Matt Bell

SmokeLong Quarterly's Issue 21 has just gone live, including my story "The Folk Singer Dreams of Time Machines" and an accompanying interview by the wonderful Kelly Spitzer.  This is yet another excerpt from my novel-in-progress (which is currently titled When We Break-- now that there are three excerpts published I'm hoping it's not bad luck anymore to reveal the title), and the interview has a lot to say about at least one of the major sources for the novel's inspiration.  If you're interested in that sort of thing, read away.  Be warned, though: It's quite obviously one of the longest and most self-indulgent interviews SLQ's ever posted.  But, as those who know me already know, I do love to hear myself talk.

Moving on... Here's the first paragraph of the story:

When he writes music he most often does it like this: By playing live, alone, bereft of his band. He sings words left over from the night before, from things that are dreams and things that only seem like they are. Sometimes he sees the ideas floating near his head, captured in tinctures of light, little blobs of meaning drifting through the air. In public he tries to ignore them, waiting until he's alone in his room to pluck them from their orbits and swallow them whole. He thinks that he's going crazy. He plays every show like it's the last one he'll ever play, and he always tells himself that maybe this time it is.

Much more exciting than my own story is the fact that this is SmokeLong Quarterly's Fifth Anniversary Issue, which has been commemorated by publishing a double issue of forty flash fictions, including work by nearly everyone who has ever worked on the magazine (which includes myself), plus writers who are new to SmokeLong.  Among those are two who were major influences on founding editor Dave Clapper's own writing, W.P. Kinsella and Natalie Goldberg.  Some of the writers in this issue are new friends of mine (Blake Butler and Scott Garson), some are my own early flash fiction influences (Kathy Fish and Joseph Young), other are writers whose work I admire greatly (Shellie Zacharia, Jim Ruland, and Mary Miller), and then there are the fantastic staff members who were there when I first arrived at SmokeLong (Randall Brown, Katrina Denza, Thomas White, and of course Dave).

All those links, and I've barely mentioned a quarter of the issue.  Seriously, it's going to be that good.  Here are links to the rest of the stories:

Issue Twenty-One (June 15, 2008): Paper Mouse by Bob Arter «» The Folk Singer Dreams of Time Machines by Matt Bell «» The Bone Orchard by Randall Brown «» Disease Relics by Blake Butler «» We Decided to Make Porn by Brian Allen Carr «» The Baby Drop-Off by Natascia Casey-Dean «» The Cougar by Dave Clapper «» Anointed by Myfanwy Collins «» Sister Earth by John Colvin «» Soap by Katrina Denza «» The Interpretation of Light by Murray Dunlap «» The Hole by Ashley Farmer «» Repair Man by Kathy Fish «» In the Kitchen She Wakes by Stefanie Freele «» American Gothic by Scott Garson «» Lobster Girl by Alicia Gifford «» Pen and Notebook by Natalie Goldberg «» Memento Mori by Rosanne Griffeth «» BiC by Steven Gullion «» Parting by Evelyn Hampton «» Tuesday by Lindsay Hunter «» Waiting on Lombard Street by W.P. Kinsella «» Johnny by Nance Knauer «» Like Swimming by Jeff Landon «» Feeling Sad by Darby Larson «» Alone With Cooper by Ellen Meister «» The Angel's Visitation by Corey Mesler «» South Dakota by Mary Miller «» California Fruit by Meg Pokrass «» Home Made by Bruce Holland Rogers «» Handful of Dirt by Jim Ruland «» Steam City Girl by Paul Silverman «» Sugar by Claudia Smith «» The 13th Toast by Amy Sparks «» Gathering by Kelly Spitzer «» Tiny Shadows by Maryanne Stahl «» Double-Exposure by Thomas White «» Epistemology by Joseph Young «» Why This Isn't a Good Story to Tell by Shellie Zacharia «» Liquid by Michelle Zellers «» Real Estate by Bonnie ZoBell «» Interviews: Bob Arter «» Matt Bell «» Randall Brown «» Blake Butler «» Brian Allen Carr «» Natascia Casey-Dean «» Dave Clapper «» Myfanwy Collins «» John Colvin «» Katrina Denza «» Murray Dunlap «» Ashley Farmer «» Kathy Fish «» Stefanie Freele «» Scott Garson «» Alicia Gifford «» Rosanne Griffeth «» Steven Gullion «» Evelyn Hampton «» Lindsay Hunter «» Nance Knauer «» Jeff Landon «» Darby Larson «» Ellen Meister «» Corey Mesler «» Mary Miller «» Meg Pokrass «» Bruce Holland Rogers «» Jim Ruland «» Paul Silverman «» Claudia Smith «» Amy Sparks «» Kelly Spitzer «» Maryanne Stahl «» Thomas White «» Joseph Young «» Shellie Zacharia «» Michelle Zellers «» Bonnie ZoBell «» Cover Art "Five Years of SmokeLong" compiled from art by Marty D. Ison, Robert Dornberg, Malina, and Rebecca Gullickson «» Letter From the Editor

Can you tell I'm excited?  This is a major, major issue, folks.  Spread the word.