Hosho McCreesh's Blog, page 12

Well, We All Have Stories...

Some, anyway.

A lonesome mechanic searches the dingy velvet of his small-town strip club for answers and for something that's true…

So, I’ve long thought about publishing a book of short stories — I’ve got about 10 or so I really like — but I’ve not yet made it happen.

I’ve also got a whole jumble of potential story ideas that I haven’t really had the focus to really nail down.

A poor, small town kid debates love, life, and the team basketball shoes…

So, as a way to trick myself into thinking more about both getting that book eventually put together, and as a way to encourage some more serious thinking on the newer ideas — I figured I’d remind myself (and you all) about the ones that already do exist.

Granted, not everyone wants to e-read, but until there IS a printed edition, here’s some links to some of my short fiction.

Free for 48hrs with this code at checkout: TACO2$DAY

Reading for the SMOL FAIR...

The Definition of Empty is the new poetry collection by acclaimed author and New Mexico State Senator Bill O’Neill.

I’ll join us Bill, as well as celebrated poets Laura Cherry (Haunts), Greg Santos (Ghost Face) and Seth Berg (Lost in Bonkerville: Coma Recollections) as we all do out part to KEEP BOOKS DANGEROUS by supporting small press publishers, writers, and artists!

The event is hosted by your friend and mine, Ben Tanzer of HEFT Creative Strategies as part of the virtual juggernaut, SMOL FAIR.

EVENT LINK:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81297944998

or use the handy button below!

THE DEFINITION OF EMPTY READING

SMOL Savings!

As reported, we’re doing some fun stuff during the SMOL FAIR, including some giveaways and even freebies. But for any and all who want to enjoy the benefits of the fair without actually getting to attend, we’re knocking 25% off all orders during the fair! (March 3-7, 2021)

DISCOUNT CODE:

SMOL$AVINGS

Just add that code during checkout here at our STORE and you’re all set.

I’ll be doing a quick poem or two for a reading as part of the festivities too…so keep an eye out for that!

Make the Water Laugh...

Years ago, back in the days of SASEs and analog journals and zines, I became friends with Luis Cuauhtemoc Berriozabal. For 30 years now, he’s been carving out a humble life in Southern California, working in the mental health field, and writing wry, taciturn, whimsical then sad poems. The work is impossible to pin down: often filled with natural imagery, and a whole cast of people, catches of their conversations…in one moment child-like, and the next, hell and madness. The overall effect creates not just a wildly vivid pastiche of verse but a body of work utterly and solely his own.

In a Twitterverse filled with grumbling, Berriozabal simply writes [in Spanish or English], submits, and then just does it all again — never wasting too much time ruminating on the hows and the whys of it all. It’s a massive amount of work he’s done, more so than even most with the fortitude to carry on writing for 3 decades. I’ve known him to be a forever humble and patient man a voracious reader of poetic tradition, and a writer un-devoured by ambition (that alone makes him a unique creator!). It’s been a decade since his last book — so I thought it was high time I asked him a few questions.

“How/where can people get your books, including your latest?”

My latest book, Make the Water Laugh, is available at Amazon. It was published by Rogue Wolf Press in January 2021. All my other books are out of print. I do have a few dozen copies of my first book, Raw Materials, which could be ordered from me through my email ( cuatemochi [at] aol [dot] com ).

The eight chapbooks from Kendra Steiner Editions are all out of print.

“How do you characterize your new book? Is it a themed collection, or more pulling together the last decade’s worth of material... or is it something else?”

This book is not a themed collection but there are many similarities in the work, with the birds of nature and the seasons, the weather, dreams and politics included. Most of the poems are new, from 2018 to 2020, and a few older ones from the last decade. There are over a dozen poems that are unpublished. This book came about after the poet and editor Jack Henry encouraged me to get a book out. In the past 10 years I have kept writing as usual but have not put out a book. There were years I stopped submitting work as much as I used to. I would only submit to a few places that had always been receptive of my words. Many of these poems were written after I made a recovery from colon cancer. It was a scary time for me and my family. This book is something that was always brewing in my mind. It pays homage to Latin American poets from South and North America and the poets from Spain, from the Generation of 27, that I have been reading. There are poems influenced by Poe, Whitman, and the Beats. There are poems influenced from all the poets I have been reading throughout the years, the surrealist and symbolist poets of Europe. There is also poetry that was inspired by my work in the mental health field. These poems are written in simple language. There may be complex themes but there are universal themes like life and death, love and loss, and hope for a better world. Also, I have three works of art in the book, drawings from my work calendar. I have Kevin Martin at Rogue Wolf Press to thank for helping me put this book out. He designed the front and back cover and worked patiently with me in getting this book out.

“What’s the point of poetry in the world today?”

More than ever, poetry is our most important weapon to describe our world, to point out injustice when we see it, and to bring to light the words that are in our hearts and souls. Through poetry we can reach people all over the world and through poetry they can reach us. Poetry should be shared. I know that for my world, I need poetry. It is cathartic. It expels the feelings that I have inside that may be bringing me down. Without poetry the world would be a dark place. Poetry feeds and nourishes the soul. It will live on long after we are gone and the world will be a better place knowing this.

“Who do you believe is a poet that deserves much more acclaim?”

A poet I believe deserves more acclaim is poet Robert Edwards from Washington. His poetry on social issues and for the working class are amongst my favorites. Some of his work is reminiscent of Robinson Jeffers and Thomas McGrath. Radio Venceremos and American Sounds are two of Robert Edwards’ books I enjoyed reading. Edwards edited Pemmican and his poems often appear in Blue Collar Review. The late Luis Omar Salinas is another poet that has been influential in some of my poetry. I was fortunate to meet him twice before he died. Some of his poems that were more surreal where amongst my favorite. His books I recommend is Crazy Gypsy and The Sadness of Days.

“How do you write a poem?”

Poems come to me in different ways. It usually starts with how I am feeling, whether happy or sad, hopeless or mad, and all the other moods and feelings we go through as human beings. Since I was around 18 years of age, I have written at least one poem a day. It can be a three liner or a longer poem. This keeps me in practice and in a way rooted.

Some poems are influenced by simple and ordinary things of life, by nature, birds, and trees. I often read the poetry of international poets from Europe, Asia, the Americas, and poets from all over the world. I am inspired by poets, such as Cortazar, Vallejo, Lorca, and Poe. Sometimes I borrow a word or two from their poems and write a whole other poem that corresponds to my own feelings and thoughts. I pay homage to those that came before me, but in my own style and not imitation.

I have gone through many ways of writing these words over the years, in pencil, in ink, in typewriters, computers, and now more often on my phone. I use the notes function. For someone who did not like phones much, I have learned to rely on it as a tool to write and save my words. I have dozens of notebooks as well, where I have written my words in.

Some poems just come to mind out of the blue, from dreams, from some phrase I heard, and it is as if they are writing themselves.

How do you write a poem? I am still trying to figure that out. Perhaps that’s why I am still writing. It is something I love to do and if it felt like if it is was a job, I would quit.

“As an artform — as compared to film, novels, painting, etc. — where to you think poetry belongs and what does it do differently from other artforms?”

As an art form, poetry I believe is on the same par with novels, painting, and film. Each form requires work, dedication, and the imagination to create something of beauty or meaningful. The difference between poetry and novels, is that it is less time consuming. You get your message across with a minimum of words. Personally, I have not made the time to write a novel. I do not possess the patience at this time to write a novel. Poetry comes easier to me. Painting requires a different kind of skill as does film. These are two art forms I would like to get into one day. With poetry, you can use words to paint a picture. If you are lucky enough, your words will describe in color what is on the page. It can also create landscapes similar to those that appear in film.

I want to thank Luis for finally agreeing to waste a little time ruminating on the hows and the whys of it all, and invite you all to go give his poetic vision a look.

Hurry to Two Dollar Radio HQ!

Autographed copies on the shelves soon…

Eliza and Eric, over at Two Dollar Radio HQ, have been kind enough to take a couple copies of a few books to sell at the ol’ brick & mortar there in Columbus, Ohio. So if you’re in that neck out the woods and were hoping to thumb through something before buying, you’ll soon have exactly that opportunity!

I’ve been a fan of what they do — be it books, or movies, or festivals, or even tasty grub — for a long time now. They do lots of hustling for their writers, and routinely score nationwide press for their books. They’re “no-wasted-bullets” approach to publishing is exactly the kind of uncompromising commitment to a vision that I aspire to, and they raise up big and talented voices having big and important conversations with every project they put out.

Any-who…they’ll soon have a few of my books in their store. They’re willing to stock books by this fly-by-night, one-horse institution because when it comes to their commitment to the independent press, they do more than just talk a big game…they actually put their chips in the middle…and do plenty to “Keep Books Dangerous.”

So if you’re interested — get in touch with them ( 1124 Parsons Ave, Columbus, OH 43206 | 614-725-1505 | TwoDollarRadioHQ--at--gmail ). During the pandemic they are offering private book browsing by appointment.

Tell ‘em Hosh sent you!

SMOL Fair

Hear ye, hear ye — I’m pleased to announce that DrunkSkull Books will be hanging out at the SMOL FAIR in just over a month’s time. I mean, we still got this pandemic on..so let’s not get too crazy!

What is it, you ask?

SMOL Fair is an alternative book fair which will be 'live' from March 3-7, 2021.  In addition to featuring small presses, they will be organizing readings and opportunities for readers to connect with authors and publishers. In short, a whole lotta small press goodness all gathered up in one spot — all through the magic of the internet!

To attend events, join their mailing list.  To enter give-aways, follow them on Twitter or Facebook.  

Here at DrunkSkull HQ, we’ll definitely be giving away some free stuff in support of the fair, and all the folks working so hard to make it a reality. So if the small press is your jam, mark it down on your calendar. There’s already over 100 presses and indy-book types involved…so it shouldn’t be too hard to find something interesting to read!

With the Tumblin' Tumbleweeds...

I guess I’ve seen something every bit as stupefying as you can see in any of those other places…and in English too!

Shut the fuck up, Donny. You’re out of your element!

Fuck it…let’s go bowling.

Maudlin House

It’s taken me a fortnight to get to it, but I’m pleased as punch to have Alana M Kelley over at MAUDLIN HOUSE dig deep below to surface of Chinese Gucci, and come out the other side with an insightful review that zeros in on some of the book’s larger intentions. I admit, it’s a strange book to read, with a protagonist that is hard to root for. “Odd, Lonesome, and Fascinating,” is how Kelley describes the read, and I absolutely agree. Under all of Akira’s antics, Kelley finds the cruel schadenfreude and voyeurism of social media, and the sting of adolescent regret among other things.

“Though the book is masked through the raw lens of superficiality, it is nonetheless filled with premonition, parallel, and existential questioning, as every story told from the perspective of a flowering juvenile should be.”

— Alana M. Kelley on Chinese Gucci

It’s really rewarding as a writer when a reader or reviewer inherently understands the hidden mind of a book — and decodes the work to discover subtext, meaning, and theme. As a reader and a fan, I appreciate it when people go that extra mile. So if you have a few minutes, go check out what Kelley had to say.

Read the Review

Permalink

2020

So, yeah…fuck this fucking year.

When thinking about what little good there was to be found, here are a few things that came to mind:

1) So, if we were lucky enough to have and keep a job, the pandemic forced a lot of people to work from home. I spent the bulk of the year on the couch, doing data entry. It had an unexpected upside: time with my mom in the final year of her life. Had the year been a normal year, and had I been away at work all the time, I would not have had the passing conversations, quick laughs, and daily check-ins — even cooking meals when she was hungry enough for one. This is truly one of the only things this year had going for it.

2) Without a commute to and from work, there was also more time to devote to the two projects I was able to finally bring out this year:

A DEEP & GORGEOUS THIRST- UNABRIDGED AUDIO

THE ART OF CHINESE GUCCI

They were both terrifically rewarding projects, and two further steps down the road of fully-realized, far-fetched dreams actually coming true. There were so many gracious people that helped make these both a reality, and I feel lucky that each generously offered up their talents. You all know who you are. Thank you for being a highlight of my year.

3) The election. I mean, c’mon.

4) My family and friends — from my wife and kiddo, to all the folks I have been missing or couldn’t see in the interest of staying safe. Again, you all know who you are…and thanks for being you. I couldn’t have made it this year without you.

5) Our new kitten. Yep, she’s a pain in the ass…but she sure is cute.

Here’s to hoping you all had a few things to be grateful for as well. And here’s to hoping 2021 finds us all in a much better place.

Mas Collage Videos!

Okay, the last few collage I recorded while making — again for Chinese Gucci. There’s a new art book out — one I hope you’ll take a look at!

When combined with the novel, It’s the ultimate behind-the-scenes look at the entire project from start to finish, one I’m still damn proud of! So proud, in fact, that here’s a deal…the IT’S ALL GUCCI BUNDLE. Both the novel itself and the art done for/inspired by it…heck, there might even be a little original tucked in there somewheres…

it's all gucci

Okay, enough pillow talk…on with the show!