Shadow Selves (Conjunctions)

The mirror is human kind's most duplicitous invention. When we look into it do we see ourselves or an other? If we see an other, is that other a lie or some complex extension of a truth we don't quite grasp? And when we set down the mirror and imagine ourselves to be one or the other or some combination of both, who have we become? In this special issue of Conjunctions, the very idea of self is tackled in fiction and poetry that investigates everything from innocent misperception to studied deception, delusion to fraud, crazed misdemeanors to premeditated crime.

Shadow Selves offers a spectrum of permutations on these themes, with acclaimed and upcoming writers such as Elizabeth Hand, J.W. McCormack, Jonathan Carroll, Eleni Sikelianos, Frederic Tuten, Michael Sheehan, Joyce Carol Oates, Paul West, Laura van den Berg, Arthur Sze, Susan Steinberg, Jason Labbe, Jess Row, Rae Armantrout, Melinda Moustakis and Rick Moody.

Conjunctions is edited by Bradford Morrow. The editorial approach is often collaborative, the distinguished staff of active contributing editors includes Walter Abish, Chinua Achebe, John Ashbery, Mei-mei Berssenbrugge, Mary Caponegro, William H. Gass, Peter Gizzi, Robert Kelly, Ann Lauterbach, Norman Manea, Rick Moody, Joanna Scott, Peter Straub, and John Edgar Wideman.

About Conjunctions
Bard College's literary journal Conjunctions publishes innovative fiction, poetry, criticism, drama, art and interviews by both emerging and established writers. For nearly three decades, Conjunctions' contribution to the literary community has been to provide a forum for over 1000 writers and artists whose work challenges accepted forms and modes of expression, experiments with language and thought, and is fully realized art.

Conjunctions 54: Shadow Selves
Paperback, 364 pages
release: June 30
ISBN: 978-0941964708

Sublimation Angels - Jason Sanford (Interzone)

Jason Sanford's novella Sublimation Angels is a hard science fiction story set on the planet whose atmosphere has frozen, leaving humanity to continually mine the frozen air to survive. Into this comes Chicka, a young man struggling with the death of his identical twin and his twin's quest to understand their world--a quest which goes against the rigid nature of their survival-minded society.

The novella was first published in issue 224 (Sept./Oct. 2009) of Interzone. In addition to winning the 2009 Interzone Readers' Poll, Sublimation Angels is also a finalist for the 2009 Nebula Award and has been longlisted for the British Fantasy Award.

Jason Sanford's fiction has been published in Year's Best SF 14, Interzone, Analog: Science Fiction and Fact, Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show, Tales of the Unanticipated, The Mississippi Review, Diagram, Pindeldyboz, and other places. His stories have received a number of awards and honors, including being a finalist for the 2009 Nebula Award for Best Novella, winning both the 2008 and 2009 Interzone Readers' Polls, receiving a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship, being nominated for the BSFA Award, and being longlisted for the British Fantasy Award. His fiction has also been reprinted in several languages, including French, Russian, and Czech.

About Interzone
Interzone is Britain's longest running science fiction and fantasy magazine. It is edited by Andy Cox. Since 1982, Interzone has launched the careers of a great many SF and Fantasy writers. Interzone often is shortlisted for many awards, and has won the Hugo and British Fantasy Awards. It belongs to TTA Press, and is currently published bimonthly, in alternate months to Black Static.

Jason Sanford: Sublimation Angels
novella
32 pages
the complete novella is available on Jason Sanford's website in a PDF format.
direct dowload link: Sublimation Angels by Jason Sanford - pdf-file
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The HiStory of Santa Monica - Michael J. Atwood (Aqueous)

Michael J. Atwood's debut collection is thematically linked by both the characters—who are struggling to realize their Hollywood dreams and the setting—Santa Monica, California. A seemingly peaceful seaside city, Santa Monica is also a purgatory where the characters must face failure and loss—as well as their demons and ghosts. Family and ritual are consistent motifs throughout the collection, as are the themes of escape, addiction, redemption, reparation, religion, and death. Whether it is a young couple looking to buy their first home or a man returning to his hometown for a funeral or a baptism, readers will find the everyday rituals in these stories identifiable in many ways.

Michael J. Atwood is a fiction writer and weekly opinion columnist for the North Attleborough Free Press. His work has appeared in a number of literary magazines and online journals.

About Aqueous Books
Aqueous Books is the print arm of Prick of the Spindle, an online literary quarterly journal also available as a Kindle magazine. Staff include Prick of the Spindle Editor-in-Chief Cynthia Reeser as Publisher, and Prick of the Spindle Managing Editor Erin McKnight as Editor. Upcoming books include novels and novellas published serially on Prick of the Spindle, as well as works of literary merit, memoirs, magical realism, and speculative fiction. Look for forthcoming publications by Heather Fowler, Alec Bryan, Mel Bosworth, and others.

The HiStory of Santa Monica
short-story collection, thematically linked
190 pages, paperback, $14
ISBN: 978-0-9826734-0-9
pre-order now at Aqueous Books / Store, and safe shipping costs.

Predicate - volume one (Brown Paper)

Predicate is a bi-annual journal of literary dialogue from Brown Paper Publishing. Each edition features dialogues from a variety of independent novelists, poets, and authors of short-fiction. These authors participate in a three-tiered dialogue process with novelist and Brown Paper Publishing founder Pablo D’Stair. The dialogues are set through a particular filter selected by D’Stair, but the subject, direction, nuance, and conclusion of each dialogue is dictated by the artists. These dialogues are not offered as simply introductory Q & A sessions, nor as advertisements for any particular volumes—these rather are Portraits of the Artist: their individual drives, their thoughts on influences and contemporaries, and their in-depth feelings as to every minutia and nuance of the question "What Is Literature?"
Predicate is meant to position independent literature where it rightfully should be—at the forefront of earnest, imperatively considered literary discourse. Every edition of Predicate is sold as inexpensively as possible and is made available as a free PDF download on the site.

The first edition features dialogues with authors Mel Bosworth (When The Cats Razzed The Chickens), Darrell Epp (Imaginary Maps), Michael Paul Gonzalez (Angel Falls—currently in the semi-finals of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award), Natalija Grgorinic and Ognjen Raden (Mr. And Mrs. Hide), Caleb J Ross (Charactered Pieces), and xTx (I Dreamed I Fucked Stephen King While We Were Both On Vacation In The Cayman Islands With Our Spouses).

Pablo D’Stair’s own works (Kaspar Traulhaine; approximate; i poisoned you; bleed the ghost empty, bleed the ghost dead (forthcoming in June 2010) and witness nothing (forthcoming in September 2010) are distributed through Brown Paper Publishing in print editions absolutely free of charge in exchange for active reader feedback—positive, negative, or ambivalent. In the event readers do not wish to offer feedback, a purchase at cost option exists and the novels sell for either $3 or $3.50.

About Brown Paper Publishing
An independent literary press representing the works of novelists and writers of short fiction, Brown Paper Publishing is dedicated to presenting contemporary works of progressive literature. As a not-for-profit press, to Brown Paper Publishing literature is something that must be a direct expression of an individual concerned only with the craft and nuance of the art form, something created entirely outside of the demands of a marketplace–ideally, it is something created without regard for publication, distribution, critique or even readership: Literature-for-the-sake-of-Literature.

Predicate - volume one
dialogues on literature
350 pages, trade paperback, $6.50
also available as free download
ISBN 978-1-43829-199-4

ETA - Delphine Pontvieux (Miss Nyet)

Delphine Pontvieux's ETA - Estimated Time of Arrest explores the ever current theme of terrorism, but with an original twist, since it is set in the heart of the Basque country, a region trapped between France and Spain, and struggling for its independence for many decades.
After participating in a pro-separatist march that turned violent in January of 1992, 21-year-old Lorenzo Lartaun Izcoa is wrongly charged with the fatal bombing of a police station in his home town. Irun is located right on the border between France and Spain, on the Atlantic Ocean. Lartaun finds himself on the Spanish Secret Service's "most wanted" list, branded an active member of the Basque terrorist group ETA.
He flees to Mexico where he lives in exile for two years, before being offered a chance to return to Europe with a new identity, in exchange for a favor for his boyhood friend. That favor, however, will prove to be more than he can handle once he finds out that Patxi is planning for a big event to shake Spanish politics.
What sets this thriller apart from many others is the in-depth view of the characters and the friendships that serve to advance the story. And while the characters and events depicted are entirely fictional, references to real life political culture and geographic locales make this story credible, giving the reader a chance to learn about the Basques and their homeland.

Delphine Pontvieux was born in Versailles and grew up in France. She graduated from the University of Burgundy in Dijon. She also lived, studied and worked in Australia, the USA, Spain and the Netherlands until she moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1998, where she still lives today. Delphine loves the mountains and the seas. She is a scuba instructor, cave and technical diver, and ocean conservation advocate. As a writer, she regularly contributes to international diving publications.

About Miss Nyet
Miss Nyet Publishing is an independent venue dedicated to finding talented and creative writers with a unique voice in a wide array of fiction genres, with a preference for thrillers, suspense, romance and horror. An interview was recently up in the Small Press Review: Small Press Profile - Miss Nyet Publishing.

Delphine Pontvieux: ETA
344-page hardcover
US$ 18,95
ISBN 978-09842176-0-1

Bone Worship - Elizabeth Eslami (Pegasus)

The debut novel from author Elizabeth Eslami, Bone Worship, explores the perilous intersection of familial and cultural mysteries, balancing the pull of tradition, the promise of the future, and all the possibilities in between.
Eslami tackles what it means to be a mixed race woman bearing the weight of romantic and familial expectations, from the rural American South to metropolitan Iran. American born Jasmine Fahroodhi struggles to connect with her Iranian father while also trying to find herself, all with the possibility of an arranged marriage looming in the background. Bone Worship is a bracing take on a cultural coming-of-age story, and Eslami’s voice, at once witty and poignant, is unforgettable.

Born in South Carolina in 1978, Elizabeth Eslami holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA in creative writing from Warren Wilson College. She has published short fiction and non-fiction in over a dozen magazines, including G.W. Review, Minnesota Review, Crab Orchard Review, and Matador, among others. Her debut novel, Bone Worship, received rave reviews in Library Journal and Booklist, and Eslami has been called “one of the freshest new voices in literature.” She lives in Eugene, Oregon.

About Pegasus Books
Pegasus Books, home of editor-in-chief Claiborne Hancock, editor Jessica L. Case, and art director Michael Fusco is “dedicated to the aim of independent publishing that stimulates the intellect and the imagination.” Their interests include history, philosophy, memoir, biography, literary fiction, and noir thriller. Pegasus believes that “good literature is essential to the health of our cultural life” and works to engender “vital dialogue” between its authors and readers.

Elizabeth Eslami: Bone Worship
novel
368 pages, paperback, $15.95
ISBN: 978-1-60598-074-4

Thaw - Fiona Robyn (Snowbooks)

Ruth is thirty two years old and doesn't know if she wants to be thirty three. Her meticulously-ordered lonely life as a microbiologist is starved of pleasure and devoid of meaning. She decides to give herself three months to decide whether or not to end her life, and we read her daily diary as she struggles to make sense of her past and grapples with the pain of the present. Thaw explores what makes any of our lives worth living. Can Red, the eccentric Russian artist Ruth commissions to paint her portrait, find a way to warm her frozen heart?

A page of Ruth's diary will be posted every day for the next three months in the Thaw blog, here the starting post: Welcome.

Fiona Robyn is an author and a blogger living in rural Hampshire in the UK with her cats Fatty and Silver. Thaw is her third novel.

About Snowbooks
Snowbooks is a feisty, award-winning independent book publisher, founded by Emma Barnes and Rob Jones, and later joined by Anna Torborg and James Bridle. They've been going since 2004 when their first books were launched. Since then they have sold hundreds of thousands of books, been nominated for and won lots of prizes, and have generally had a blast. Their authors include Thomas Emson and Sarah Bower, and they publish across genres.

Fiona Robyn: Thaw
novel, 2009
350 pages, paperback
ISBN: 9781906727093

Unheralded Artists of BC #2 (Mother Tongue)

The Unheralded Artists of BC is a beautiful, lively and well-written series dedicated to introducing many forgotten 20th-century Canadian British Columbia artists to the people while recognizing their artistic significance.

Filled with rare art reproductions and artists’ personal photographs, this 2nd book in the series - Life & Art of Frank Molnar, Jack Hardman & LeRoy Jensen - introduces the talent of three BC artist-mentors who worked and exhibited from the 1950s on in Vancouver, Burnaby, Victoria and Salt Spring Island, yet are known only to a few. Their common bond was their choice not to embrace, chameleon-like, the various artistic trends of the era, but to work passionately towards perfecting their own ‘timeless and individuated styles’. This book honours their important contribution to the BC art scene and tells the untold stories.

About Mother Tongue Publishing
Formerly Mother Tongue Press, Mother Tongue Publishing concentrates on publishing unique, bold and stimulating books of British Columbia art history, fine art and literature. Recent publications include Rocksalt: An Anthology of Contemporary B.C. Poetry, edited by Mona Fertig & Harold Rhenisch, and 4 Poets - this new BC poets series features emerging and established BC poets in a fresh format that explores the broader scope of the poet’s work. The first issue included poets Elza, Morin, Rempel & Yawnghwe.

The Life & Art of Frank Molnar, Jack Hardman & LeRoy Jensen
144 pages CDN $34.95
Trade paperback with French flaps
95 colour and b&w plates

Cure All - Kim Parko (Caketrain)

Kim Parko’s Cure All is the first-ever out-of-competition manuscript selected for publication at Caketrain. In this collection of linked vignettes, the preoccupations that have driven Parko’s years of written invention—crises of identity, parallelisms, anthropomorphism, transformative horror, epistles, flights of poesy, philosophical interrogations, psychic penetralia—crystallize to form her finest effort to date. Shot through with mysterious reflexivity and haunted harbingers, the pieces of Cure All at once stand ably alone and reflect the whole of the larger narrative arc—a feat accomplished through the distinctive quality of Parko’s imaginative lens. Says poet Amy Gerstler: “Animated by hyperacuity of consciousness, Cure All balances on that fulcrum between smoldering control and pregnant invention, scientific observation and an exacting madness.”

Kim Parko lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico with her husband and dog. She teaches at the Institute of American Indian Arts. She is the author of the chapbook The Rest of the World Seems Unlikely (Achilles Chapbook Series, 2009). This is her first book.

About Caketrain
Amanda Raczkowski and Joseph Reed are the editors of Caketrain Journal and Press, a literary imprint co-founded in 2003 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Caketrain's primary efforts consist of an annual journal which, in its seven issues to date, has featured the fiction, poetry and nonfiction of over 200 new and established talents; and a press series that includes chapbooks from Lizzie Skurnick, Tina May Hall, Tom Whalen, Matt Bell, Kim Parko and Claire Hero. Caketrain's other ongoing projects include the free, digital reissue of back-catalog titles and an annual chapbook competition. In May 2010, Caketrain's press arm will issue its two new poetry chapbooks: Ben Mirov's Ghost Machine and Lucas Farrell's Bird Any Damn Kind.

Kim Parko: Cure All
a collection of linked fictions, 2010
122 pages, paperback