Wednesday, February 7, 2024

TMMIB Kirkus Review

 "Zablah fills his stories with striking metaphors...loads his concise prose with indelible passages...enthralling, well-written tales of life and love."  ---- Kirkus Reviews


CLICK HERE



Tuesday, September 26, 2023

This Modern Man is Beat --Nov. 1st Publication Date

 



                        Pre-Orders start Oct. 15 and Publication is Nov. 1st

                  Click here >>>>>>> SIMI PRESS WEBSITE

Thursday, June 29, 2023

THIS MODERN MAN IS BEAT TO BE PUBLISHED BY SIMI PRESS FALL 2023



                              


 LATE FALL 2023 TO BE PUBLISHED BY SIMI PRESS

(mock-up poster cover)

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Proust Questionnaire: DuVay Knox






DuVay Knox is forging his own path, yet at the same time, paying tribute to the great black pulp writers of the past like Iceberg Slim and Donald Goines.

When a writer finds their voice, authentic and not forced by any trends, or engineered by creative writing workshop professors and their agents, their prose will tend to glow like a briefcase full of gold amongst the manufactured voices trying so hard to sound like a Wallace or a an Updike or a Franzen.

His novel, The Pussy Detective (CLASH BOOKS, 2022) is for the reader that has no hang ups, and is of the mind to devour storytelling that doesn't apologize or pull punches and will make you laugh out loud as it descrambles your brain from today's newspeak invading our daily lives.


1--What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Fucking and Traveling. Or Fucking Traveling.


2--What is your greatest fear?

The coming invasion of Gay Zombies.


3--What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

Impatience.


4--What is the trait you most deplore in others?

Bullyism.


5--Which living person do you most admire?

TABITHA BLAIR


6--What is your greatest extravagance?

Black n Mild Cigarillos.


7--What is your current state of mind?
Godlike

Im in the zone with my writing these days.


8--What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

Kindness.


9--On what occasion do you lie?

Talkin to Bitches.


10--What do you most dislike about your appearance?

Im not a 7 Footer like I shooda been.


11--Which living person do you most despise?

Any Black Intellectual.


12--What is the quality you most like in a man?

Ion like men like that.


13--What is the quality you most like in a woman?

My SEMEN. Because its very high quality.


14--Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

I say NO way more than YES to shit.


15--What or who is the greatest love of your life?

TABITHA BLAIR/Co-Owner of Black Pulp Fiction.


16--When and where were you happiest?

My Daddy's Nuts.


17--Which talent would you most like to have?

Majickal Powers.


18--If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Ability to Draw.


19--What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Being Born a Real Nigga.


20--If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

A Real Nigga.


21--Where would you most like to live?

Niggadom.


22--What is your most treasured possession?
My collection of panties from every woman I have fucked over the years.


23--What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

DEATH.


24--What is your favorite occupation?

Writing Erotic Occult Folklore n Being a Bard of the Oral Griot Tradition.


25--What is your most marked characteristic?

My Intuition is highly developed.


26--What do you most value in your friends?

Loyalty.


27--Who are your favorite writers? 

Robert DeCoy/Iceberg Slim/Nathan Heard/Donald Goines/Gayl Jones/Zora Neale Hurston/Gloria Naylor/Jade Sharma/Clarence Cooper Jr/Tabitha Blair/Leroi Jones/Dante Alighieri/Francis Bacon/Giacoma Casanova/Niccolo Machiavelli/Baltasar Gracian/Eldridge Cleaver/George Jackson/Jamaica Kincaid/Paul Laurence Dunbar


28--Who is your hero of fiction?

Stagolee/John Henry/Shine


29--Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Nat Turner


30--Who are your heroes in real life?

Well-since mah Daddy up n Died--Any Nigga dat takes on Whitey and The System.


31--What are your favorite names?

Old School ones, for example: BERTHA for wommin .... or LEROY for men.


32--What is it that you most dislike?

Cumming too kwik.


33--What is your greatest regret?

I shoulda been a Contender (boxing).


34--How would you like to die?

In sum Pussy.


35--What is your motto?

The Worlds Smartest/Rude/Raw & Unadulterated Nigga.

Tuesday, October 25, 2022

Proust Questionnaire: Gwen Hilton





Last week it was Jon Berger and now Gwen Hilton. So happy to see these new young writers develop in real time. Writers I can proudly call my friends. There is no cynicism, no careerism, no sign of unscrupulous ambition but only a love for books, good friendships and literature.

I first met Gwen Hilton when she reached out to me via twitter over a year ago after reading my contribution to Expat 4. At that time, or at that specific moment in time, I was a little bummed out about my own writing. Every writer goes through it. You feel like you're writing into the void and the world could care less. 

There are many reasons why that type of thinking is wrong, but the biggest reason is that the physical act of writing itself, even without publishing or having anyone read it, is still a otherworldly act like shedding past versions of yourself; a reconstruction of memory if you will, and if done right, a confession to the universe; a universe that is inside you. It's also actively talking yourself into existence. Yes it is. And you are the audience, and that's all you need. (ask PESSOA) Everything else is just the cherry on top. 

The note Gwen sent me was just what the doctor ordered and it snapped me out of it: All she said was that she really enjoyed my story and thanked me for writing it. So we became friends, and I sent her my novel for free. I offered her Ciao! Miami for free too, but she said she'd rather buy it. This is exactly how so many beautiful Twitter friendships begin. 

And now, I'm happy to say that my friend Gwen has spoken herself into existence. She's the type of writer that I admire because she has fun with it. That's it. As you read her words, you realize she's on Cloud 9 tapping away on that magical "typewriter" because it's a direct transfer of joy from the author on the page to the reader at home, or in the park, or sitting in their car. That's the only real goal all writers should have: to transfer the joy. (I may be sounding like a hippie right now, but hippies are saints! Let's go back to being hippies.)
-FZ-

_1.__What is your idea of perfect happiness?




I’d never have to work for money again. If I ever made enough to only do what I wanted I could live judiciously. I’d commit my time to a variety of art practices, bowling, walking, giving back to my community, and spending time with my partner.




__2.__What is your greatest fear?




I don’t want to lose the love I have. I live as if this is my only attempt at life. I would like to keep the relationships I have. Love is all you want at the end.




__3.__What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?




General hubris. I am vain and proud and frequently spiteful. Nothing gets me working harder than a fuck you I won’t say. I spent my youth wanting to take over the world, worked for a man who lived by the motto “global domination is just around the corner”, and despite all the sea changes in my being I don’t only want to be the best. I want to be everything.




__4.__What is the trait you most deplore in others?




Cowardice. Cowards make everyone else in their life do heavy lifting for them. I was a coward and I get why people didn’t like me at that point. I had no reason to be a coward other than my own self-loathing and manufactured distance from others.




__5.__Which living person do you most admire?




It’s a corny answer, but my mother. She has thrived through things I’d never survive.




__6.__What is your greatest extravagance?




I have an extensive physical media collection. I like to collect art. I consider my relationship to plastic often. I like to spend and I like to be spent on. I’m a material girl in a material world.




__7.__What is your current state of mind?




Peaceful. I’m on a sort-of sabbatical that has been more than productive. I have had once-in-a-lifetime opportunities and after a decade of deep existential dread I have completed goals I can die happy with. My life for the past few years, and realistically in its entirety is richer than that of most royalty. I’m fortunate to say that under 30.




__8.__What do you consider the most overrated virtue?




Modesty. You can honestly assess yourself while still being confident and even proud. There’s no need for modesty if you understand the value of humility. This is mincing, but there’s a difference.




__9.__On what occasion do you lie?




I love to lie about what movies I’ve seen. Have my whole life. Some lies I’ve maintained because it’s better than seeing the movies. When I miss the boat on something everyone loved I get to have my own private relationship with the film this way. I only recently watched the Lord of the Rings series after lying about having seen it most of my life. It was fine.




__10.__What do you most dislike about your appearance?




I’d like new tits. Tits so nice no one ever looks at my face again. Patron if you’re reading this. I know I’ll have good hair in a few years. I do believe I’m incredibly beautiful. Now that I’m a “smart writer” I can be ugly hot. Still, I want new tits.




__11.__Which living person do you most despise?




I’m trying to give up on hate because it really is corrosive and slows you down. It’s like feeling the after effects of adrenaline while feeling the adrenaline. With that said I can’t name them. Thinking long term.




__12.__What is the quality you most like in a man?




I like a man who is direct. I think a man that is direct (hopefully) comes with a bouquet of admirable qualities. The direct men in my life know what they want or know how to start on that path. They communicate effectively. They are considerate of the people around them. I shoot straight and I’ve met a lot of men who can’t. Women have to shoot straight unless they’ve had supremely cozy lives.




__13.__What is the quality you most like in a woman?




I like confident women. Walking tall is hard.




__14.__Which words or phrases do you most overuse?




Dude, hell yeah, swag, nice, swagula, rad, radical, like, best, oh jeez, ope, fuck, shit, well




__15.__What or who is the greatest love of your life?




My partner Emma is the greatest love of my life. I have been in and out of love before I met her. This is the most open attempt I’ve made and I don’t want to lose it. We met before the pandemic and have had more time than most couples have in the first years to grow strong and close. She is exactly the person I’ve wanted to marry since I was maybe 12. And 15, and 18, and 21, and 22 when we met. It’s been incredible to grow and learn with her. I don’t think I’m the lifelong ideal for her and that’s okay. That’s a unique joy I get to experience. She is a pillar of the art community and when we met she was working mostly in a rental store. It’s a disgusting trope of slovenly losers to want to date the rental store/used art/media store employee, but I was that person before shit like Scott Pilgrim existed.




__16.__When and where were you happiest?




Right now. I had a very short list of goals before I die that must be completed and it took me only 18 months. Even dream goals were achieved early. At this point, there are only a few people I’d like to do readings with that are alive. I’d like to see my book as a signifier of something in a meme and in the first or second image of an in-the-know date on Tinder. Otherwise, I’ve had a better life than I ever thought I would. I need much bigger goals.




__17.__Which talent would you most like to have?




I’d like to be the world’s best bowler or have the ability to play multiple instruments very well. Like improv jazz good. Both take practice I could put in now. That’s attainable. It’s just about time.




__18.__If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?




I’d get rid of my asthma.




__19.__What do you consider your greatest achievement?




I think my book is my greatest achievement at this time. Everything else is too soon to tell. I don’t want this to be my final answer in life to this question.




__20.__If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?




I’d like to be me again. There’s always work to do.




__21.__Where would you most like to live?




I’d like a house in Moab. If I could keep my place in Chicago and have a house in Moab I’d be the happiest person on Earth.




__22.__What is your most treasured possession?




I have a Blockbuster gift card that says movie star with a blurry mirror on it. I’ve had that gift card all my life. I used to look at myself in it and imagine a future bigger than anyone had ever seen. I have a lot of nice things and it would be sad to list something based on asset value. This object is worth nothing, but I’d probably cry if I lost it or threw it out.




__23.__What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?




True loneliness. There’s nothing wrong with being alone, but if you’ve shut everyone else out absolute loneliness can kill.




__24.__What is your favorite occupation?




If I could make a living wage with good benefits as a niche store clerk I would. Having a real job while still interacting with people would be nice. If I taught meditation courses that’d be a sweet gig. Paid to be chill and present. Life couldn’t get any better. I guess that’s actually attainable for me, but not everyone is into the hair-on-fire type of presence to the moment like I am.




__25.__What is your most marked characteristic?




My loudness. It is well known that you know when Gwen Hilton is coming. I have a laugh that resonates for blocks. I have heard all my life that I do not have an indoor voice.




__26.__What do you most value in your friends?




Openness. You can tell when it clicks and sometimes it happens immediately. I think at the base that begins with openness. Trust and loyalty are commitments and those are only founded in openness.




__27.__Who are your favorite writers?




Charles Willeford
, Sam Pink, Dennis Cooper, Herman Melville, and Cormac McCarthy are the big five. Calvin Westra, Big Bruiser Dope Boy, Manuel Marrero, Fawzy Zablah, Kyle R. Siebel, Jillian Luft, Jackie Ess, DuVay Knox, and Jesse Hilson are the writers working today that I try to read everything they write. I am still a young reader. I’ve read less than 500 books. I hope I do not look back and feel like I left names off.




__28.__Who is your hero of fiction?




I started wearing almost exclusively jumpsuits because of Hoke Moseley. I cooled off because of him too. He’s about as real to me as any person. Hero isn’t the right phrase, but I started living differently after reading the Hoke Moseley series.




__29.__Which historical figure do you most identify with?




Jesus Christ. I’d put myself on the shortlist as a potential second coming of Christ. Caligula, maybe.




__30.__Who are your heroes in real life?




Michael Maniacci, my mentor is my hero. He is the smartest man I’ve ever met and also has the most open heart. A rare combination. When I spend time with him I feel like I’m getting closer to everything.




__31.__What are your favorite names?




Gwen, Emma, Hoss, Fritz, Bladee, Paris, Manny, Carlos, Kaitlyn, Paul, Slade, and Kim.




__32.__What is it that you most dislike?




People who think wealth is equivalent to culture or knowledge.




__33.__What is your greatest regret?




How I have handled my interpersonal life at times.




__34.__How would you like to die?




I’d like to die having sex.




__35.__What is your motto?




Shoot your shot.





Wednesday, October 12, 2022

Proust Questionnaire: Jon Berger the Goon Dog


Jon Berger's debut short story collection, Goon Dog, was just released by Gob Pile Press. I'm about finished with it, and a review will be forthcoming shortly on this here blog. Jon has that Kerouac talent of peppering just the right amount of love for his characters, which reveals itself in every story. You know that love, the one you have for your imperfect friends and all the wonderfully wrecked follies of your youth. His stories are squeezable, and are universal in the sense that they remind you of your own childhood friends that turned into good stories to tell, those beautiful, damaged souls that help build every bit of character you have once you reach adulthood. It's the best kind of American nostalgia.

1. What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Someplace far away with an ocean and a waterfall and big trees and cliffs and nobody can tell me what to do.


2. What is your greatest fear?

Being taken advantage of


3. What is the trait you most deplore in yourself?

anger


4. What is the trait you most deplore in others?

hypocrisy


5. Which living person do you most admire?

Keanu Reeves


6. What is your greatest extravagance?

Mountain bike


7. What is your current state of mind?

head cold but comfortable and content. The Lions are losing.


8. What do you consider the most overrated virtue?

+ 10 charisma


9. On what occasion do you lie?

job interviews


10. What do you most dislike about your appearance?

I don’t have wings


11. Which living person do you most despise?

Anyone who is a politician


12. What is the quality you most like in a man?

acceptance


13. What is the quality you most like in a woman?

acceptance


14. Which words or phrases do you most overuse?

dude.

my ears are ringing.

I can’t beat the god damn fucking fire giant in Elden Ring.


15. What or who is the greatest love of your life?

my dead dog

16. When and where were you happiest?

Late teens – early twenties. Hometown, prowling the streets and backroads.


17. Which talent would you most like to have?

music


18. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

Learning disability in math


19. What do you consider your greatest achievement?

Goon Dog


20. If you were to die and come back as a person or a thing, what would it be?

Golden Eagle



21. Where would you most like to live?

Somewhere secluded on the coast of the Keweenaw peninsula



22. What is your most treasured possession?

Vegeta statue that I’ll never disclose the price of


23. What do you regard as the lowest depth of misery?

envy

24. What is your favorite occupation?

jumping over cars or running through wood paneled walls in basements or mosh pits


25. What is your most marked characteristic?

physical strength


26. What do you most value in your friends?

super powers and big hugs and sharp claws. Ride or die mentality


27. Who are your favorite writers?

Jim Harrison, Murakami, Bud Smith, Scott McClanahan, Larry Brown, Steve Anwyll, Sam Pink, Jon Lindsay, Donald Ray Pollock, Oscar Wilde, Kafka, Ottessa


28. Who is your hero of fiction?

The Pinconning Orange Juice Guy


29. Which historical figure do you most identify with?

Lucian of Samosata


30. Who are your heroes in real life?

Giles Corey. Anything that faces adversity.


31. What are your favorite names?

Spike

Jet


32. What is it that you most dislike?

Lawyers on a day with high humidity


33. What is your greatest regret?

not pursuing writing or art earlier due to the fear of what other people in my hometown or family might think or say.


34. How would you like to die?

feeling lucky


35. What is your motto?

I think you should kick my ass