Read Yankee Pot Roast‘s: How to Write a Book. My favorites are: #11, #14 and #18.

Say you’re a big, fat multi-national retail chain. What do you do when the workers in one of your stores unionize? Do you try to work with them? Hell no! You shut down the store and they all lose their jobs: Wal-Mart to shut Canada store–Labor leaders say chain seeks to avoid union

extreme makeover

SmokeLong Quarterly has a gorgeous new look.

Last night, on a plane bobbing in the turbulence, I was not afraid. And when I realized that I was not, I asked myself, “Why? Here is a time when you might have a legitimate reason to fear and yet you are calm. Is it the wine you had in the airport? Is that you are too tired to care? Or is it that … Read More

poem for 2.10.05: God the Broken Lock by David Rivard

Interpret my dream

from two nights ago: I’m in the restaurant my family used to own and I’m bartending (which is what I used to do). In the bar with me are my mother and George Bush, Sr (!?!?!). We are all looking out one of the large windows which looks across the road and into a field and forest. It is night. George pulls out a … Read More Interpret my dream

new stuff

The new edition of failbetter is live and in it you will find two great interviews: Pam Houston & Mary Morris discuss their new novels. Also, read Mark Budman’s Conversation with Lydia Davis at Web del Sol.

Woman on pill pregnant with quads and she already has a seven-month-old. ai yi yi!

poem for 2.4.05: Ode to Broken Things by Pablo Neruda translated by Jodey Bateman note: I watched Il Postino for the first time the other day. Ah, what a wonderful movie! How could I have let it go so long before seeing it? If I did not love Neruda before (which I did), I surely loved him after seeing this movie.

To continue on with my obnoxious self-absorption, I’m pleased to announce that my teeth are in fine working order. I have one teeny-tiny cavity (which is truly a minor miracle given the amount of candy I eat and wine I drink) which will be filled on Monday. The hygenist did not, as predicted, get on my case about my aggressive brushing, rather she said, … Read More

Hello. My name is Myfanwy Collins and I am an aggressive brusher. Yes, that’s right, today I have a dentist appointment. A routine cleaning, at which the hygenist will chastise me for being an aggressive brusher. I like to brush frequenly–five or six times a day if I had my druthers, but now that I have been labelled “aggressive” I am only allowed to … Read More

Really, I don’t like to make fun of authors just because they are successful, but I laughed out loud at this review and felt I must share. The review–Crichton Mad: A review of the distorted plot and politics in Michael Crichton’s State of Fear–is GREAT in that it not only pokes fun at a book that takes itself too seriously, but also reveals the … Read More