Book Launch & Reading 10/29 @ The Wild Detectives

The Wild Detectives. Read. Drink. Laugh. Buy a book(s).

I'll be celebrating the release of my book of short tales (Families Among Us) with a book launch and reading at The Wild Detectives bookstore, located in the Bishop Arts District of Oak Cliff on Wednesday, October 29th at 7pm.

I hope you'll join me for what I think will be a very fun evening. I've read in Vermont, New York City, Iowa City, and Los Angeles, and this will be my first reading in Texas, and I'd love for you all to be there for this special evening.

If you haven't yet read about The Wild Detectives, as featured in the New York Times, it is a beautiful new independent bookstore that is part coffee shop, part bar, and 100% awesome. It is a wonderful place to launch a book, and I'm lucky to have such wonderful hosts. KERA, the local NPR affiliate in Dallas, has thrown their Art & Seek support behind the evening as well.

Please let me know if you think you can make it. The Wild Detectives would appreciate an estimated head count.

For directions and more information, you can find The Wild Detectives on Yelp. I can't wait to talk with you and share a drink on October 29th! Thank you so much for all of your love and support.

Photo from the evening:

Thank you to everyone who came out!

Fiction in The Lifted Brow

My story "Breeders" was published by the Australian literary beast known as The Lifted Brow today.

This story, a Brow favorite, originally appeared in print in The Lifted Brow #7 back in 2010 and I'm so happy they wanted to re-publish it four years later.

Big thanks to editors Sam Cooney and Simon Collinson for featuring my work at one of my favorite literary magazines on the planet, now a partner with McSweeney's Publishing.

You can read "Breeders" here, and I hope you will!

Families Among Us - Available to Order

Black Lawrence Press is publishing my chapbook of six short tales, Families Among Us, in mid-September. Winner of the 2013 Black River Chapbook Competition, it is now available to order for the low-low price of $8.95.

I hope you'll give this little collection a look and get a copy for yourself and/or as a gift for the person in your life who loves to read. You can order the book here, which will be giving future you a gift when it arrives via post later this month.

And here are some awfully kinds words about the book:

These stories are like tiny portholes into worlds teeming with rich, surprising life. Blake Kimzey is a master miniaturist. —Ramona Ausubel, author of No One is Here Except All of Us and A Guide to Being Born

Each of the stories in Blake Kimzey’s astonishing chapbook Families Among Us are intricate, beautifully written universes unto themselves. These stories blur the lines between what is real and what is possible yet they are also intimate and familiar because they are stories about people and connection and the very human desire to be a part of something greater than ourselves. —Roxane Gay, Author of An Untamed State and Bad Feminist

Blake Kimzey has given us all the pleasures our imagination can bear, six stories to savor slowly, to break our hearts and then mend them. I wanted more of these good things. —Kyle Minor, author of Praying Drunk and In the Devil's Territory

In Families Among Us, Blake Kimzey’s inventive prose summons six weird worlds of the imagination—but more than anything else, these imagined worlds conjure not some other space but the forgotten weirdness of the world we know, revealed here in all its wondrous everyday magic. —Matt Bell, author of In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods

Thank you for supporting my writing!

My Literary Mother: Michelle Latiolais

I wrote a short essay about Michelle Latiolais for a new project on female literary influence called Literary Mothers. I loved writing about Michelle, her work, her mentorship, and her great influence on my writing. Michelle is much more than a mentor, and I can't thank her enough for everything she has done for me. You can read my essay here.

Literary Mothers is an amazing project with other short essays by Matt Bell on Christine Schutt, Ashley Farmer on Joan Didion, Lincoln Michel on Flannery O’Connor, Deb Olin Unferth on Gertrude Stein, Alissa Nutting on Lynda Barry, and so many more.

I'd especially like to thank series editor Nadxi Nieto for including me in this very important project!

"The Boy and The Bear" - Short Story Month

The Masters Review is celebrating Short Story Month with new fiction, interviews, and essays all month long from the likes of Aimee Bender, Kevin Brockmeier, Ashley Farmer, and others. I snuck in there as well, and you can read my short story "The Boy and The Bear," which The Masters Review published today. Thanks for reading!

ALOUD Reading Series: Writing Our Future

Along with Eugenie Montague, my friend and classmate at UC-Irvine, I had the honor of reading at the ALOUD reading series at The Library Foundation of Los Angeles on April 17th. We read with students from CalArts, Otis College, UC Riverside, and USC. It was an amazing night in the beautiful Mark Taper Auditorium at the Central Library in downtown L.A, and it was an evening I won't soon forget.


There is a podcast from the reading, which you can listen to here. If you don't have time to listen to the whole program (which I recommend), but are curious about what I read, you can fast forward to the 16:00 minute mark. I read from the first six pages of the novel I'm working on.

I'd like to thank Louise Steinman for having us at the ALOUD series. And special thanks to Michelle Latiolais, Ron Carlson, my friends in the UC-Irvine MFA Program, and The Library Foundation of Los Angeles!

Okay, thanks for listening!

Focused on the Novel

I'm nearing the end of year three of three in the MFA Programs In Writing at UC Irvine. Late last summer I finished my first full-length short story collection, Talking Past The Close. Right now it is just a document sitting in the Dropbox cloud. I've been lucky to place stories in some great places (Tin House, FiveChapters, and others). I've been working on my first novel since the end of summer (a dark comedy influenced by The Sisters Brothers and Fargo, among others, which will be my thesis project here at Irvine). I'm about 60,000 words into it and I think a complete first draft is in sight. Writing is rewriting. I know as soon as I write THE END on the novel that is when the real work will begin. I'm looking forward to that. Until then!

A Couple of Book Reviews

I reviewed Daniel Alarcón's stunning new novel, At Night We Walk in Circles, for the Washington Independent Review of Books. You can read my review here. Alarcón has crafted a literary noir, a page-turner with plenty of suspense. But the novel is more than an atmospheric mystery, and you should read on to find out why.

I also reviewed Tomorrowland, a new story collection from Joseph Bates. My review appears in the newest issue of Mid-American Review (34.1). Bates has written an affecting, often hilarious book of stories. You should check it out.

As ever, I'm happy to be a staff reviewer for both of these fine publications!

New Fiction in NOÖ Journal

Mel Bosworth recently guest edited NOÖ Weekly. He was kind enough to ask me to contribute a short story to his issue. I jumped at the chance to send him "Dale Deveraux Comes to QVC," which you can read here. This is one of my favorite stories. I'm very happy Mel gave it a home in NOÖ Journal.

You should know Mel put together a killer issue. It boasts work from Ryan Ridge, Ashley Farmer, Ravi Mangla and Sara Lippmann. I'm honored to be in this issue with these great writers.

You can read the entire issue here. Believe me, it is well worth your time. As always, thanks for reading! And thanks again Mel, you're awesome!

New Fiction in Tin House

Tin House published my short story "And Finally the Tragedy." You can read it here. I wrote it after reading Donald Barthelme's "The School," a piece of fiction I've always loved. The title of my story (and its first line) comes directly from a line toward the end of "The School." It was one of those moments as a writer when I had to stop reading and start writing, something that happens for me when I read Denis Johnson, Cormac McCarthy, George Saunders, Thomas Berger, and Barry Hannah. 

I'm ever grateful to editor Masie Cochran for publishing my story as part of Tin House's Flash Friday fiction series. They've published a lot of great stories in this series, including personal favorites from Diane Williams, Steve Almond, Seth Fried, Mary Miller, Blake Butler, Lincoln Michel, Jaimie Quatro, James Yeh, Ryan Hume, Adam Peterson, and a collaborative effort from Ryan Ridge and Mel Bosworth, among many others. I'm happy to be included in this great company. As always, thanks for reading my work!

Surreal South '13

My story "The Boxer and the Bear" is anthologized in Surreal South '13 this year, and I'm so thrilled to have my fiction appear next to stories by David James Poissant, Ron Rash, and others. I'd especially like to thank series editor Josh Woods for selecting my story for publication.

Past contributors include Joyce Carol Oats, Robert Olen Butler, Benjamin Percy, and Daniel Woodrell. If you like surreal southern writing, you'll really love this anthology. To purchase a copy, just click here. Thanks for reading!

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)!

The New Short Fiction Series in L.A. on 9/8

I'd like to invite you to a live performance of my stories (by actors!) on Sunday, September 8th at 7pm at the Federal Bar in North Hollywood.

The New Short Fiction Series is L.A.’s longest running spoken word series now in its 17th year. Sally Shore directs the series and pairs an actor (from current shows like Mad Men, Dexter, Glee, and your favorite Soaps) with a story and they do a dramatic interpretation/reading of it. They're presenting four of my stories.

Writers who have participated in The New Short Fiction Series in the past include Aimee Bender, Ray Bradbury, Dana Johnson, Tatjana Soli, John Fante, and Tod Goldberg, among others, and I'm honored to be among them.

The Federal Bar, located at 5303 Lankershim Boulevard in North Hollywood (at Chandler), is a great venue and the events are lively and fun. Tickets are $10 in advance (via this link) or $15 at the door. Please let me know if you think you can make it, because I'd love to see you there!

Update: Sally was a guest on L.A.'s 90.7 FM Arts in Review program at 7:00pm on 8/30. She talked about the upcoming New Short Fiction Series season and even spent a few minutes kindly talking about my fiction and promoting the show on September 8th (beginning around the 7:50 mark), which you can listen to here.

Forthcoming Book Reviews

I'm excited to be a staff writer for The Washington Independent Review of Books. I recently read Hanya Yanagihara’s debut novel, The People in the Trees, and wrote about it here.

I'm currently reading Daniel Alarcon's forthcoming novel, At Night We Walk in Circles (set for publication October 31st), and will have a piece in The Washington Independent Review of Books in late October.

And I'll have a review of Tomorrowland, a new story collection from Joseph Bates, printed in the next issue of Mid-American Review (34.1), also set for publication later this fall.

Families Among Us - Black Lawrence Press - 2014

My chapbook of short tales, Families Among Us, will be published by Black Lawrence Press in September 2014. I couldn't be more excited about this. Out of close to 500 entries, Families Among Us was named winner of the spring 2013 Black River Chapbook Competition.

Here is what Kit Frick, the Black Lawrence chapbook editor, had to say about my collection:

"Surreal, beautiful, unnerving, and all-round awesome. The sentence-level cadence you set in the title story really reeled me in and builds so beautifully toward the conclusion, and the mix of strangeness and emotional rawness present in the families throughout the stories is so right on." 

I'm so happy to be part of the Black Lawrence family now, and to work with their editors and book designers. Black Lawrence Press, an imprint of Dzanc Books, is a beautiful New York-based house publishing some of the finest contemporary American and European poetry and fiction.

I can't wait to share this short book with y'all a year from now. Families Among Us will be a handsomely designed, perfect-bound book, distributed through Consortium, a national distributor, as well as on Amazon and the Black Lawrence Press website. I'll have more information to share soon. As always, thanks for reading!

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!

Book Review in Mid-American Review

I reviewed The Incurables by Mark Brazaitis for the current issue of Mid-American Review. The stories in this linked collection, reminiscent of Sherwood Anderson's masterful Winesburg, Ohio, are fresh, inviting, and comically bizarre. Brazaitis conjures the small town of Sherman, Ohio, a place that comes to life beautifully on the page. The characters here have deep roots, and for most, the city limits act as a boundary that they dare not cross. Never unkind, Brazaitis forces his characters to face down trouble of their own making; he backs them into a corner and makes them fight their way out, often with dire consequences. I can't recommend this book enough.

Thanks again to Mid-American Review editor Michael Czyzniejewski for assigning this book for review; I'm happy to be a regular contributor now. You can get a copy of the new issue of Mid-American Review here and a copy of The Incurables here.

New Fiction in Puerto del Sol 48.2

First: check out the cover of the latest issue of Puerto del Sol, by artist and writer Rachel B. Glaser. It is amazing. I just love it.

I'm thrilled my story "The Boxer" is in this issue (48.2), along with great work from Lee K. Abbott and a host of other fantastic writers.

Thanks again to Lily Hoang, Christopher Rosenbluth, and the rest of the gang at Puerto del Sol for accepting my story for publication.

Chris paid me one of the nicest compliments I've received from an editor: "I loved the story. It reminded me of a Barry Hannah story. A force of nature."

Teased? You can have the issue for just $10, and you can order it right here. Thanks for reading!

The Adroit Journal

My story "A Familiy Among Us" is in the summer issue (#7) of The Adroit Journal, along with great work from Ned Vizzini, Bruce Holland Rogers, BJ Hollars, and many more. Big thanks to editor Peter LaBerge for publishing this story. I'm so happy to have my fiction included. You can order a copy of this beautiful journal here.

"A Family Among Us" originally appeared online in Dark Sky Magazine, made the 2012 Million Writers Award Notable Stories list, and was adapted for broadcast on NPR stations, which you can listen to here. I'm excited Peter wanted to put this story in print for the first time!

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.

Spring 2013

My time in the MFA fiction program at UC-Irvine, where I also teach creative writing, is flying by. I'm nearing the end of year #2 and have just started work on the novel that will be my thesis project, due next year. I have a completed collection of stories ("Talking Past the Close") and a chapbook of five tales ("Families Among Us") that I'd like to have published in the near future. Bueller, Bueller?

In the meantime, I have a few stories and a book review coming out soon (and one from the archive to share with you):


My story "The Boxer" will appear in the next issue of Puerto del Sol (48.2), which launches in May. I'm so excited to have a story in this amazing journal. Thanks to Lily Hoang, Christopher Rosenbluth, and the rest of the editors at Puerto del Sol for accepting "The Boxer" for publication. Chris, who accepted the story via e-mail, paid me one of the nicest compliments I've received from an editor: "I loved the story. It was probably my favorite of the submissions from the slush pile. It reminded me of a Barry Hannah story. A force of nature." If you'd like to read "The Boxer" you can pre-order a copy of Puerto del Sol (48.2) here.

Peter LaBerge, editor of The Adroit Journal, solicited my story "A Family Among Us" for publication in their summer 2013 issue. "A Family Among Us" originally appeared online in Dark Sky Magazine, made the 2012 Million Writers Award Notable Stories list, and was adapted for broadcast on NPR stations, which you can listen to here. I'm excited Peter wanted to put this story in print for the first time!

My second book review (The Incurables by Mark Brazaitis, a beautiful linked collection) will appear in the forthcoming issue of Mid-American Review (33.2). My review of the excellent Fires of Our Choosing by Eugene Cross appeared in issue 33.1. Thanks again to MAR book reviews editor Michael Czyzniejewski for letting me write for the journal!

More news on the way. Thanks for reading!

New Fiction in Structo 9

My story "The Skylight" appears in issue 9 of Structo, an Oxford-based British literary magazine. I'm really excited about this one. Structo is beautifully produced and if you like writing that tends toward slipstream check 'em out. The issue can be yours for just six pounds! Thanks again to editor Euan Monaghan for accepting "The Skylight" for publication. Get your copy here.

To learn a little more about Structo you can read a rave review of their last issue over at Newpages.

Book Review in Mid-American Review

I've got a book review in the current issue of Mid-American Review. I reviewed Fires of Our Choosing, an excellent debut collection of stories from Eugene Cross, out now from Dzanc Books. I can't recommend Fires of Our Choosing enough. The stories and writing are simply stunning.

Thanks again to Mid-American Review editor Michael Czyzniejewski for assigning this book for review. You can get a copy of the new issue of Mid-American Review here and a copy of Fires of Our Choosing here. Both are well worth the price of admission.

New Fiction in Keyhole 12

You can now order Keyhole 12, which contains my story "Ricky Jensen Goes to Work," along with great fiction from James Brubaker, Adam Moorad, and Simon A. Smith.

I just read the issue in proof format and it is really great. I'm happy to have my work featured next to stories by James, Adam, and Simon. Thanks again to editor Peter Cole for including my work in this issue. Keyhole is an imprint of the great Dzanc Books and at only $7.99, this issue is a total steal.

It'll ship on 12/12/12. Get your copy here.

"Dirty Birds" in Monkeybicycle

Thanks to editor J. Bradley and the guys at Monkeybicycle. They published my story "Dirty Birds" today, which you can read here.