Andy Henion's Blog, page 5

Just Cuz

"Sins of the Father" by Jack Picurro in Shotgun Honey

He bent over and the rush of blood was such that he thought for a moment he might faint, but he didn’t and then his father’s rancid odor hit him. He forced himself to put his lips to the old man’s hairy ear and and say, “It’s me pop. You wanna confess your sins?” Read story here.

"Head to Toe" by Nathan Leslie in decomP

When mother died I was twelve, at the cusp. It was best that she died. She never smoked, so the lung cancer seemed especially shocking and catastrophic. This is an understatement. Listening to her breathe was an exercise in masochism. She was a drowning fish. Read story here.

Other decomP goodness here.

"Walnut" by Spencer Chou in The Molotov Cocktail

His head was the size of a walnut. ... He was bullied in school, of course. Not because of his head. He was bullied because he had a “Little House on the Prairie” lunch box. Read story here.

Jordan Harper is the Shit

I could open this post by saying Jordan Harper is the crime writer we all want to be. That his collection of stories, Love and Other Wounds, is one of the best collections I've read, crime or otherwise. That this 159-page volume will go not to the bookstore for resale (like 80-90 percent of the books I buy), but instead to the bookshelf next to a very small contingent of short story masters (e.g, E. Annie Proulx, Denis Johnson, Raymond Carver) ...

Instead, simply this, from "Your Finest Moment":

Maybe you should kill her first, seeing as how she was the one who promised you true love forever and then went and sat on another man's dick. That is the first thing you think when you come back from a fishing trip early, drop by your girlfriend's place, and walk up to the apartment complex parking lot just in time to see her lead Danny Fucknuts in through her door. Your first thought is to take her and break her, jelly her face up with a rock, a tree root, something ancient and jagged. Smash her, crush her, make her slick and wet with blood.

Buy the collection here.

"What the Fuck Are You Writing For?" by Cath Murphy in LitReactor

We might claim we write so we can give voice to our characters or immerse ourselves in the joy of words or share our imaginary worlds with others, but those are our nice person reasons. Deep inside, we actually write because we long for pity or attention. We write in hopes of success because we believe this will get us the power we deserve. Read column here.

"The Man Who Liked Dogs" by Raymond Chandler in Pulp Fictions

A great short story by one of the masters. Follows a dud by Dashiell Hammett. Try as i might, I just can't get into Mr. Hammett.
 
He didn't quite hit the ceiling, but he opened his mouth so wide I was afraid his lower jaw was going to fall in his lap. His eyes stuck out like peeled eggs. He shut his mouth with all the deliberation of a steam shovel. It was a great act, if it was an act.

"Appetite for Destruction" by Anna Lea Jancewicz in The Molotov Cocktail

I had a hard time believing that Jimmy would want to have someone like me for a girlfriend, someone who hobbled around on crutches, someone who cracked crabs with their teeth and always smelled faintly of low tide. But about that, Jimmy shrugged his shoulders and said Everybody wants to fuck a mermaid. Read story here.

"I enthusiastically rate this book as 5 out of 5 stars"

Sunday mornings go better with wonderfully insightful 5-star reviews of your book ...

"Andy Henion has done a truly phenomenal job of creating his post-apocalyptic world. ... The character building in this book is terrific."

-- See Amie Gaudet's entire review of "The Devil in Snakeskins" on her website here.

-- Get you some Devil for $1.75 on Kindle here.

"Shackled" by James Turner in The Molotov Cocktail

When he was young, Billy kept his anger in a box under the bed. Read story here.