Summer has stretched onward and here I am at the end of it, plucking dissertation words out of the air one by one and trying to stick them in a sensible order. Other, prettier words, too, when I can, and let’s all hope somebody likes them well enough to publish them somewhere. Between research and writing and the beach at Lake Nokomis, this summer’s been all music montage.

But now I’ve got a couple things looming on the horizon, including:

As you might guess from this lovely poster, I will be reading as part of the Midwestern Gothic family at Magers & Quinn bookstore in Uptown on September 9th! I was considering reading from a story that’s soon to be published, but that’s vaguely set in kinda-sorta New York, or at least some big city with a subway and a river and hallucinated zombies. So, maybe inappropriate for a Midwestern-realism-themed night. If this all inspires some intense and thrilling suspense, or even just mild interest, there are two actions you could take:

First, obviously, for the geographically proximate: You could come watch! You could bring all your friends! You could even let us know you’re coming on Facebook.

If you adore all things Midwestern, at least until dreamy-eyed Brooklyn socialites collect them on Pinterest and call it a best-selling lifestyle guide, you could get an issue or subscription of Midwestern Gothic!

Or if it’s just this weird New-Yorkish-set story by a Minnesotan that you want, crazy-glue your credit cards to your little fingers because soon…

… this collection of horror stories will be coming from editor Marty Young and publisher Cohesion Press, sometime in September, or so I’m told. It’s going to be awesome and it’s going to include yours truly.

I count sixteen days left until classes start. I’m finishing a dissertation chapter and then going camping. Hope the remainder of your summers are equally productive and lovely, and not too tormented with mosquitos.