Order you copy of Annalemma Issue Six: Sacrifice today and it will come shipped to you in this fancy biodegradable mailing envelope. No more more contributing to the North Pacific Gyre for us, no sirree. Man, I’m parched. Anyone seen my bottle of Evian?

***UPDATE: POSITIONS FILLED. THANKS EVERYONE FOR WANTING TO HELP OUT!***

Do you want to feel the thrill of editing a lit magazine but without all the financial and logistical headaches? Do you want to know how it feels to wield the power to crush someone’s dreams or send their hearts soaring? Do you want a glimpse into the beautifully sinister machine of small press publishing? Then apply to become a reader for us!

We’re gearing up to announce the new theme for the print issue and we’re looking for folks to help us with the onslaught of stories and essays that are sure to come our way. Why would you volunteer to read the slush pile? Well…

FACT: Reading slush makes you a better writer. Lots of people make lots of mistakes in their writing. You will see these mistakes in your own writing. You will realize that it’s lame to write about drugs.

FACT: Reading slush makes you attractive to the opposite sex. The more stories you read, the more you become connected with the way the human mind works, the more you are able to read people, the more you can tell if someone likes you from across a crowded bar, the more you are able to ignore that person, the more they will pursue you,. And then you strike, my friends. Then you strike.

FACT: Reading slush will get you one copy of Annalemma Issue Six: Sacrifice and one back issue of your choosing.

Email chris {at} annalemma {dot} net with a brief bio, what kind of writing you like and any experience you may have reading submissions. Just a heads up, it would be helpful if you’ve read any of the stories on the website and in the print issues and/or have been published in them. We’re using submishmash now, so don’t worry about this being an organizational nightmare.

Page 15 is an Orlando-based nonprofit that offers free reading and writing education to Orlando public school students. It warms my heart to see my hometown investing time, money and effort to young writers. In a city that, at times, feels like it has a non-existent literary scene, I consider the mere existence of this program a triumph.

The month of May, a.k.a. Short Story Month, is coming to a close with surprisingly little fanfare. What gives Dan? Last year there were ticker tape parades in the streets and children were running wild reciting Carver stories by heart. Okay, maybe not. But I a lot more lit web people were getting involved. Whatever. I’m still gonna hype this shit cause I think it’s cool.

Over at the origin point of Short Story Month, EWN, there’s been some heavy reviewing action of the new issues of stellar journals Redivider and Hobart (I’m reading #11 now and it’s awesome and I’ll be reviewing it tomorrow). #11 turned me on to Patrick Sommerville. Why did no one tell me about Patrick Sommerville?! He’s got a scorcher of a story in the new Hobart, which is talked about at length here. Some of Patrick’s work can be found online here. If you’ve never read any of his stuff you need to check it out now, but you probably have because apparently I’m the only one left who’s never heard of the guy.

And in well-well-well-look-what-we-have-here news: old friend Theresa Holden got Scary Stories published over at Knee Jerk. Highlight of the piece for me was this sentence:

The architectural construct of one man’s life – his friends, family, and reputation – would be consumed so fast he’d gag on the smoke before getting the chance to put out the flames.

Go read up on these two amazing writers right this second and let them remind you why connecting with other humans makes life worth living.

Looking for an opinion from the hive mind: Do you finish reading a book if you know it might be bad for you?

I picked up Twelve by Twelve because I was interested in sustainable living. About halfway through it I went a little crazy and was giving serious thought to abandoning everything and going to live in a cabin in the woods. When discussing the prospect of living in the woods, even thinking it’s a viable option is a level of consideration that constitutes serious thought.

William Powers is an eco-activist who moved back to New York after mounting waves of crusades in advocacy of the Global Southern Rainforests. He was discontent with the conditions of modern urban living. He’s a young, healthy, white man living in the biggest city in the world. In short, he had everything, but felt that “everything” was propped up on a system of waste and consumerism that is dubious at best and eco-cidal at worst. So he heard about a friend of his family that lived on $11,000 a year in a 12 x 12’ shack in an undisclosed location in the North Carolina woods (12 x12’ being the dimensions the NC state government deems just small enough to not pay property taxes). This book is about his search for meaning in his life beyond what’s considered the American dream.

Going to live in a cabin in the woods is what crazy people do. But are they crazy or is the rest of the world crazy? For me, going to live in a sustainable 12 x 12 would mean saying goodbye to my girlfriend, a lot of friends I keep in contact with strictly online, my publication and a lot of other things in my life that I love deeply. I’ve since stopped reading the book and I feel like I’m back to stasis. But part of me feels like I’m maintaining willful ignorance and that I should finish the book regardless of the ramifications it may have on my brain and life.

I got thinking about this post as I went to a reading last week where one of the writers on a panel said that non-fiction terrifies him. So I ask you, internet: Do you stop reading a book if it’s detrimental to your status quo?  Is constantly questioning your own status quo a good thing? What if you’re happy? Do you question the cost of your happiness?

There is some cool shit happening tonight if you live in Orlando: Annalemma is sponsoring “Hello from Florida: Photographs of the Sunshine State” a photo show curated by none other than our own print designer, Jen O’Malley.

The show will feature all works by Floridian photographers including Annalemma contributors Rose Wind Jerome, Ryan Marshall, Kim Vang and Wheat Wurtzburger.

6-10pm at Gallery at Avalon Island (39 South Magnolia Ave. Orlando, FL 32801) as part of the Snap! Orlando Photography Festival. Come on out folks, it’s gonna be tighter than my hands around the throats of BP Oil executives, given the opportunity.

Gonna be in or near Brooklyn tonight? Come out to Soda Series, a new event where a bunch of talented writers get their brains together to talk about literature and writing and such. This evening’s line-up: Dawn Raffel, David Peak, Ana Božičević and Edward Mullany. Count on seeing me there.

Tonight in DC. 3500 K Street Northwest. My friends in Bluebrain are curating a night of jams and love. We sponsored the whole deal. What does this mean? Well, it means you may or may not be able to get your hands on a free copy of Annalemma Issue Six: Sacrifice. You’ll just have to go and find out.8pm. BYOB.

I was clicking around the Narrow House website doing a bit of research for this and came across The Understanding Campaign. Justin Sirois, author of MLKNG SCKLS, has made it his mission to erase taboos and stereotypes against Arabic cultures by starting with one word, understanding. Buy a button or a sticker, take a pic, send it to Justin and spread the word. Literally.

On a note completely unrelated to words:

Oil spill got you down? Shave your head! Matter of Trust collects human and animal hair to soak up oil spills not unlike the one that is murdering the gulf coast as you read this. Click here to sign up and donate! And, as the website specifies, no pubes please.

I don’t know if the online writing community planned it this way, but May is a kick ass month for short stories. Must be the weather. Everyone’s been hard at work for the last four months, holed up in their apartments, toiling away at the desk. Spring is the time to reveal all the madness you’ve been ruminating on over the winter. However, that argument is a bit dissolved up here in New York, where it’s 50 degrees out. And that sort of weather just doesn’t make any sense.

SSM (looks real dirty in acronym form) is in full swing over at EWN with an in-depth analysis of Alyson Hagy’s “Brief Lives of the Trainmen” which I have not read but looks interesting as all get-out.

Meanwhile over at Everyday Genius, Annalemma contributor and force-of-nature, Amelia Gray has been kicking ass for the past four days by producing work under the restrictions and restraints offered up by Adam Robinson.

Also, while I can’t find it on their website, the new issue of PANK apparently went live yesterday. Some great offerings this month by the likes of past Annalemma contributors Aubrey Hirsch and Ryan W. Bradley, as well as impressive work from Shanna Germain and Nancy Carroll Moody. But the one that really rocked my world was Kyle Minor’s piece. Mainly because it hit so very close to home with some of my past writing. Applause and ouch, all at the same time.

Some amazing things to read this month, so for those of you that just read this blog and no other writing online (I know you exist, I spoke with you recently) then I suggest you explore the world of strange delights known as the online writing and publishing community. This is your challenge for the month of May!