chapters plus an epilogue.
The first draft of my second novel is done.
[Fireworks, flourishes, etc.]
Of course, the job is hardly finished, as now the real work comes — rewriting. But the first draft is finished. It may not be pretty, and it may not have a title, but goddamn it, it’s done!
3/19: KASCON 25
I’ll be one of the many speakers this weekend at KASCON, “the largest and oldest student-run ethnic-specific conference.” I’ll be on at 3pm on Saturday, 3/19, talking about short-short stories. Other folks who’ll be there are C.S. Lee and Michael Kang, so they’ve lined up some pretty interesting people.
Where Are They Now?
About a year ago, I wrote a little something for the good folks at I Am Korean American, and now that a year has passed, they wanted to know what I’ve been up to. Here’s what I wrote:
That’s me, in a place I never thought I’d find myself — Doha, Qatar, at one of their souqs, a marketplace. I was there with my wife in January to watch Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal play tennis, spend time with friends, and encounter a Muslim culture in transition.
You can read the rest of the quick post on their blog.