Awkward Press

Hi everyone! Did you know I’m a writer? I’m a writer. And a few years back, I wrote two novels. I’m pleased to report that the second one, I, An Actress: the Autobiography of Karen Jamey, is now available on all Kindle reading devices for only 99 CENTS!

And that’s not all! Many years ago, when I originally released the book, I ended up cutting out a chapter. The print version always felt a little naked without it, so I have restored the missing chapter for the digital edition!

AND THERE’S STILL MORE! In addition to the full text of I, An Actress and the special bonus chapter, you will also get an additional essay from the one and only Karen Jamey herself, entitled, “Karen Takes on James Frey!” Very timely!

Want to buy it? Of course you do. It’s almost less than nothing for one of the funniest novels ever written. You can buy it right here!

Rave number two is live and on the Internet! I’m pretty sure this puts us in the running for the Booker Prize this year.

This small volume of brief short stories smashes against any theory that short short stories are not great fiction. Awkward 2 – Brevity fills itself with short stories that run the gamut from crime to bald-faced imagination. Within only 104 pages, this volume is crammed with great short stories and fast-paced and compressed short story writing. They say that poetry remains the compression of thoughts into the smallest amount of words possible; in this manner, the authors of Brevity 2 present short stories that are small microcosms of reality – and unreality. Since I am a lover of fiction, I appreciated the pop-zang effect of creating an imaginary tableau in 1,500 words or less. Short stories have a beginning, middle and end, and to produce a powerful short story in this amount of words shows great intensity and talent.

You can read the whole review right here.

And you can buy the book right here.

I’m proud to announce that Awkward Two just got a GREAT review on Blogcritics.com! And I quote:

In fact, whether pensive or inventive, there’s a surprise or two in every package – practically every 33 of the micro-short stories – economically bubbling over the bounds of Awkward Two’s one hundred pages. An array of subject matter, themes, styles, tones, and characters are represented. Don’t like one story in this mostly hit, some miss, affair? Turn a page or two, flip on through – there’s another, and another…

You can read the whole review right here.

And you can (and should) buy a copy of the book right here.

Been craving a copy of Awkward Two but too broke to buy one? Head on over to Litdrift right now and comment to get in a drawing for a free copy! And while you’re there, poke around the site, join their mailing list, and thank them for being such awesome supporters of indie lit.

Awkward’s very own Kyle Jarrow was featured yesterday in a big article in the LA Times! He has created a new musical called Whisper House with Duncan Sheik that will be opening in San Diego soon. Duncan Sheik is the composer of the gazillion-Tony-award winning musical Spring Awakening. Also, according to Wikipedia, he broke a Billboard record when his song “Barely Breathing” stayed in the top 100 for 55 weeks. That makes sense, because if you could program a music-creating machine to perfectly distill America’s tastes into a 3 minute pop song, it would sound exactly like “Barely Breathing.”

Anyway, good job Duncan Sheik, but this isn’t really about you. According to Kyle, this is what the play is about:

I first started writing this in the heat of the Iraq war — that fear is something that guides a lot of life, that there is all this stuff telling us to be afraid,” said Jarrow, whose playwriting credits include “A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant” and “Armless.” “How do you process fear and not let it control your life? That’s one of the biggest questions of modern living.”

That sounds awesome! I will go see that play. We should all go see that play. If you don’t live in Southern California, don’t worry, you’ll get your opportunity. Because it’s going to Broadway! Probably. We don’t know yet. But of course it will, because all signs point to it being the pinnacle of human theatrical achievement. Suck it, Aristophanes!

Congratulations, Kyle!

Still waiting to purchase that copy of Awkward One? Well, if you play your cards right, you might not have to! The good people at Lit Drift will be giving away ONE COPY AND ONE COPY ONLY of our precious gem of a book as part of their ongoing “Free Book Friday” contest. All you have to do is comment and you’ll be in the pot.

Even if you have already picked up your copy, Lit Drift is a great book site run by wonderful human beings and you must check them out right now because your life depends on it. Seriously. Lit Drift or death. What’s it gonna be?

If you enter the contest and are not picked, don’t despair. You can still totally buy one here. We have, like, 3 or 4 copies left.

I realize this is completely egotistical, but my longtime friend Jon wrote a really nice piece about my story in Awkward One that I thought I should point to. I paid him quite a bit of money to be so kind, so the least you could do is visit his blog and check it out. While you’re there, spend some time enjoying his other posts, including the always fascinating Mad Science Monday feature.

You are my friend. You are also my business partner. You are a humble guy. We all recognize this. We talk about it a lot when you aren’t around. “That Clay,” we say, “what a humble guy.”

But you have no reason to be humble, because you are doing awesome things. For instance, you were just mentioned in Playbill. Playbill! The very magazine that Abraham Lincoln was reading when he got his face blown off. (Too soon?) Just look at this awesome plug:

Sick Bastard, a new musical with music and lyrics by three-time Grammy Award winner Bruce Hornsby, will get a private industry reading directed by Tony Award winner Kathleen Marshall the week of June 15.

The musical is based on an original story by Hornsby about the troubles created when a stranger arrives in a small Virginia town. The score is wholly original; it’s not a jukebox musical, Playbill has learned.

The libretto is by Clay McLeod Chapman (who co-wrote the indie musical Hostage Song). Additional lyrics are by Chip DeMatteo.

Now, just to be mentioned in Playbill is pretty cool. But to be mentioned in Playbill because you just wrote a musical with Bruce Fucking Hornsby?!? Man. Congratulations. You are now my second hero.

The first is, of course, Soy Bomb.