Indie Book Buzz: Oneworld Publications

It's the return of the Indie Book Buzz here at TNBBC. Over the next few weeks, we will be inviting members of the small press publishing houses to share which of their upcoming releases they are most excited about!

This week's picks come from Missi Smith, 

Assistant Publicist at 45^th Parallel Communications.

What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?: A Memoir by David Harris-Gershon
(Releases September 2013)

What is it about? David Harris-Gershon is an American Jewish writer who moved to Jerusalem with his wife Jamie to attend Hebrew University.   On July 31, 2002, Jamie and a friend were studying in a cafeteria when, in an instant, their lives were torn apart by a Hamas terrorist who set off a backpack bomb in the building.  Jamie’s friends were killed and her own injuries were near-fatal.  David rushed to the hospital to be by her side and for months their lives revolved around her recovery.  Slowly her wounds healed, the bomber was convicted and jailed, and eventually David and his wife moved back to the States and started a family. But David was still haunted by fear and anxiety.  In his memoir, David unfolds the psychological journey on which he embarked in order to heal his own emotional wounds.  He describes discovering the news that, upon capture, the Hamas bomber expressed genuine remorse for his crime.  This information rocks the ground beneath David’s feet. His subsequent quest for resolution and reconciliation lead him back to Jerusalem on a journey to meet the terrorist in a desperate effort to understand his enemy.

Why am I excited to be publishing it?  Good memoir is a literary account of those who have overcome great obstacles or conflicts, woven into an engaging story that resonates with readers. Oneworld Publications strives to produce books that are read by the intellectually curious all around the world. What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?  is an excellent fit for our list because it presents the Palestinian-Israeli conflict through the lens of one man’s all-too-human experience as the collateral damage of this complicated conflict. It’s a story of family and healing that reflects on the world-wide reality of terrorism in a very personal narrative.  David’s memoir focuses the big picture of the Israeli – Palestinian struggles on individual fathers, mothers, sisters, and brothers who are working to put shattered lives back together peacefully.  The book is also a wider testament to the author’s experience of psychological trauma and healing, and a powerful call for reconciliation despite all odds.

What the River Washed Away by Muriel Mharie Macloed(Releases August 2013)

What is it about?   This novel centers around Arletta, a young black girl growing up in Jim Crow-era Louisiana.  Arletta’s voodoo-practicing mother, Mambo, gallivants about town with suitors rather than caring for Arletta in their sharecropper shack.  Since her Pappy died, Arletta spends most days home alone in the shack.  Two white men soon take notice of her vulnerability.  They brutally rape Arletta many times and threaten her with lynching if she doesn’t keep the horrible secret of her abuse. Eventually she finds the courage to violently strike back, never to see the men again, but she still maintains her silence. Then, many years later, Arletta learns the men have victimized another young girl. She calls upon her mother and her voodoo arts, and together Arletta and Mambo seek final revenge.

Why am I excited to be publishing it?  Macleod’s imagery transports readers to another time and place, and she beautifully navigates the challenge of writing dialect for characters that come alive in her descriptions.  Following the tradition of Beloved, the book covers substantial themes from American history while also covering universal themes of human spirit.  The topics of racial inequality in American history and pedophilia can easily drag a narrative down, yet What the River Washed Away is marked by transcendence and an uplifting tone of tenacity and survival.  Arletta and Mambo, as well as the characters around them, embark on a dynamic journey of growth and learning.  A remarkable, modern feminist narrative, What the River Washed Away is ideal for heated book club discussions and for readers who seek out stories inspired by real-life events.

Beacons edited by Gregory Norminton(Releases August 2013)

What is it about? Beacons is a series of fictional short stories written by a sensational lineup of authors in response to the climate crisis our planet faces.  Authors include Joanne Harris, AL Kennedy, Alasdair Gray, and Toby Litt, to name a few. Some of the stories are satire, some cautionary tales, and some are tragic realism.  All of them offer a unique response to a global problem.  Fans of Atwood, Kingsolver, and the Transmetropolitangraphic novels will all find something to love in this collection.

Why am I excited about publishing it?  The climate crisis is still an emerging theme in contemporary literature and few writers have dealt with it in this manner.  The main theme of this book is most often shrouded in overwhelming doom and gloom, yet each story in Beacons is touched by hopeful optimism.  The stories contain characters of strong human spirit and adaptability.  Beacons is not an apocalyptic hell and brimstone imagining of our future or that of our children.  The stories are human, touching, and resilient.  This book important because, as Norminton explains in his intro:

“We have a collective duty to imagine what we fear to look at, for in looking away we fail, not only to avert the worst for our children, but also to create the happier and more just society in which we should wish them to live.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Missi Smith is an Assistant Publicist at 45^th Parallel Communications, the publicity and marketing firm representing Oneworld Publications.

Jessica Piazza's Guide to Books & Booze

Time to grab a book and get tipsy!

Books & Booze is a mini-series of sorts here on TNBBC that will post every Friday in October. The participating authors were challenged to make up their own drinks, name and all, or create a drink list for their characters and/or readers using drinks that already exist. 

Today, Jessica Piazza shares some of the poetry found in her new release Interrobang, and pairs them with awesome alcohol:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As a writer, one of the most important truisms I like to keep in mind is that it’s always cocktail-o’clock somewhere. Like my boozy literary forefathers and mothers before me (and, come to think of it, like my actual mother), I think that nothing gets the creative juices flowing like…well, actual juices flowing.  And then mixed with alcohol.  Yeah.

For this cocktail hour, we’re whipping up libations inspired by my new poetry collection, Interrobang, published by Red Hen Press in August 2013.  The book consists almost entirely of poems titled after strange clinical phobias (obsessive fear of asymmetrical things, anyone?) and oddball clinical philias (have a sexual hankering for ruin, perhaps?), so putting these drinks together is going to be one intense ride.

Let’s start where most drinking starts: happy hour.  It’s so easy to love the world once happy hour rolls around, so this first cocktail is based on my poem “Panophilia: love of everything.”  Like its inspiration, the Long Island Iced Tea, this concoction is bursting at the seams with way too much of a good thing.  With a little mint for fresh breath and a cherry garnish, you’ll be ready for all sorts of love.  A little sweet and a little spice makes it truly a match for the drinker who really, really loves everything…alcohol related. 

The Panophilia 1 part vodka 1 part gin 1 part white rum 1 part white tequila 1/2 part triple sec 1/4 part mint simple syrup 1 or 2 dashes of Tapatio sauce Long splash of soda Cherry for garnish Combine the first seven ingredients in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously and pour over ice. Add the soda and garnish.

Panophilia  Love of everything Today this weather’s better than itself: all background clamor, siren song, our schemed and ill-conceiving strategies.   This shelf, chaotic and precariously leaning next to your appalling bed, a trove of wonders hovering over us.  But love itself I never deigned to love; all give and giving in.  So I don’t understand my drunkenness on scribble scrawled above the mirror in the ladies’ room: You’re doomed. Ecstatic that it’s almost true.  And though  I should not love you yet—obliged to slow and genuflect to sense or self-defense— because of you, I’ll love everything else.

We’re sauced up.  We’ve gone from loving everything to really loving everything.  Or one thing.  Or one person.  Point is, flirting is in full effect with no end in sight, which is why our next drink is inspired by “Apodysophilia: love of undressing.”  Like me after a few drinks, this cocktail is sweet, sweet, sweet.  And every single item in this drink needs its own striptease, whether to escape its peel, rind or stalk, to get to your glass.  A harbinger for things to come, perhaps….

The Apodysophilia 2 parts tequila 1/3 part banana liqueur 1/3 part Midori melon liqueur 1/3 part fresh squeezed orange juice 1 splash ginger syrup Pour all ingredients over ice and stir.

Apodysophilia                       Love of undressing When many veils are pared to one what more to gain obscured?  The dance must end.  One spin: the veil has fallen to the floor.  One more: the centrifuge that I become has pinned you there.  Again, I win.  Undone, my clasp has claws.  This sloughing of my clothes breaks laws that aren’t written yet.  And now my grasp is masquerading as embrace because many a lip twixt cup and slip has tried to bare my cloth-clad heart.  But what I hide is hidden even more the more I show. Still, all of this means yes.  The air’s desired caress; I have no no.  You’re sure you know me?  So, you’ve guessed.  There’s nothing to undress.

We’ve been drinking a while now, huh?  Things are slowing down.  Do we want to get up from the table / bar stool / couch?  Probably not.  A good time, I think, to visit the poem “Kopophobia: fear of fatigue” and its accompanying adult beverage.  The cocktail is inspired by the heart rate accelerating Jägerbomb, and both it and the poem pay homage to Hungary, a country whose tired masses survived political turmoil while bringing us the hellish concoction known as Unicum, Hungary’s national beverage.  Though there’s a bit of vodka to dilute it (yes, that’s right….the vodka actually dilutesit), the overpowering herbal sensation of Unicum (also known by its brand name Zwack) combined with the medicinal wail of Red Bull will wake you the hell up. 

And then maybe kill you.  

The Kopophobia ½ ounce of vodka ½ ounce Unicum (Zwack) liquor 1 can of Red Bull energy drink Pour the chilled Red Bull into a pint glass.  Mix the vodka and unicum into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well to chill.  Strain into a shot glass.  Drop the shot glass into the pint glass.  Drink.  Shimmy and shake like a maniac.  Try not to die.

Kopophobia Fear of fatigue The pension in Prague had no alarm— we missed the early train we stayed awake to catch.   My fault, our doomed attempt to sleep in shifts; I thought I wouldn’t doze mine off.  For us, no clear Hungarian lake to see the sun’s eclipse; it shadowed us outside the train, out-dimmed by clouds.  We caught our breath in Budapest.  We fell in love— adored this city, thriving on its brokenness. The bleak facades of burned-through tenements were testament to how destruction does not mean the thing destroyed was beautiful before.  Those dragging weeks we built and razed  each day, and nothing that we made endured. Our statuary garden songs were frail as monuments composed of candle wax. Your sketchbook left on the Bazilka floor like trash; my notebook sloughing ink in rain.  It was a mess, but we make art that’s made for drowning.  On the bridge by the Danube, that storm deluged the city as we ran, outpacing it until it caught us, sang staccato rain into our hair and fled too frantically ahead.  I never said I loved that broken way you looked when things went wrong.  I should have.  And I can’t forget the fire-chewed bricks, the statues saved from riots; how they braved ruin.  We could not survive it.

It’s been fun, kids.  I’d be happy to down a few with you the next time cocktail o’clock rolls around.  Until then, feel free to check out my book Interrobang, available at Amazon.com, Red Hen Press, and at least a few brave bookstores nationally.  You can also find it, alongside a treasure trove of information about me that you really don’t want, at www.jessicapiazza.com.

Cheers!

NOTE:  Panophilia was originally published in Rattle (December 2009). Kopophobia was published in National Poetry Review/American Poetry Journal #10. Apodysophilia was first published in Barrelhouse 9.

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jessica Piazza is the author of two poetry collections: “Interrobang” (Red Hen Press, 2013) and the chapbook “This is not a sky” (Black Lawrence Press, 2014). Born and raised in Brooklyn, NY, she’s currently a Ph.D. candidate in English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Southern California. She is a co-founder of Bat City Review and Gold Line Press, and a contributing editor at The Offending Adam. Learn more at www.jessicapiazza.com.

Jessica Anya Blau's Would You Rather

Bored with the same old fashioned author interviews you see all around the blogosphere? Well, TNBBC's newest series is a fun, new, literary spin on the ole Would You Rather game. Get to know the authors we love to read in ways no other interviewer has. I've asked them to pick sides against the same 20 odd bookish scenarios. And just to spice it up a bit, each author gets to ask their own Would You Rather question to the author who appears after them....

Jessica Anya Blau

Would You Rather...

Would you rather write an entire book with your feet or with your tongue?

Definitely my feet. I’d want my tongue to talk, eat, kiss—in between pages, of course.

Would you rather have one giant bestseller or a long string of moderate sellers?

Ompf, hmmmm, oy, this is a hard one. I want a long string of giant bestsellers. I want to be able to write no matter what.  And either of those scenarios would allow me that, so it’s a tie.

Would you rather be a well-known author now or be considered a literary genius after you’re dead?

Now. Dead is dead. When I’m dead there will be no me to care about any of this!

Would you rather write a book without using conjunctions or have every sentence of your book begin with one?

Obviously, you didn’t grow up in Southern California where we never parsed sentences or learned the parts of speech! I rather have a book where every sentence starts with a conjunction.

Would you rather have every word of your favorite novel tattooed on your skin or always playing as an audio in the background for the rest of your life?

Audio in the background. I write with kids, a dog, husband, people, the phone, and friends constantly interrupting me. I’m used to background noise.

Would you rather write a book you truly believe in and have no one read it or write a crappy book that comprises everything you believe in and have it become an overnight success?

One I truly believe in. I always feel like I’m on the verge of death, so I have a hard time writing things I don’t really want to write or don’t believe in.

Would you rather write a plot twist you hated or write a character you hated?

Character. A hated character could be interesting.  A hated plot twist would be tedious to work around.

Would you rather use your skin as paper or your blood as ink?

Blood as ink.  It would be less scarring.  I’m vain that way. I don’t want to be skinned.

Would you rather become a character in your novel or have your characters escape the page and reenact the novel in real life?

It seems that both have already happened in some sense since I use so much of my real life in my fiction.

Would you rather write without using punctuation and capitalization or without using words that contained the letter E?

without using punctuation and capitalization it would probably be easier for people to read, don’t you think

Would you rather have schools teach your book or ban your book?

 Hmmmm, that’s funny. Teach my book. No, wait, banned.  No, taught. No, banned.

Would you rather be forced to listen to Ayn Rand bloviate for an hour or be hit on by an angry Dylan Thomas?

I definitely rather get hit on by Dylan Thomas. It would be a fun story to tell my friends and family. He looked a little like Don Knotts, didn’t he?

Would you rather be reduced to speaking only in haiku or be capable of only writing in haiku?

Ugh, oy, how awful

That would be but I would choose

Writing just because.

Would you rather be stuck on an island with only the 50 Shades Series or a series in a language that you can't read?

Definitely the series in the language I couldn't read.  I'd spend my lonely, isolated island time teaching myself the new language.  It would probably save my sanity--keep me from falling in love with a coconut or a monkey. 

Would you rather critics rip your book apart publically or never talk about it at all?

These are brutal questions!  I guess not talk about it.

Would you rather have everything you think automatically appear on your Twitter feed or have a voice in your head narrate your every move?

The voice in my head already narrates my every move and that’s fine by me, I just typed, while thinking that I’m typing, and typing what I’m thinking, and thinking what I’m typing . . . .

Would you rather give up your computer or pens and paper?

Is there anyone who is going to give up their computer? Show me that person! Of course I’d give up pens and paper. I believe I already have.

Would you rather write an entire novel standing on your tippy-toes or lying flat on your back?

Absolutely tippy-toes! Tippy-toes has energy, life-force, power.  Back is so . . . Bucket family, Christy Brown, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.  

Would you rather read naked in front of a packed room or have no one show up to your reading?

Well, I’ve read to a room of naked people. But I’ve never read to others while I was naked. I rather have no one show up at a reading. In fact I rather have no one show up at a reading than read in a bathing suit to a packed room.

Would you rather read a book that is written poorly but has an excellent story, or read one with weak content but is written well? 

This week I’d have to say an excellent story because I’m running around so much that if the story is weak, I’ll instantly fall asleep.  If I were more rested, or even it it were the weekend, I might prefer the well-written one.

Last week, Ryan W Bradley asked Jessica:

Would you rather write a bad book that ends up with a great cover, or a great book that ends up with a bad cover?

Great book with a bad cover.  I'd be in good company (I don't like most of the Hemingway or Fitzgerald covers).

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check back next week to see what Sara Habein would rather

and see her answer to Jessica's question:

Would you rather write a bestseller anonymously, or a moderate-seller under your name. 

(And no one can ever find out that you wrote the bestseller!)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Jessica AnyaBlau’s newest novel, The Wonder BreadSummer was picked as one of Five Thrilling Summer Reads by NPR’s All Things Considered. In Believer magazine, Nick Hornby said The Wonder Bread Summer was, ”. . .  picaresque, properly funny, unpredictable, and altogether irrepressible . . . it made me so happy that after I'd read it, in two days flat, I bought everything I could find by the same author.” Jessica is also the author of the critically acclaimed Drinking Closer toHome, and the bestselling The Summerof Naked Swim Parties.

Indie Book Buzz: Coach House Books

It's the return of the Indie Book Buzz here at TNBBC. Over the next few weeks, we will be inviting members of the small press publishing houses to share which of their upcoming releases they are most excited about!

This week's picks comes from Evan Munday,

Publicist for Coach House Books.

Cosmo by Spencer Gordon
(Available now)

What it's about
If reading most short story collections is like canoeing gently down a tranquil and picturesque river, then reading Spencer Gordon's Cosmo is like jet skiing over Niagara Falls while Leonard Cohen whispers in your ear. In the short stories of Cosmo, an admirer of Miley Cyrus performs a three-thousand word sentence in defence of his passion. Actor Matthew McConaughey descends into a surreal, stupefying desert of the soul. An aging porn star dons a grotesque dinosaur costume to film the sex scene of his life. Such are the speakers and stars of a collection of stories that explode the conventions of short fiction.

Why you should read it
At first, it seems like merely a novelty to read celebrity-saturated short stories about Matthew McConaughey driving naked through the Painted Desert, about Leonard Cohen's correspondence with Subway, about a Miss America contestant on a humanitarian mission. (I can't believe you're still reading this -- I'd have already bought the book at this point.) But once you enter these stories, you realize Spencer Gordon is no one-trick-pony. And this is no gimmick. This is honest-to-goodness art that just happens to feature figures of pop culture as some of its more memorable characters. Cosmo reads like US Weekly and Barthelme's 60 Stories were thrown in a blender, mixed with a packet of Fun Dip and set to 'whip.' And this is not to say it's only popular culture the author engages with. Everyday parents, employees and bus riders are just as enthralling as the marquee names. The stories will alternately make you wallow in existential dread, laugh in absurdiy, slice your heart down the middle with incredible sadness and dazzle you with klaxons of writerly style. (I'm not really sure what klaxons are, but I think they're British and I think they dazzle.)

Bio
Evan Munday is the illustrator of the novel Stripmalling by Jon Paul Fiorentino and the poetry collection DOOM: Love Poems for Supervillains by Natalie Zina Walschots. He's also the author of the Silver-Birch-nominated book series for young readers, The Dead Kid Detective Agency. But mostly he's the publicist for Toronto-based literary press Coach House Books.

Madeleine Reviews: Broken Piano for President

3 stars -- Recommended to fans of bizarro in all its incarnations
372 pages
Read from 5 July to 11 July 2013
Publisher: Lazy Fascist Press
Released: 1 March 2012

By guest reviewer Madeleine Maccar

Hunker down, friends and goobers, and let us explore this tale of hero-worship, espionage, and warring fast-food franchises built on the sturdy foundation that is good ol' American greed and gluttony.

If you only know of Patrick Wensink's Broken Piano for President for its legal kerfuffle with Jack Daniel's (which the internet universally reports as involving the nicest cease-and-desist letter ever -- and you know how hard it is for anyone on the internet to agree on anything), then you are doing yourself a great disservice and ought to remedy such an unfortunate truth by getting lost in this light-bizarro joy ride. If nothing else, you may find that your problems pale in comparison to those faced by some of these characters.

Like any satisfying slab of bizarro-flavored fare, Broken Piano for President features an antihero who would be an unlikable loser if he weren't such a sympathetic everyman whose dilemmas -- the guilt of unexorcized childhood demons, an unsuccessful love life, a job that he thoroughly despises -- are relatable to anyone old enough to know that a blackout-drunk dependency on alcohol is the only way to deal with such staggering hopelessness. That is, until you wake up in a strange but totally awesome car one morning with no recollection of how you got there, whose car you've purloined, or who the corpselike lady in the passenger seat with the gaping head wound is and whether or not you're responsible for such a gory morning greeting.

Such is the life of and our introduction to Deshler Dean (presumably named for the author's town of origin). And things don't necessarily get any better for our self-brutalized protagonist, nor does he acquire any immediate clarity regarding either this or any of his multitudinous memory lapses brought on by drunken stupors. What he does gain, however, is an avalanche of opportunity for flexing his liar muscles by way of his alcoholic's amnesia and his improvised double- (and triple-) agent status for two fast-food giants (Winters Olde-Tyme Hamburgers and the subtly named Bust-a-Gut Hamburgers) who are locked in a game of perpetual one-upmanship with absolutely no conscience about offing the competition's (or their own) employees and clogging their consumers' arteries in pursuit of the almighty dollar. While Deshler stumbles through his jobs as an inebriated wunderkind of sorts who dreams up shamefully, sadistically delicious foodstuffs for his employers' menus that he never remembers once the hammer of sobriety thwacks him between the eyes, it is that same dollar-beer haze that allows him to write word-salad songs and serve as a frontman for his true love: his Butthole Surfers-inspired, art-house nightmare of a band, Lothario Speedwagon.

It is satire that deserves its comparisons to Kurt Vonnegut and Christopher Moore, for sure. The dirty underbelly of the two fictitious hamburger heavy-hitters grows worryingly less and less outlandish as the violence escalates and the calorie counts of Deshler's brainchildren reach meteoric heights. It takes no mental gymnastics to imagine real-life corporations planting spies in the corporate offices of their biggest competitors to ensure that they come out on top for just one fiscal quarter, as it's also no surprise that one of the chain's founders has been iconified and deified at the hands of the American public. The dangers of greed, blind consumerism, scare-tactic TV news, and sacrificing job satisfaction for job security are all on parade as the story catapults to its frenzied climax.

While bizarro is definitely not for everyone, this is hovering more on the Regular Guy Thrown into Extraordinary Circumstances with Some Violence on the Side spectrum of the genre rather than its Batshit! Insanity! at Every! Corner! counterpoint, which might make it a little more palatable for someone looking to introduce themselves to what can be a scary little literary niche that often requires a more willing suspension of disbelief that some readers may be comfortable extending. Broken Piano does, however, weigh in at a veritable novel-sized length, making it the first non-novella bizarro I've had the pleasure of reading. And it does, for the most part, successfully carry a plot (aided by dozens of subplots, lists, asides, montages and lessons in fictional histories) for its substantial duration. There are a few lags where characters wax a little too self-indulgent, where the story seems to meander, where the violence seems a little gratuitous in its detail but, hey, sometimes life errs on that side, too. Besides, I've seen examples of the genre commit far more literarily heinous crimes.

Bizarro is at its most successful when there's something significant to be found for those who are willing to dig below the violent, exaggerated-for-shock-factor surface that gives it its charm. Broken Piano is fueled by enough cautionary tales (never sacrifice corporate comfort for the art one was meant to create, even if it means being a valet for a little longer), life lessons (how the best-laid plans can be blown asunder by life's pesky unpredictabilities, like falling in love) and allegories (there are far more options than the two public favorites -- which I couldn't help but compare to the stranglehold of America's two-party system, even though there was nary a cue pointing me in that direction within these pages) to lend thematic support to its off-the-wall goings-on. It is an entertaining romp through some sick shit for those who just want to be told a story and a modern-day morality play of sorts for those who aren't satisfied with simply taking a novel at face value.


Madeleine Maccar is a journalist-turned-proofreader who maintains a newly hatched blog (ilikereadingandeating.blogspot.com/), the URL of which pretty much exemplifies her two favorite things that aren't puppies.

Jayme K's Guide to Books & Booze

Time to grab a book and get tipsy!

Books & Booze is a new mini-series of sorts here on TNBBC that will post every Friday in October. The participating authors were challenged to make up their own drinks, name and all, or create a drink list for their characters and/or readers using drinks that already exist. 

Today, author Jayme K give us a lesson:

I like the concept of ‘adapting’ a book into an alcoholic beverage. Disorderly, I’d imagine, would be some sort of fucked up cocktail. The kind of drink that gives you alcohol poisoning if had more than once in a single sitting. So for the sake of the people, I’m going to tone it down to something enjoyable, that won’t cause you to shit out your liver the next morning.

First we’re going to add just a bit of Blue Curacao—because why not? It’s delicious. How much is ‘just a bit’, you ask? Well, it depends on how much citrus you like in your drink. I’d say at least 3 ounces.

Next, you’re going to want to add some Grey Goose vodka because it is, easily, the best inexpensive vodka on the market and if you disagree with me, just know that you’re wrong. Add 1.5 ounces of that to your drink.

And at that point you’re going to want to add Margaritaville Mango Margarita mix to fill the rest of your cup.

What you’ll have is a green tinted drink that should taste exactly like Mountain Dew. If it doesn’t, then you fucked up somewhere along the line—don’t blame me.

How is Disorderlylike Mountain Dew? Well, it may make you feel a little gross.  

Jayme K. is the author of the novel Disorderly, as well as numerous short stories, essays, and poems. His work has been published by UnHollywood, Before Sunrise Press, Underground Books, Miracle E-zine, Nostrovia! Poetry, Your Daily Subvert, Moon Project, and Flash Fiction 365. He lives in Boston.

Ryan W Bradley's Would You Rather

Bored with the same old fashioned author interviews you see all around the blogosphere? Well, TNBBC's newest series is a fun, new, literary spin on the ole Would You Rather game. Get to know the authors we love to read in ways no other interviewer has. I've asked them to pick sides against the same 20 odd bookish scenarios. And just to spice it up a bit, each author gets to ask their own Would You Rather question to the author who appears after them....

I hope you have as much fun reading their responses as I did!! First up:

Ryan W Bradley,

Would You Rather...

Would you rather write an entire book with your feet or with your tongue?

My tongue, and it being me I’m not sure I need to elaborate.

Would you rather have one giant bestseller or a long string of moderate sellers?

I tend toward the “go out in a blaze of glory” attitude, so I think I’d rather have one giant bestseller.

Would you rather be a well known author now or be considered a literary genius after you’re dead?

This is hard for my ego to decide between. On the one hand I’d very much like to be considered a literary genius, though I find this unlikely. And if I’m dead I couldn’t really enjoy it anyway, so I’ll take the well known author now option, I want to soak that in before I die.

Would you rather write a book without using conjunctions or have every sentence of your book begin with one?

Not using conjunctions would change the tone of my writing quite a bit, I think, so I’ll go with beginning every sentence with one. I’m pretty sure I could make that work with some practice.

Would you rather have every word of your favorite novel tattooed on your skin or always playing as an audio in the background for the rest of your life?

It’s a good thing my favorite novel is short. I’d totally have it tattooed on me, small text though, and then as I got old it would just be a block of black ink.

Would you rather write a book you truly believe in and have no one read it or write a crappy book that comprises everything you believe in and have it become an overnight success?

There are days when I think I would happily sell out, but honestly, I’ve tried to write “commercially” and it just doesn’t work for me. I write what I write because it’s what I’m compelled to write, so I guess that has to be my choice here, though I’d like to pick money over integrity.

Would you rather write a plot twist you hated or write a character you hated?

I hate a lot of my plot twists and characters. I try to write things that make me uncomfortable. If I could only do one I guess I’d pick a character I hated, because my stories hinge on the people and their interpersonal relationships.

Would you rather use your skin as paper or your blood as ink?

Well, I am partial to being tattooed, so using my skin as paper doesn’t sound so bad. On the other hand I’m not much fond of bleeding, so having to tap into my blood to write with is not such a fun idea.

Would you rather become a character in your novel or have your characters escape the page and reenact the novel in real life?

I’ve been a character in my novel. Not sure I need to do that again. Could be entertaining to see them come to life as long as they keep me out of their dysfunction.

Would you rather write without using punctuation and capitalization or without using words that contained the letter E?

Too many words use the letter e. The lack of punctuation and capitalization (at least in my fiction) would bother my obsessive compulsive nature, but seems, in the long run easier to deal with.

Would you rather have schools teach your book or ban your book?

Well, having my books banned seems incredibly plausible. Though I’ve heard tell of Code for Failure being talked about in college classes, I even visited a class to talk about it a year ago. Both options are flattering in their own right.

Would you rather be forced to listen to Ayn Rand bloviate for an hour or be hit on by an angry Dylan Thomas?

Don’t think I could be in the same room with Rand, and being hit on is great for my ego. This one’s a no brainer!

Would you rather be reduced to speaking only in haiku or be capable of only writing in haiku?

I don’t mind being quiet, so I’d probably do all right speaking only in haiku. Most people wouldn’t notice anyway, right?

Would you rather be stuck on an island with only the 50 Shades Series or only the BLANK series?

Well, if I’m seriously stuck on an island and all I have with me is a book series, I’m probably going to get more use out of 50 Shades...

Would you rather critics rip your book apart publicly or never talk about it at all?

No press is bad press, right? I go into everything I do expecting people to dislike it, so I feel pretty prepared for bad reviews. On the other hand, getting no attention whatsoever is bad for my ego.

Would you rather have everything you think automatically appear on your Twitter feed or have a voice in your head narrate your every move?

No one would talk to me if all my thoughts got tweeted. And I have a pretty solid inner narrative going all the time anyway, so I’m pretty used to that.

Would you rather give up your computer or pens and paper?

Pens and paper. No hesitation. I could go without writing by hand pretty easily I think. You know, aside from my signature, of course.

Would you rather write an entire novel standing on your tippy-toes or laying down flat on your back?

Lying flat? That’d be tricky. Tippy-toes would be tough but more manageable I think. Until I’m crippled by arthritis or something.

Would you rather read naked in front of a packed room or have no one show up to your reading?

Sometimes reading in front of a crowd feels like reading naked. And not having any audience is bad for the ego. So...

Would you rather read a book that is written poorly but has an excellent story, or read one with weak content but is written well? 

Written well, hands down. Bad writing annoys me, and sets me into “editor” mode. When I’m reading for pleasure I want to read something I can get engrossed in and there’s way less chance of that happening with something that is poorly written.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Check back next week to see what Jessica Anya Blau would rather...

and see her answer to Ryan W Bradley's bonus question:

 Would you rather write a bad book that ends up with a great cover, 

or a great book that ends up with a bad cover?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ryan W. Bradley has fronted a punk band, done construction in the Arctic Circle, managed an independent children's bookstore, and now designs book covers. He is the author of a story collection, PRIZE WINNERS (Artistically Declined Press, 2011) and a poetry collection, MILE ZERO (ADP, 2013). His novel, CODE FOR FAILURE was recently re-released by Civil Coping Mechanisms. In September, 2013 Concepcion Books will publish THE WAITING TIDE, a poetry collection homage to Pablo Neruda. He received his MFA from Pacific University and lives in Oregon with his wife and two sons. 

Indie Book Buzz: Soho Teen

It's the return of the Indie Book Buzz here at TNBBC. Over the next few weeks, we will be inviting members of the small press publishing houses to share which of their upcoming releases they are most excited about!

This week's picks comes from Meredith Barnes,

Senior Publicity Manager at Soho Teen.

1      

RELIC by Heather Terrell

      (the first in the Books of Eva series, October 29^th)

     

      Ah, Relic! My favorite book we’re publishing this Fall, featuring a medieval society familiar to epic fantasy readers—but this society actually exists in our future. After a catastrophic flood destroyed most of the population and subsequently froze, the Aerie chose to reorganize at our North Pole as a medieval society, believing that technology is what brought their ancestors to grief. And so they’ve remained for more than 400 years. This is a fantastic mix of the intrigue and high stakes that people love about Game of Thrones and the pulse-pounding thrills from dystopians like Divergent—I especially like that comparison because like Tris, Eva doesn’t start out a hardened warrior—she has to step up and make it happen in order to survive.

About the book: When Eva’s twin brother, Eamon, falls to his death just a few months before he is due to participate in The Testing, no one expects Eva to take his place. She’s a Maiden, slated for embroidery classes, curtseys, and soon a prestigious marriage befitting the daughter of an Aerie ruler. But Eva insists on honoring her brother by becoming a Testor. After all, she wouldn’t be the first Maiden to Test, just the first in 150 years. Eva knows the Testing is no dance class. Gallant Testors train for their entire lives to search icy wastelands for Relics: artifacts of the early 21^st century, when The Healing drowned the world. Out in the Boundary Lands, Eva must rely on every moment of the lightning-quick training she received from Lukas—her servant, a Boundary native, and her closest friend now that Eamon is gone. But there are threats in The Testing beyond what Lukas could have prepared her for. And no one could have imagined the danger Eva unleashes when she discovers a Relic that shakes the Aerie to its core.

Bloggers can join the blog tour here!

2    

DANCER DAUGHTER TRAITOR SPY by Elizabeth Kiem

      (debut novel, August 13^th)

      This is a lyrical, lushly written historical set in the punk-tastic early ’80s in NYC, a new breed of spy novel for lovers of the TV show The Americans, Bolshoi intrigue, and elements of the paranormal.

Marina has trained her whole life at the Bolshoi to debut as the Soviet Union's prima ballerina: an international star handpicked by the regime. But her mother, afflicted with a mysterious second sight, becomes obsessed with exposing a horrific state secret and is arrested as a political enemy, forcing Marina and her father to defect to Brooklyn, NY where Marina must navigate punk music, the burgeoning Russian mob presence in Brooklyn, Juilliard, and terrifying visions of her own.

Elizabeth is an absolute delight and perhaps the coolest human I’ve ever met. I hang out in Williamsburg. I know hip. But she puts me to shame. Originally from Virginia, she now lives in Brooklyn (where she belongs). She settled there after a stint in Moscow just after the collapse of the USSR, studying ballet at the Bolshoi. So the details in both the US-set and the Russian portions of the book are just spot on. Also, secret note? The cover model is one of our former editorial assistants—we just bought her some pointe shoes, sent her out to Brooklyn with Elizabeth and they had a blast.

Bloggers can join Elizabeth’s blog tour here.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meredith Barnes is Senior Publicity Manager at Soho Teen, an imprint of the proudly independent publisher  Soho Press, as well as a habitual defector (ex-Texan, ex-lit agent). Always a bit of a nomad, her reading tastes range from literary fiction to science fiction to pizza cookbooks—and she’s helped sell all of these at one point or another.

Soho Press is an independent book publisher based in New York City since 1986, publishing literary fiction, narrative nonfiction, and international crime fiction.