I’m grateful to be able to announce yet another preview reading of my forthcoming collection of horror stories, Unseaming, this time in my home city of Roanoke, at 6 p.m. this Friday, Sept. 5. The invitation came from The Roanoke Readings, a series run by the Jackson Center for Creative Writing at my alma mater, Hollins University. I’m to be the first reader of their 2014-15 season of programming, Lord help them. The Facebook page for the event is here.
 
I’m calling this a “preview” reading, by the way, because technically the collection isn’t available for sale until next month — though I will have copies for selling and signing Friday at a wallet-busting $15 a piece, heh. The reading happens at a new venue called the CoLab, 1327 Grandin Road S.W., across from The Grandin Theatre, between The Roanoke Natural Foods Co-op and Nopales Restaurant. After my presentation there’s an open mic for anyone who wants to take part.
 
I’m certainly going to read my short, funny (yet gruesome) story “An Invitation via Email,” which first appeared in the Ann VanderMeer-helmed incarnation of Weird Tales. I’m tempted to deviate from the agenda a little and also share my poem “The Journey to Kailash,” reprinted once more in my new collection Hungry Constellations. I’ve only ever done one live reading of the complete poem, at the International Conference for the Fantastic in the Arts in 2011, but it was a hit when I did it. We shall see!
 
#SFWApro
 

Posted in Appearances, Short stories, Unseaming, Writing