An article I wrote about sign spinning is now up at The Rumpus.net. Check it out.

It's also avilable in the Essays & Articles section.

Here's an excerpt:

Jesse says he does this day after day and he no longer sees himself as a person, but as an object. People throw everything at him. Soda bottles and cans. Lit cigarette butts. A shot gun spray of loose change. He says, “It sounds harmless but when junk is thrown at me at high speeds I can’t help but see myself as a victim.”

I finished writing a new novel. I wrote the book in three weeks. I had the idea for this novel percolating in my brain for a couple of years. I rewrote the first page several times over those same years. I wasn’t happy with what I was writing. I knew how the story began and where it was going and how it would end. But I had trouble writing the first page. I had drafts handwritten and other drafts saved to a thumb-drive. I would read everything I wrote and for some reason I just wasn’t convinced that what I had was worthy. It was very annoying and I thought I should give up. I did and turned my attention onto other works like Lick Me and White Belts. Then came the night the Strikeforce event was about to air on CBS. The main card included Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers.

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On Saturday I firemen carried a man twenty pounds heavier than me up a steep incline. After three steps up I was breathing heavily out of my mouth. I tried to control my breathing, but I couldn’t. I was focusing on walking, keeping one foot in front of the other. My feet were cement blocks. I felt like I was walking in mud. I pressed the man’s arm and leg against my chest so he wouldn’t fall over. I looked like I was locked in the stocks while some lead and others followed.

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"His plots are rich with twists and turns, always sure to keep you guessing, and in the span of one novel, his prose has bettered itself like a fine wine in fast forward. Some of his metaphors and similes leave little to be desired at times, but its the story that drives his work, the characters that lure you into the next chapter and beyond. Be sure to pick up Lick Me in your next Amazon.com book buying binge, and pre-order White Belts for all of your Christmas shopping literary needs."

Read the entire review

Blindingloud.com

My novel White Belts is now out in bookstores. What’s next?

I grew a depression beard, but not a good one. It wasn’t thick and full like a lumberjack or a construction worker. Not hip and chic like some guy trying to sell overpriced liquor in a restaurant booth surrounded by beautiful women on television. I definitely didn’t look cool or “beat.” My face looked like I had bald spots. When I looked in the mirror, it only made me more depressed. I guess that was the point. But it wasn’t. I wanted to look like Ernest Hemingway. He had a great beard. I wanted to look like I poured my heart and soul into those pages and have finally risen from my enclosed existence of my own imagination. The final outcome wasn’t what I was expecting. Friends said I looked stupid and told me to shave. The day before Halloween I did, but left my moustache. I was telling everyone it was my “porn-stache.” Friends found it funny while others told me to shave it off immediately.

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