 AWP 2020 in Texas is hurting bad; authors and publishers are cancelling due to the rapid spread of COVID-19. For the many attendees that look forward to the Book Fair every year, we feel you.
All writers and lovers of books are hoarders of books. It's a fact. To know that many publishers will not be there is a total bummer. We just couldn't let a virus get in the way of celebrating books from small presses and hard-working authors, so we are having a massive online book sale starting right now. You can find all of our books on sale (many are $5 off the regular list price) in our bookshop. Remember, shipping and taxes are included so this is a serious deal. All readers who purchase a book through our website during the sale will receive a promo code to download a free ebook from Smashwords (the book of your choice). Promotions for ebooks have been activated through our distributor. You can find all of our books at Smashwords (and related partners) for 75% off. Some are even free. Because we love you. These discounts go from March 1-7. All ebooks distributed on Amazon will either be free or range from 25-85% off and go from 3/4 through 3/8. If you would like to support independent bookstores, we recommend that you head over to Indiebound and look for the book you want to purchase. We can't guarantee that all independent retailers will honor the sales prices, but we support your choice to buy a book from a non-Amazon entity. Of course, we guarantee that our print editions will be for sale through our site for the entirety of the AWP conference. Thank you for your dedication to the burgeoning small press industry.  Portland, OR— March 3, 2020 — Unsolicited Press announces the immediate availability of Singing Back to the Sirens by Margaret Deritter. Singing Back to the Sirens explores the many ways that desire and love, loss and grief, can shape a woman’s life. The poems in this two-part collection look at the loneliness of a newborn for her sick mother, the first stirrings of sexual desire for a best friend, the treacherous leap from a sheltered world of faith into lesbian life, the frustrations of falling for straight women, the alchemy of falling in love, the aftermath of losing it. In the first section, the poet sings back to the many women she has loved. In the second, she sings back to the one who sang the sweetest and the saddest songs.
Margaret DeRitter is the poetry editor and copy editor of Encore, a regional magazine based in Kalamazoo, Michigan. She was a winner of the 2018 Celery City Chapbook Contest, sponsored by Kalamazoo’s Friends of Poetry, for her chapbook Fly Me to Heaven By Way of New Jersey. Her writing has appeared in the anthologies Surprised By Joy (Wising Up Press) and Queer Around the World (Qommunicate Publishing) and in a number of journals, including The 3288 Review, which nominated her poem “At the top of Sleeping Bear Dunes” for a Pushcart Prize. DeRitter has also written numerous magazine and newspaper articles. She worked for 22 years at the Kalamazoo Gazette and has taught journalism at Western Michigan University and Kalamazoo College. She was born and raised in New Jersey and has lived in Michigan since college. When not writing or editing, she often paddles Michigan lakes and rivers. SINGING BACK TO THE SIRENS (978-1-950730-28-5) is available directly from the publisher (www.unsolicitedpress.com) and all major retailers. Ingram Book Group distributes the title to the market. The list price is $16.00 for the print edition and $5.99 for the ebook. An audiobook is in production. Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors. If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make? I always enjoyed David Goodis’ books, but I’ve also read that he wasn’t a great person to spend time around. Maybe if he was filling his face with my renowned French Toast, he’d be happier. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? I don’t like the thought that no one will ever read what I’ve written. I combat that fear by always assuming no one will ever read what I’ve written. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? I’ll go with the movies here--Jane Greer as Kathie Moffat in Out of the Past. Femmes fatale. What books are on your nightstand? The only novel there is Hark by Sam Lipsyte. My friend Michael Goroff sent it to me when I was still in the hospital recovering from my cerebellar stroke. There are presumably books there for me to read to Augie and Elliott, my sons who are seven and five, respectively. Favorite punctuation mark? Why? I like the semi-colon. No one seems to understand how it’s used, including me. What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? I always read the assigned books. What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? Does someone’s butt count? If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? Don’t listen to anyone. Does writing energize or exhaust you? Both, equally. What are common traps for aspiring writers? Listening too much to other writers. We all work in unique ways. What is your writing Kryptonite? Expectations. Have you ever gotten reader’s block? Not really. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly? I suppose it depends on what they want to write. What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer? I don’t really like anyone. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book? I will assume no one will read any subsequent books of mine. How did publishing your first book change your process of writing? Publishing didn’t change anything. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? Google is free. What authors did you dislike at first but grew into? This is a good question, but I can’t think of anyone. What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel? James Hynes’ truly wonderful Next seems to have been forgotten. As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal? Any caricature of an Italian cook from a pizza box. I’d prefer that the cook be saying, “You gonna like it!” What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters? I’d like any of them to read the story or book in question. I hope they’d be flattered. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have? What marks something as “half-finished?” What does literary success look like to you? Seeing one’s name in print feels like nothing else. What’s the best way to market your books? I’m a 90s kid, and I still love alt-weeklies. The more alt-weeklies I can speak with, the better. What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex? Remaining respectful without being too obvious about it. What did you edit out of this book?” I removed some chapters that seemed too tangential to the central narrative. If you didn’t write, what would you do for work? I will defer to This is Spinal Tap here: Nigel Tufnel: Well, I suppose I could work in a shop of some kind or... or do um... freelance... selling of some sort of... um... product, you know... Marty DiBergi: A salesman, you think you... Nigel Tufnel: A salesman, like, maybe in a haberdasher, or maybe like a... um, a chapeau shop, or something... you know, like: "Would you... what size do you wear, sir?" and then you answer me. Marty DiBergi: Uh... seven and a quarter. Nigel Tufnel: "I think we have that...", you see, something like that I could do. Marty DiBergi: Yeah... you think you'd be happy doing something like-... Nigel Tufnel: "No! We're all out, do you wear black?", see, that sort of thing, I think I could probably muster up. Marty DiBergi: Yeah, do you think you'd be happy doing that? Nigel Tufnel: Well, I don't know, wh-wh-what are the hours? Chris Drabick is the author of THE WAY WE GET BY.
 Portland, OR— February 29, 2020 — Unsolicited Press announces the immediate availability of Stages of Blue by Kayla Jeswald. Stages of Blue is a nonfiction collection that deals with the harrowing effects of mental illness. Jeswald digs deep. Through poetry, short stories, and flash fiction, Jeswald opens a window so readers can witness the struggle of living with anxiety, bipolar disorder and severe depression. The collection is emotional and riveting.
Kayla Jeswald is a writer based in Youngstown, Ohio. She holds an master’s in Creative Writing from Youngstown State University, and currently teaches composition. STAGES OF BLUE (978-1-950730-36-0) is available directly from the publisher (www.unsolicitedpress.com) and all major retailers. Ingram Book Group distributes the title to the market. The list price is $16.00 for the print edition and $5.99 for the ebook. An audiobook is in production. Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors.  Margaret DeRitter is the poet and author of Singing Back to the Sirens, a collection that explores the many ways that desire and love, loss and grief, can shape a woman’s life. The poems in this two-part collection look at the loneliness of a newborn for her sick mother, the first stirrings of sexual desire for a best friend, the treacherous leap from a sheltered world of faith into lesbian life, the frustrations of falling for straight women, the alchemy of falling in love, the aftermath of losing it. In the first section, the poet sings back to the many women she has loved. In the second, she sings back to the one who sang the sweetest and the saddest songs.
Margaret sat down with our team and revealed some of the intimate details about her writerly world. Read on! If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make? Emily Dickinson, because I’d want to be able to tell her how important she has become in American literature and in the lives of so many poets, including myself. I’d serve her anything she’d ask for, since she never got what she wanted from the literary world during her lifetime. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? I don’t think it scares me, but I do get frustrated if I feel I can’t come up with words that do justice to an idea I want to express in a poem. What I do then is just keep revising and doing the best I can, or I let the poem sit for a while and come back to it with fresh eyes. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? The casino worker Ann Childs in “Desert of the Heart.” by Jane Rule. She’s wild, sexy and full of life and not afraid to pursue the woman she wants. And Patricia Charbonneau, the woman who plays her character (albeit with a different name, Cay Rivers) in the movie “Desert Hearts,” is so beautiful that I found myself keeping an eye out for her on a vacation in my early 30s after finding out she lived in New York State. She never did materialize there, but I did see her once on TV. What books are on your nightstand? The Hours,” by Michael Cunningham; “Mrs. Dalloway,” by Virginia Woolf; and “Delights & Shadows,” Ted Kooser’s poetry collection. “The Hours” made me want to read “Mrs. Dalloway,” and I was not disappointed.. The writing style was different from anything I’d ever encountered, and many of the sentences read like poetry. Kooser blew me away with his ability to imbue everyday objects and activities with a sense of the sacred. Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you? I get my ideas mainly from incidents that make an emotional impact on me. I also get ideas from observing the natural world outside my windows or on woods walks. Really good writing, like that of my first poetry-writing teacher, Diane Seuss, inspires me to push myself harder as a writer. The women in my writing group, Poetry Dawgs, which I’ve been part of for 20 years or so, also inspire me with their enduring friendship, good humor and astute feedback. Favorite punctuation mark? Why? My favorite punctuation mark is the comma. It has so many uses, and its addition to or omission from a sentence can vastly change its meaning, as in “Now I must go and get on, my lover” vs. “Now I must go and get on my lover.” What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? I was a good girl then and always did my required reading. Now some friends seem to think I’m required to read the Harry Potter books, but I’m really not interested. What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? My Macbook Air, so light I can take it anywhere to write. Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go. To survive and make a mark. OK, that’s six. If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? "Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good." — William Faulkner  Portland, OR— February 18, 2020 — Unsolicited Press announced immediate availability of Emily by Beate Sigriddaughter. Beate Sigriddaughter’s poetry astounds the mind and heart in her latest collection. Emily meanders through everyday experiences as a slightly detached witness to the acknowledged beauty of her world and also to its huge disillusionments, misunderstandings, and betrayals. At times even desire fades in the face of tiredness of trying to understand. Wanting to be noble and often wanting to please those around her through compliance with their wishes, she constantly runs into snags. Too early for anyone's taste she begins to question God and her own role in the world, as well as the role of others, especially women, around her. She is troubled by uneasy relationships with other people, notably men. They seem to not just be on different wavelengths, but as though swimming in different oceans altogether, and the connections appear to be elusive. Nothing is ever quite as she expected or hoped for or planned. Fundamentally, however, she is not given to despair, but instead to gratitude for the irrevocable and undeniable beauty of the world. Emily, often bewildered, experiences everyday worlds with their elusive allure and haunting disillusionments.
Poet Laureate of Silver City, NM (Land of Enchantment) 2017 - 2019, Beate Sigriddaughter grew up in Nuremberg, Germany, close to the castle and World War II ruins. Her poetry and prose are published in many literary magazines, by several small presses, and have received Pushcart Prize nominations and independent prizes. EMILY (978-1-950730-22-3) is available (paperback and ebook formats) directly from the publisher (www.unsolicitedpress.com) and all major retailers. Ingram Book Group distributes the title to the market. Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors. Author Q&A If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?
I would cook dinner for Sappho. I would make mustard-brushed salmon and roast potatoes with lemon dressing. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? This is probably just a specific case of fear of not being good enough: I have these enormous visions—often beautiful, but sometimes not. In order to write them down, I typically have to sacrifice the enormity of what I first envisioned to something lesser, more ordinary, possibly mediocre, when I'd really rather hold on to the original magnificence. To combat that, I tell myself to do it anyway and to simply hope that some readers somewhere will contribute their own magnificence and connect it to what's now an ordinary string of words. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? This changes over time of course. At the moment my biggest literary crush is Edouard de Chavigny in Sally Beauman's novel Destiny. What books are on your nightstand? Mary Oliver, Why I Wake Early. Margot Anand, The Art of Everyday Ecstasy. Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you? Most of my ideas come from personal experience and stories other people tell me. Literally, I get many of my ideas when I am out on my almost daily walks or jogs in nature – mountain paths at home, paths by the sea when I am lucky enough to be near an ocean. What inspires me most of all is the hope that we can reclaim a balanced world in which women and their values are more powerful than they are now. After that I am inspired by the following, in no particular order: Fairy tales, nature, mythology, current events (though they frequently deflate rather than inspire, sad to say). Favorite punctuation mark? Why? The question mark. I love questions. And the mere shape of the question mark is so interesting. Half circle and period all in one. What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? Wuthering Heights. I managed to write an acceptable essay about it without reading it. I did manage to read it later on in college and it was remarkably good. What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? My horned lizard pendant. Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go. I want to. Be. Heard. If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? Trust yourself. Just do it.  If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make? I’d like to make Anita Brookner a really good shepherd’s pie. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? Having to give it up one day and find respectable work. Happily, I think I’m slowly making myself completely unemployable in almost every other field. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? Renata Adler’s writing is so hot and sophisticated and human. What books are on your nightstand? Right now Religion for Atheists by Alain de Botton and Someone Not Really Her Mother by Harriet Scott Chessman are both on my shelf as I type this. Though I’m nearly finished with each one so the answer will likely be different when you are reading this. Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you? I am always interested in people and how they go about their days, how they fill the time and what that says about them; especially people engaged in non-traditional pursuits. Favorite punctuation mark? Why? Boring, I know but I love a period. It marks the end of one idea and the beginning of the next. What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? I don’t think there was one I didn’t read at all. I skimmed and or didn’t finish many, many of them. What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? My work computer from my last 9-5 on which most of this book was composed. Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go. To escape from bigger problems. If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? No one really knows how to do this. We’re all making it up as we go. The author of numerous published short stories as well as the novella In the Service of the Boyar (Strange Fictions Press, 2016), Jason Graff loves both reading and producing writing that has a strong, clear voice and conveys a deep connection to the characters. In high school, his passion for the written word was well and truly ignited when he took a sucker punch for writing his crush a poem. He earned his bachelor’s degree at Bowling Green State University and later, his MFA in Creative Writing at Goddard College. The intense nature of that program allowed him to be mentored by a diverse group of talented writers which included: Sarah Schulman, Richard Panek, Darcey Steinke, and Rachel Pollack.
Jason currently lives in Richardson, Texas with his wife, son, and their cat. He is currently working on a science fiction novel about the beginning of the end of the universe and another about a romancing con-man. You can follow him on Twitter at @JasonGraff1 , on Facebook at Author Jason Graff and/or visit his website: www.jasongraff.wordpress.com.  Portland, OR— January 7, 2020 — Unsolicited Press announced the immediate availability of Anatomy Museum by Erin Cisney. Through the story of a young woman’s transition into adulthood, the poetry of Anatomy Museum, puts on display the hidden secrets of our past that both plague and define us. Erin Cisney’s debut chapbook reflects on the innocence of youth and the pain of losing it with simple, unflinching honesty and quiet introspection.
Erin Cisney is a graduate of Franklin & Marshall College and currently resides in Pennsylvania with her husband and two sons. ANATOMY MUSEUM (978-1-950730-34-6) is available directly from the publisher (www.unsolicitedpress.com) and all major retailers. The retail price is $16.00 for the paperback. An ebook is available through Amazon’s Kindle program. Ingram Book Group distributes the title to the market. Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors. If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?
Joyce Carol Oates and I’d cook garlic parmesan fettuccine since it’s one of the few meals I’m confident I can’t mess up. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? Writer’s block, the feeling that I’m losing my motivation to write. I combat my fears by not forcing it when I have nothing to say and reading as much as possible, knowing that the work of others has been my biggest inspiration to be a writer. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? Difficult to decide between Erik from the Phantom of the Opera and Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights, because I read those books when I was a young romantic and apparently have a thing for troubled men. What books are on your nightstand? I am admittedly a kindle user. So all of them. Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you? My ideas come from a mash up of personal experience and the stories of others. I’m inspired by the work of other writers and the emotions their words trigger in me. Favorite punctuation mark? Why? “.” It’s not that exciting, but it’s important and should never be taken for granted. What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? I feel like I should have been made to read “Animal Farm” at some point, but it was never assigned and I never took it upon myself to read it. What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? My favorite coffee mug for delivering much needed motivation in times of need. Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go. I don’t know, do you? If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? “The world is quicksand. Find the straight path and stick to it.” -John Updike, Rabbit Redux  Portland, OR— December 31, 2019 — Unsolicited Press announced the immediate availability of and for too long after by Ellie White. Marrying poetry and memoir, and for too long after tells the story of a woman making peace with her past. The narrative begins with two sisters in a diner, the eldest discovering her first gray hair. The gray hair spurs a series of poems and stories by the narrator, a woman who never expected to see her adult years due to a lifelong battle with mental illness.
Through White's words, we witness trauma resulting from a father's addiction, a mother's explosive temper, and her own sexual trauma. As the threads of the narrative come together, we are left asking, "Can one move beyond a haunted past to embrace a fruitful future?" Ellie White has been over-dramatic since 1986. She holds a BA in English from The Ohio State University, and an MFA from Old Dominion University. Her work has been published in Foundry, Slant, and The Columbia Review, as well as many other journals. White’s first poetry chapbook, Requiem for a Doll, won the ELJ Publications Poetry Mini-Collection Contest was released in June 2015. Her second chapbook, Drift, is forthcoming from Dancing Girl Press in Fall 2019. Tand for too long after is her first full-length collection. Ellie’s work has won an Academy of American Poets College Poetry Prize, a Best of the Net nomination, and several Pushcart Prize nominations. She lives in Charlottesville, Virginia. AND FOR TOO LONG AFTER is available as a paperback ($16.00) and e-book ($5.99). The print edition (978-1-950730-09-4) is distributed through Ingram ; the ebook is listed with all major ebook distributors. Active marketing and publicity efforts are in place including reviews and advertisements. Unsolicited Press is a small publishing house based in Portland, Oregon. Our team publishes titles from award-winning authors and authors who are just breaking into the industry.  If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make? No one should ever be subjected to my cooking. If they weren’t dead already, it’d kill them. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? I have a chronic fear that I’m getting worse at writing instead of better. Like my talent is waning or something. Really all I do to combat this is keep writing anyway and hope it doesn’t suck. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? Don’t have one. I’ve never really understood celebrity crushes. How can you be infatuated with someone you haven’t met? What books are on your nightstand? It changes. At the moment, “Always Coming Home” by Ursula K LeGuin because my partner told me I should read it and I found it at the library the other day (it’s out of print). Favorite punctuation mark? Why? I like using colons in poems. When making a metaphor, I have a preference for using a colon rather than the word “is.” I don’t know why. What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? The navy blue, rubber support bracelet I wore for over 2 years. It didn’t save my friend from terminal cancer, but I think it saved my life. Hope is a funny thing. If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? “Get Free” It’s a slogan I picked up at the Pink Door Writing Retreat. I like it because it can mean so many different things. Does writing energize or exhaust you? Both What are common traps for aspiring writers? Getting discouraged too quickly. It can take years to get your work recognized, and it is truly a numbers game. The more journals and presses you send your work to, the greater your chances of someone reading it who wants to publish it. What is your writing Kryptonite? Netflix. I’m definitely a television addict. My day job leaves me so drained that when I get home I just want to escape and not feel. Have you ever gotten reader’s block? Yes. For about a year after I finished grad school. Do you think someone could be a writer if they don’t feel emotions strongly? Yes. I think to say “no” would be ignoring neurodivergent folks. What other authors are you friends with, and how do they help you become a better writer? There are so many, and some I’ve lost touch with. My MFA faculty, Luisa Igloria and Tim Seibles, were very helpful. My MFA colleagues were amazing also. Jamaal May is a fantastic poet I met through poetry slam who encouraged me to apply to grad school. As did Andrew Hudgins and Allison Davis, who taught me at Ohio State. Some of my first fans in the literary world were Jacob Rakovan and Rachel McKibbens. Early encouragement is so important. Rachel runs the Pink Door Writing Retreat, which was one of the most valuable experiences I’ve had as a writer. And I will never forget the poets of the Travonna Writing Group who peer pressured me into becoming a poet myself. Rachel Wiley, Mike (Spike) Cowell, Ethan Rivera, Atticus Inch, Dave Nichols, and a few others I’m probably leaving out. Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book? Both. I think all my work is connected in certain ways, but I think of each book separately and not as part of a series. How did publishing your first book change your process of writing? I don’t think it did, really. I started out in poetry slam and homemade chapbooks are currency there. So I was always grouping my poems together periodically to make a new chap. Publishing a book was just a bigger version of that. What was the best money you ever spent as a writer? Pink Door Writing Retreat admission fee What authors did you dislike at first but grew into? Nothing comes to mind. There are certain books I’ve had to put down and come back to in a few years. I’m very impatient with slow-moving plots and intricate descriptions, but it seems to be improving slightly with age. What was an early experience where you learned that language had power? I have always loved words. I told my mom when I was about seven years old that I wanted to be an etymologist. What’s your favorite under-appreciated novel? Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen. It’s funny. Like actually funny, not “comedy of manners” funny. As a writer, what would you choose as your mascot/avatar/spirit animal? Spirit animals are an excellent example of cultural appropriation. But that wasn’t the question, so I’m going to go with a peacock. What do you owe the real people upon whom you base your characters? I write poetry and nonfiction so I don’t have characters per se. But I owe my family, friends, and partners past and present quite a bit, both good and bad. How many unpublished and half-finished books do you have? None at the moment. I wrote a chapbook while I was waiting for this book to get picked up, and the chapbook got picked up by Dancing Girl Press, so now I’m out of books. What does literary success look like to you? I’m highly motivated by recognition, and I’m not ashamed to admit it. I would like to win a prize, be invited to speak, be invited to read, stuff like that. What’s the most difficult thing about writing characters from the opposite sex? First, I believe there are more than two genders. Second, the vast majority of the speakers in my poems are just different versions of myself. I’m a very autobiographical writer, you could say. What did you edit out of this book? Maybe six or seven years ago, Rachel McKibbens said in a writing workshop to always hold something back. Don’t ever give them the whole story. Keep something for yourself as the author because you deserve it. I held something back. If you didn’t write, what would you do for work? This is a pretty silly question. I don’t write as a job. I don’t know anyone who does. There is no money in this, especially not in poetry. I work in insurance. So I guess that’s what I’d do for work because that’s what I’m doing. Ellie White is a writer living in Charlottesville, Virginia. You can learn more about Ellie White at elliewhitewrites.com.
 Portland, OR— December 18, 2019 — Unsolicited Press announced immediate availability of FADE by Russell Helms. In FADE, Michael passes up an opportunity to date a younger woman, Anna, only to find that she has committed suicide. In his dismay, he determines to find out what it would have been like to date her. Although improbable, through sheer will and desire he coaxes and courts Anna back into being, terrifying her parents and setting into motion the impossible.
Best American Short Stories nominee Russell Helms has had stories in Whitefish Review, Driftwood Press, Bewildering Stories, Drunken Boat, Sand, antiTHESIS, and other journals. He holds a lectureship in English at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with degrees from Auburn, Yale, and Eastern Kentucky University. His novel, Fade, is forthcoming (2019) from Unsolicited Press. His other novels and story collections are with Sij Books. FADE (978-1-950730-15-5) is available directly from the publisher (www.unsolicitedpress.com) and all major retailers for $17.00. Ingram Book Group distributes the title to the market. Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors. Unsolicited Press Announces the Immediate Availability of Someone Else by Mary Paula Hunter12/17/2019
 Unsolicited Press announced immediate availability of SOMEONE ELSE by Mary Paula Hunter. As in the work of David Lynch, SOMEONE ELSE exposes the underbelly of small town America for all its charm and tragedy. At its core, this novel is a page turner luring the reader into the mind of Sally Tallman whose existential crisis blinds her to the real crises in her midst. Suicide may be the catalyst for change and discovery in SOMEONE ELSE but this is a book that never traffics in easy answers.
MARY PAULA HUNTER began her career as a choreographer/dancer creating works that fused movement and text. Eventually the writing won out. A transplant to New England, Hunter grew up in East Lansing, Michigan and holds a BA in English and an MFA in dance from the University of Michigan. She lives in Providence, RI with her husband, historian Richard A. Meckel. Someone Else is available directly from the publisher (www.unsolicitedpress.com) and all major retailers. Ingram Book Group distributes the title to the market. Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors.  Unsolicited Press announced immediate availability of The Promised End by Ron Singer. THE PROMISED END is a collection of stories, long and short, about mid-life, old age, and thereafter. The title echoes a cry of pain from KING LEAR. In Singer’s vision, pain is both ubiquitous and funny. To compare his protagonists to characters from LEAR, some are like the suffering old men, Lear and Gloucester; others, closer to the whimsical Fool; some, witty villains, like the bastard, Edmund; and still others, hybrids.
Each of the three stages features its own eccentricities and predicaments. Experiencing a mid-life crisis, for example, is a vacationing New Yorker who has sex with a teenager at a dump in Maine. An elderly man travels to a fictional African country, where he encounters two of his building’s former superintendents, a political dissident and a gun runner. After death, a character whose avocation was shopping is reincarnated as a highway advertising display. To introduce one of these unfortunates, “Mr. Peavis was a fussy eater. Everything had to be just so, or he simply could not eat. Furthermore, his fussiness was of an unusual type: each meal of the week had to be a different color. On Wednesday nights, for instance, he had his red supper, which might consist of tomato soup, red meat, cabbage (red), watermelon, and red wine. What is more, the table service had to be the same color as the food: red plastic cutlery, plates and cups; red paper napkins and tablecloth. Ketchup was the condiment on Wednesday night —no mustard or mayonnaise.” The Promised End is available directly from the publisher (www.unsolicitedpress.com) and all major retailers. Ingram Book Group distributes the title to the market. Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors. If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?
I’d serve broiled chicken to Leo Perutz. I say this because, when we were in Prague in the early 1990’s, I’d have killed for a chicken dinner. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? That I send out work only to discover it wasn’t ready. Remedy: Now, when I think it’s ready, I wait two or more drafts. A more serious problem is writing fiction and memoir based on life, where I often find myself tightroping between truth and tact. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? Two couples, Natasha and Pierre, and Huck and Jim. What books are on your nightstand? J.G., Farrell’s The Singapore Grip, a novel about WW2 in Indonesia, But it’s sagging badly in the middle, so I skimmed to the end. Next, I read some junk, and now I’m reading some lesser Trollope and a few other things, all okay. Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you? Everywhere, from books to details. e.g.#1: I recently re-read Perutz, then wrote a story, “The Printed Word,” about a scam involving a translation of a non-existent Russian biography of this author; e.g.#2: when a favorite jacket wore out, I wrote “A Nose for a Jacket,”a Gogol-esque story about someone who steals a replacement jacket. (That story is included in The Promised End.) Favorite punctuation mark? Why? How about my least favorite, the unnecessary intensifier, the mark that underlines points that shouldn’t need underlining). I refer to the exclamation point!!! What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? I may not have read them well, but I read them all. What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? The photo of my maternal grandparents, on my desk. Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go. Because I love to. If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? Imitate only the best, and that with passion and originality. (Is that pompous enough?)I would also pass on E. Dickinson’s cryptic dictum, “Tell the truth, but tell it slant.” If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make?
I would cook dinner for Jean-Paul Sartre. His novella Nausea is a favorite of mine. I think that Sartre would enjoy something from my background, dishes my grandmother taught me, but with a modern touch: collard greens with fatback, fried green tomatoes with a mole sauce, and perhaps a Greek chicken dish with lots of lemon and olives. The wine would be a Juveniles cuvee. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? I am always afraid of what my characters might do. They surprise me and lead me into realms that I would never explore otherwise. This is a fear that I do not combat, but rather embrace. I never write from an outline and need my characters to lead me forward. I am dependent on them. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? Sartre, of course, would be one. I own a fine, leather, five-volume Gallimard editions of his fiction and am teaching myself French so that I can his works in French. More close to home, Flannery O’Connor is an idol of mine. She is probably the only author that can make me laugh out loud. Her story “The Enduring Chill” is a classic example. What books are on your nightstand? I have a five-year project to read the complete works of all of the major nineteenth-century French novelists, including Zola, Dumas, Merimee, Sand, Balzac, Hugo, and Flaubert. I have already purchased the sets on Ebay, very nice old books. I am currently working my way through Emile Zola’s works and then will devour Balzac. I just finished The Sin of Father Mouret and have begun Fruitfulness by Emile Zola. These writers encompass a realist approach, sometimes referred to as naturalism, which is rife with concrete details of daily life. On my nightstand are Fruitfulness by Zola, a French textbook, and a French copy of Le Petit Ami (which I am translating) by the irascible Paul Leautaud. Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you? I get my ideas from real life. When I drive down the street, I glance at the houses and wonder what is going on inside. Travel is a large part of my learning. I recently traveled to Peru to take part in an ayahuasca ceremony and have written a short novella and two short stories based on that experience. Favorite punctuation mark? Why? My favorite punctuation mark is the tilde. I don’t really know why. It doesn’t look like a punctuation mark but rather something natural, like a wave. What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? I think that would be Gone with the Wind. What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? I would most definitely thank my cigars, which add a layer of velvet to my writing. Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go. To reach back to the beginning. If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? Pay attention and then write about it.  Unsolicited Press announces the immediate availability of ADVENT by Zachary Collins. ADVENT by Zachary Collins is a poetry collection of subtlety. Collins depicts family life, love, and nature without a kitschy moment. The collection is ripe with imagery and melody.
Zac Collins is a freelance writer and high school English teacher from the south suburbs of Chicago whose students acclaim him as “not the worst, I guess”. He is an avid consumer of affordable wine, an aspiring contestant (and preferably winner) of Food Network’s Chopped, and deeply troubled by his inability to ‘pull off’ skinny jeans. Collins and his wife recently welcomed their second daughter, a much-anticipated sister for their eldest daughter, to whom his first collection is written. He and his family currently reside in the suburbs of Chicago in home they swear they just cleaned not too long ago. ADVENT (978-1-950730-62-9) is available directly from the publisher (www.unsolicitedpress.com) and all major retailers. Ingram Book Group distributes the title to the market. Unsolicited Press was founded in 2012 and is based in Portland, OR. The press strives to produce exceptional works of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry from award-winning authors. If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make? -The overconfident, pretentious, aspiring Michelin-star chef in me wants to choose a high-society author who would be accustomed to, yet nevertheless impressed with, fine dining. I’m thinking Fitzgerald would appreciate a tasting menu of consommes, canapes, perhaps a honeydew and mint granita served in a clear glass bowl atop a green lamp... But in truth, I’d want my dinner companion to be a conversationalist, so probably Mark Twain. No matter what I made, there’d be jokes. And bourbon. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? -I think I suffer the same human fear that most writers do -- that I’m not good enough. I suppose I combat this by hiding behind symbolism, double-entendre, and as often as I can, humor. Though, I’ve learned with Advent that being honest about my experiences and emotions allows me to ignore the ‘good enough’ question and present myself as is for anyone who can relate. That’s the goal, anyway: to make a connection with the reader. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? -Sofia from How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents has always been an alluring character for me because of her wild, passionate, impulsive nature and her deep love for those around her. Plus, she seems like a lot of fun. What books are on your nightstand? -John Steinbeck’s East of Eden, Paolo Coelho’s The Alchemist, and James Baldwin’s If Beale Street Could Talk Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you? -Well, for Advent, becoming a father to my (first) daughter was the most remarkable and changing experience of my life thus far. Anyone with kids can attest to the evolution a person goes through when they become a parent for the first time. When I couple that love and responsibility with my vision for my own, personal future -- my passions, my goals, my fears -- I find that this is the stuff of life that connects all of us. Why not explore it? Favorite punctuation mark? Why? -I’m a sucker for an em dash -- I find the emphasis it creates striking. Besides, it’s so versatile, when I’m not sure if I should use a comma, a colon, or parentheses, the em dash is always there to cover up my lack of grammatical sophistication. What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? -Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I read the first chapter, and hated it. The exposition, the creation of a new, futuristic society, was so foreign and odd that it made me uncomfortable. Interestingly, as a high school English teacher, I had to teach the book recently. Honestly, it wasn’t as bad as I recall, but -- no offense to Mr. Huxley -- it was still difficult to swallow the futuristic tale from the past. What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? -I’d like to thank the internet, not for its endless access to infinite knowledge, but for its constant role as a distraction when I need distraction (not to mention when I don’t). Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go. -To allow myself to be. If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? -You’re not going to find yourself in here -- go discover yourself in others.  ADVENT by Zachary Collins is a poetry collection of subtlety. Collins depicts family life, love, and nature without a kitschy moment. The collection is ripe with imagery and melody.
If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make? Dead: Jane Austen Alive: Mary Miller I’d assemble the fixings for a mid-afternoon cookout in one of East Lansing’s parks. The spread would include: Jell-O Supreme, a plate of radishes, sweet and sour pickles, pimento stuffed green olives, celery stalks and deviled eggs sprinkled with paprika.. For the main course I’d make the following: a casserole of scalloped potatoes, coleslaw, and a big ham. All matter of pop would be available including cherry, orange, and lemon-lime. For dessert I’d serve a devil’s food cake with fudge icing, an angel food cake with a topping of thawed strawberries macerated in a cup of sugar, and probably some homemade snickerdoodles. A few hours later, I’d set out some Pillsbury rolls and some rye bread along with mustard. Hopefully there’d be enough ham left for sandwiches; there usually is. What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? Fear: Not making the reader see what I see without overblowing the prose. I like minimalism and I tend to be cryptic. I combat the fear that I might exclude the reader if he/she can’t understand the meaning due to a thin explanation or description by imagining each scene over and over again. Through this process I bring more and more detail to the scene until it’s like a movie scene or a painting I love--like Van Gogh’s bedroom. Finally I leave the scene knowing that it has enough in it but not too much. I want the reader to feel his/her space in the book. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? Jim and Huck or Anne of Green Gables or Mr. Darcy and most of all, Isra in A WOMAN IS NO MAN. What books are on your nightstand? LESS THE SONG OF SOLOMON THE MOST FUN WE EVER HAD Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you? The midwestern landscape I grew up in and the post WW II era that is championed as full of heros and devoted Americans. PTSD was unrecognized for the most part and the domestic enclave a new and stultifying concept held up as the ultimate in living. I witnessed the guilt and frustration of those who couldn’t or wouldn’t comply with the conformity. Beneath the neat surface I found a world of subversion and as a former performer I am attracted to the idea of pulling back the curtain to find another world hiding in plain sight--that is if you looked.. Favorite punctuation mark? Why? I love the comma and yet I must curb my enthusiasm for anything that encourages my propensity to think tangentially. What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? V by Pynchon What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? The ballet barre--ballet saved my life but that’s another story. Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go. Interiority sustains, slays me too. If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? Edit your brains out. MARY PAULA HUNTER began her career as a choreographer/dancer creating works that fused movement and text. Eventually the writing won out. A transplant to New England, Hunter grew up in East Lansing, Michigan and holds a BA in English and an MFA in dance from the University of Michigan. She lives in Providence, RI with her husband, historian Richard A. Meckel.
Hunter's book Someone Else is available wherever books are sold. If you could cook dinner for any author, dead or alive, who would it be? What would you make? I’d make spaghetti for Tom Wolfe (in his pristine white suit). What scares you the most about the writing process? How do you combat your fears? I’ll fall into a perpetual depression and lose both the will to write and my creativite expression. That and aphasia, or any debilitating brain disorder. Who is your biggest literary crush, author or character? Frankenstein. I’d caress those bolts anyday. What books are on your nightstand? None. I keep almost all of my books on my bookshelf. I always keep a dictionary in my room somewhere, usually on my desk or on the floor. I’ll probably have an Evelyn Waugh book on my desk too sometimes- he’s my favorite author. Where do you get your ideas? What inspires you? My thoughts are stimulated by other books, movies, and even sometimes music. Music can create a setting or set a mood for a story. I try to distance myself from the mainstream as much as possible when looking for ideas. Unique stories-something strange or absurdly hilarious-fascinate me and are the impetus to my writing. Favorite punctuation mark? Why? The semicolon. It’s so underrated; it wonderfully joins two clauses. What book were you supposed to read in high school, but never did? A Tale of Two Cities- although I did draw mustaches and beards on all the characters on the cover. What inanimate object would you thank in your acknowledgements? None of these great poems would be available without my pen. I write down what comes into my head-sometimes a jumbled mess- and rearrange and transcribe them on my computer; although I’ve since switched to using solely my typewriter. Why do you write? The first 5 words that come to mind. Go. To escape from the mundane If you could write an inspirational quote on the mirrors of aspiring writers, what would you write? Think for yourselves! Delve into art; study the classics. Stop looking at your phones all the time. In fact, just throw them out and renounce your generation. Most important is seclusion. Embrace it. Your thoughts will just flow. |
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