Fall is for Forthcoming Fiction

As I pound away on my comedic novel (think the Coen brother's movie Fargo meets Patrick deWitt's novel The Sisters Brothers), which will be my MFA thesis at UC-Irvine, I'm happy to report I have some new short fiction forthcoming in some pretty cool places in the next few months:

"And Finally the Tragedy" in Tin House this October.

"The Boxer and The Bear" anthologized in Surreal South '13 this October.

"Dale Deveraux Comes to QVC" in NOÖ Journal this October.

I'm eager to share these stories with you! I'll let you know when they're published. More soon (hopefully)!

Skylight Books Podcast

As part of the MFA program at UC-Irvine I got to read at Skylight Books in Los Angeles this May. They recorded a podcast of the reading (as they do for all of their reading events), which you can listen to here. It is the episode labeled UC Irvine MFA Students, released on 6/6/13.

I read my story "Little Man," which was published in Short Fiction (England), along side work by Benjamin Percy, Brad Watson, Michael Martone, storied Irish writer Mike McCormack, and others.


I can't thank Skylight Books enough for letting us read at their store. It was a real thrill. The podcast also features the work of my friends, poets Josh Cornwell and Meagan Cooney, and fiction writer Justin Lee. If you'd like to listen to "Little Man," it starts at the 18:41 mark in the recording, and you can check it out here. Big thanks to Meagan Cooney for her wonderful introduction as well. Thanks for listening!

Reading at Skylight Books in L.A. on 5/18

As part of the MFA Reading Series at UC-Irvine I'll be reading at Skylight Books in Los Angeles this Saturday (5/18) at 5pm. The reading will also feature the work of my friends, poets Josh Cornwell and Meagan Cooney, and fiction writer Justin Lee.

Skylight Books is a beautiful independent bookstore in the Los Feliz neighborhood that features readings from established literary luminaries and up-and-comers. It's one of the hubs of the L.A. lit scene, and I'm thrilled to be reading there with my peers. Thanks to Skylight Books for hosting the reading! More information here.

Reading Tomorrow in Santa Ana

As part of the UCI MFA Reading Series, I'm reading tomorrow (10/16) at the Gypsy Den in Santa Ana with fellow fiction writer Tagert Ellis and poet Megan Haugh. 

It all starts at 5:00 pm. I'll be reading from a new short story featuring one of my favorite characters, Donald Mason, called: Donald and Darrell Mason go to Berlin. I hope to see you there!

The Gypsy Den Grand Central Cafe
125 N. Broadway Ave.
Santa Ana, CA 92701

Heading to UC-Irvine

Three years flies by. We're packing up and getting ready to move out of Iowa City, where we have lived for the last three years. My wife, artist Danielle Huey Kimzey, just graduated from the MFA painting program at the University of Iowa and it really does feel like just yesterday that we were unpacking boxes and trying to make friends.

And now we're off to Irvine, CA. I was accepted into the MFA fiction program at UC-Irvine and I couldn't be happier. We couldn't be happier. At least three years of sunny southern California are stretched out before us and while we will miss Iowa City like crazy, we'll be happy to sell our snow shovel in a garage sale this month.

UC-Irvine is awesome. I'll be an Anteater. I'll get to study with Ron Carlson and Michelle Latiolais and I feel so lucky that they offered me a spot. The program also counts some of my favorite fiction writers as alumni: Michael Chabon, Joshua Ferris, Aimee Bender, Alice Sebold, David Benioff, Elise Blackwell, Richard Ford, Glen David Gold, and many more.

So if you ever need a place to crash in Orange County, let us know. We'll have a pull-out couch by then, which will actually be quite nice with a couple of Asprin in the morning.