Today we all get to imagine ourselves as only a few months away from being the fit, smart, well-mannered and successful people we always wanted to be. Since it’s nice to dream, here are my goals for 2013:

1. Read a book a week. More than that, read more than contemporary literary fiction. Throw in some classics, genre fiction, young adult, and poetry.

2. Write a page a day. This is a modest goal, but if carried out will net at least 356 pages of new work by the end of the year.

3. Finish the novel I began during my second failed attempt to complete National Novel Writing Month by June 1st.

4. Write more flash fiction. It will help balance out the long runs of the novel.

5. Read online journals when I have down time. There’s great work out there.

6. Subscribe to at least three new literary journals

7. Be less self-destructive in general.

The December selection for The Nervous Breakdown book club is The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets by Diana Wagman. It’s wonderful. You should read it now.

In honor of the first snow of the year, here are ten famous authors playing in the snow from Flavorwire.

The Ink Tank Reading Series is set to reboot this coming Tuesday (September 27th) at 1215 Wine and Coffee on Vine Street. The first event of the series is set to begin at 8:00 and will feature author Ian Stansel. You can read about it in City Beat by following this link.

Hope to see you there!

JOHN DIES AT THE END by David Wong

Solving the following riddle will reveal the awful secret behind the universe, assuming you do not go utterly mad in the attempt. If you already happen to know the awful secret behind the universe, feel free to skip ahead. -prologue

ZOMBIE: A Novel by J.R. Angelella

The earliest memory I have of Dad is: disappearing.
The details don’t matter much now. It’s more of a grainy, amateur film reel in my mind-the kind taken of some possible monster running through the darkness or a dinosaur descending down into choppy, black water. But still it’s mine.– prologue

THE ORANGE EATS CREEPS by Grace Krilanovich

The sun is setting. The hobo vampires are waking up, their quest for crank and blood is just beginning. Over the course of the frigid night they will roam the area surrounding the train stop looking for warm bodies to suck, for cough syrup to fuel a night of debauched sexual encounters with fellow vampires and mortals alike. -from page one

My flash fiction piece, “The Baddest Man in Three Counties” is now available in the fall issue of Fiction Southeast.

This Saturday I’m stoked to welcome Don Peteroy’s novella Wally into the world. Don will be reading along with myself, Joseph Bates, Nicola Mason, and Ryan Rivas at Baba Budan’s in Clifton. There will also be live music, so if you can make it down you should. It’s going to be an awesome night of fiction and music.