Hosho McCreesh's Blog, page 17

A Solemn and Sarcastic Trans-Atlantic Chat with Claudia Bierschenk and Hosho McCreesh

Claudia and I have Pig Ear Press and Tangerine Press in common. She’s also translating some of my work into German (hint, hint — any German publishers out there), and she reads a poem in the forthcoming A DEEP & GORGEOUS THIRST - UNABRIDGED AUDIO project.

We thought it might be fun to sit for a largely unscripted chat about what her work-in-progress, BORDERLANDS, has in common with THIRST. Over the course of a half-hour we also touch on 20-second linguistics lessons, origins, Hitler still ruining people’s days, themed collections, geography, care packages from the west, coffee as gold, Castro’s diarrhea oranges, revisiting preconceptions, Kalashnikovs and barbed wire, the crux of humanity, what the U.S.A. used to mean, having a certain amount of agency and sovereignty over our own lives, parenting, embracing things beyond our control, virus diaries, fleeing into the woods to avoid all the humans, urban spaces taken back by nature, meeting everyone where they’re at, and the impossible happening.

Prost!

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A Special HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY Man in the Gutter Interview - Memes

Happy Mother’s Day!

As the launch of the A DEEP & GORGEOUS THIRST - UNABRIDGED AUDIO approaches, we will be peppering the airwaves with a few bits, including a short series of Man in the Gutter Interviews with people who were either part of or present for some of the drunk poems when they happened and have graciously lent their vocal talents to the project. Today, of course, we had to interview my mom about a poem we were both present for…if only a bit!

And while we’re still a ways off from our May 24th release, the pre-sale is going strong.

We hope you’ll enjoy this tiny behind-the-scenes taste until this gorgeous beast actually lands! As an added bonus to today’s post, here’s the poem she’s talking about.

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This Podcast Will Change Your Life with Brian McGettrick, Ben Tanzer, and Hosho McCreesh

[ Click picture to listen to episode 222 ]

Yes, the floodwaters have risen…the dam has burst, the pre-sale is underway, and we are still merely ankle-deep in the forthcoming flood of promotions for the A DEEP & GORGEOUS THIRST - UNABRIDGED AUDIO project.

And what better way to dip your toe in than a podcast-down-memory-lane with lit-man-meets-Charlie Hustle himself, Ben Tanzer and the criminally under-infamous Brian McGettrick? We wander like drunken moths through the lamp-light of the small press, reliving the how and the where of both how we first all met each other and the small grip of places that’ve published us all. And fear not, intrepid listener — we name names (and surely forget some too)! All in all, it was a great way to keep the wheels a-churnin’ and I’m sure I speak for us all when I say we hope you enjoy the listen!

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PRE-SALE! A DEEP AND GORGEOUS THIRST - UNABRIDGED AUDIO!

Yes folks, perhaps you’ve already heard whispers, mutterings, clandestine mentions of a rough beast slouching toward your eardrums…well the reckoning is upon us! The physical editions of A DEEP & GORGEOUS THIRST - UNABRIDGED AUDIO are now available for pre-order.

*artist’s rendering — actual products differ slightly
**headphones not included — I ain’t Dr. Dre!

146 Drunk Poems
37 Gorgeous Voices
3.5 Thirsty Hours
3 CD-set
1 Insanely Good Time

It’s the magnum opus come to life, in voices and accents the world over. Friends and family who were actually there for some of these poems, and writers and friends spanning continents have all combined, recording drunk poems and making for an experience as singular as the book itself. Who is involved? I’m glad you asked!

Featuring the GORGEOUS Vocal Talents of:
justin.barrett, Juliette Beck, Claudia Bierschenk, Michael D. Blum, William Boyle, Ryan W. Bradley, Bastien Chiarini, Christopher Cunningham, Freddie De La Cruz, Chris Field, Abbie Foxton, Brody Lee, Nancy Pogue LaTurner, Tina LaTurner-McCreesh, Russ Litten, King Lutzo, Sean Lynch, Craig McCaskill, Janet McCaskill, Hosho McCreesh, Brian McGettrick, Scott Meier, Memes aka Mema aka The Proud Mother of Hosho, Joshua Mohr, Sasha Montaigne, Chris Oxley, Papa, Walevska Pérez-Herrera, Michael Phillips, Joseph Ridgwell, Sakèsan, Rebecca Schumejda, Scott Silsbe, Samuel Snoek-Brown, Ben Tanzer, Willy Vlautin, and one anonymous reader.

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CODE TO USE AT CHECKOUT:PRESALE$5

Using the above code makes the standard edition $15 upon checkout during the pre-sale. The same code also makes the uber-snazzy signed, lettered edition only $25 (only 26 copies available, includes freebies and extras). The pre-sale ends on May 19th, 2020.

Remember the project goes wide on May 24th, 2020, and delivery of your pre-order should happen on/around that date — depending, of course, on what sort of shape we find ourselves in globally by then!

If you prefer a digital download, that version will also be available at a host of places on the release date, but Google Play offers a pre-sale if you just want to get ‘er done right now!

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Hot Damn, It's the A DEEP AND GORGEOUS THIRST - UNABRIDGED AUDIO Book Trailer!

For those who’ve wondered what we’ve been up to here at the HQ…here’s your answer! Yes, the end of the month will see this beast raised to the lightning-splintered heavens and brought back to life and THIS TRAILER features the what, the who, and the when…and the mighty Leeches of Lore!

Our friend Abbie Foxton was not only kind enough to read on the project, she’s hosting the release of the trailer over at UNDERGROUND LOVERS.

If you are after an eBook version of A DEEP & GORGEOUS THIRST, there’s finally one HERE!

For reasons that will become apparent over the next busy month, I will keep this post nice and short.

The CHEAPJACK STADIUM TOUR...

Well, May is going to be busy!

With the pandemic upon us, the PRINTER and the BINDER can’t even work in the same space, but bit by bit and piece by piece it’s all coming together! And while there are other pieces in different stages of ready TBD later, here’s is a list of the fun stuff we’ve already got planned leading up to the official A DEEP & GORGEOUS THIRST - UNABRIDGED AUDIO release:

5/5/2020
Underground Lovers hosts the official trailer release — it’s the what, who, and the when explainer for this drunken audio opus!
Also: the eBook goes live at smashwords

5/7/2020
PODCAST - TBWCYL w/ host Ben Tanzer chatting with Brian McGettrick, and Hosho McCreesh
INSTAGRAM STORIES: #adeepandgorgeousthirsttrap

5/10/2020
Man in the Gutter Interview: Memes
A Solemn and Sarcastic Trans-Atlantic Chat w/ Claudia Bierschenk

5/11/2020
Animated Drunk Poem - Read by Sean Lynch

5/12/2020
Man in the Gutter Interview - Papa
Man in the Gutter Interview: Bastien

5/13/2020
Animated Drunk Poem - Read by Chris Oxley

5/14/2020
Man in the Gutter Interview - Tina
INSTAGRAM STORIES: #adeepandgorgeousthirsttrap

5/15/2020
Man in the Gutter Interview - Sakesan
One for the Road w/ Joseph Ridgwell

5/17/2020
Animated Drunk Poem - Read by Russ Litten
Man in the Gutter Interview - Craig

5/18/2020
Knuckle Rap w/ William Boyle

5/19/2020
Man in the Gutter Interview - Nana

5/20/2020
Animated Drunk Poem - Read by Willy Vlautin
Man in the Gutter Interview - justin.barrett

5/21/2020
PODCAST: Downtown Writers Jam Podcast w/ Brad King
INSTAGRAM STORIES: #adeepandgorgeousthirsttrap

5/22/2020
More Bad Decisions w/ Josh Mohr

5/24/2020
LAUNCH!
TNBBC and HEFT PRESENT - A DEEP & GORGEOUS HAPPY HOUR w/ Lori Hettler and Ben Tanzer

5/28/2020
INSTAGRAM STORIES: #adeepandgorgeousthirsttrap

There will be some digital giveaways and other bits mainly via social media, so if you haven’t yet, you can find and follow via the icons on the bottom of this page. Otherwise, feel free to grab up a comfortable chair and knock a few back with us this May!

Publishing in a Pandemic...

Tesla trying to sort his pandemic book launch!

I joined a smattering of other writers in a chat about publishing during a pandemic over at THE COIL. The folks over at Alternating Current were kind enough to give us a platform, and as many of us are looking for new stuff to fill our eyeholes and earholes during these trying times, you are humbly invited to pop on over and give it a read! I talked a little about the forthcoming audio book, but mainly about compromise and the ever-shifting sands of “success” — at least by our humble standards here at the HQ.

On May 24th, 2020, A DEEP & GORGEOUS THIRST - UNABRIDGED AUDIO will be officially released. Physical copies will be available IN THE WEBSTORE and digital copies available via a GOOGLE PLAY and hopefully a host of other listening outfits too. If that doesn’t work, we’ll try music outfits, by god!

It’s all 146 drunk poems from the book, read by 37 different voices from Australia to Switzerland. It’s 3 and a half hours of drunken revelry — at least on the surface. It’s our latest ambitious offering — and if you are a member of the NOTIFY LIST, you might just hear about pre-sales and limited editions soon.

In fact, over the next month, you’ll likely hear a lot about this project, 7+ years in the making, with all kinds of cool folks pitching in to help make it a reality. So buckle up…it promises to be another fun ride!

CHECK OUT THE THIRST AUDIO PROJECT

Doug Draime...

I was really jazzed to discover that late, small press legend, Doug Draime has a website. Now people everywhere can continue to marvel at his terrific body of work. Doug was a truly interesting person, one who lived many lives, experienced the highs and lows and knew it all well enough to report back from the hard, sad, dumb, and beautiful front lines of the human experiment. He seemed driven by a deep need to push and constantly create and probably threw away more great poems than I’ll ever write. There’s no one label or box you can stick his work in, and he was ever restless as a creator and artist. I miss his emails, his insights…and I really miss seeing new poems pop up every few weeks. I am glad to know things are still churning, and if you don’t know Doug’s work — do yourself a favor and go read yourself some.

I was equally delighted to find that Doug’s terrific short story, “Joe’s Smoke & News” is now FREE over at smashwords. It was published by mendicant bookworks — which put out a handful of great little yarns some years back, including THIS ONE (wink!).

GIFT CARDS + A FREEBIE TO THE NEXT 5 ORDERS...

As a way to help us out, the folks who manage this website have made GIFT CARDS (typically a paid service) available from now until September. So from now until then, we’ll have them in 4 different amounts in our store.

If you’ve got someone you’ve wanted to introduce to the HQ, or if you know you’ll be in the market for some future goodness, now is a great time to grab up a gift card. They never expire, and are good for any and everything we carry.

And as a way to support a few of the places I admire (in this instance it’s Two Dollar Radio), I’m offering up an additional freebie to the next 5 orders over $10.

Stay safe out there!

A Deep and Gorgeous Sample over at Soundcloud

Just what is it I’m yammering on and on about this time?

Here’s a safe-for-work sample…a few drunk poems read by a few different voices (so you’ll know when the poem changes).

Now you know what you’ll be getting into when the A DEEP & GORGEOUS THIRST - UNABRIDGED AUDIO launches in a couple months.