So we decided to throw a party last minute at AWP, buuuuut we kinda waited too long to secure a venue or a drink sponsor. However, we were able to secure some top-notch talent with the help of some very powerful New York literary agents whom we may or may not have career-shattering hidden camera photos of. The bathrobes were Michael and George’s idea. Can’t wait to see you there!

{above image by Xenia Fink for the story “Bred in Captivity” by Ravi Mangla}

Did I mention we’re working on our new print issue? And did I mention that it’s got a stupid-ridiculous amount of talent in it? Don’t believe me? Do as Lavar Burton teaches by not taking my word for it and check out our tentative roster for our sacrifice themed issue.

A-hole in Germantown

Story: Mickey Hess

Images: Charles Bergquist

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Three Stories

Stories: Matt Bell

Images: Joseph Wood

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Ashore, An Island

Story: Jonathan Messinger

Images: Ghazal Hashemi

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Goodnight, America

Story: Jack Boettcher

Images: Daniel Lucas

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Baron Von Richtofen Flies Again

Story: Ryan Call

Images: Jenny Kendler

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Illusions [n2]

Story: J.A. Tyler

Images: owleyes

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The National Pastime

Story: Henry Ronan-Daniell

Images: Nathaniel Shannon

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A Very Compassionate Baby

Story: Anne Valente

Images: Chrissy Lau

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A Flawless Pick

Story: Ian Bassingwaithe

Images: Anthony Cudahy

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Our Lady of Guadalupe Needs a New Fight Song

Story: Jim Ruland

Images: Todd Jordan

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Bred in Captivity

Story: Ravi Mangla

Images: Xenia Fink

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How

Story: Roxane Gay

Images: Rose Wind Jerome

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Condominium

Story: Jimmy Chen

Images: Todd Fisher

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Claim

Story: Brandi Wells

Images: Yana Tutunik

Whew. That’s a lotta hooch. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to lose my mind for a week while we try to get this to the printers and back in time for AWP.

Some things that you did not know that you now know:

– Contributor David Peak wrote a novel.

– The novel is called The Rocket’s Red Glare

– It is for sale here.

– You want to buy it. Why? Because David is a good writer. But you already knew that.

It’s finally done. And only six days late!

It all started last week, when I had to re-learn how to make a zine. I hadn’t made one since college.This was the Wednesday before last, when the iPad was getting announced. It felt real weird to be doing the most rudimentary practice of media distribution, while thousands of miles away, the “future” of it was being unveiled.

Prototypes. I did a shitty layout, then sent it over to Jen who typeset it beautifully. And for free! Big heart on that O’Malley.

It came time to print and I was having major issues. Printer was claiming I hadn’t loaded the paper properly or there wasn’t enough paper when I told it, repeatedly, that this was not the case. I contacted Epson, who was no help. I was having nightmares of having to take this thing into Kinko’s. Then I saw this red button. And what do you do to a red button? You press it. And the printer started working. That’s all she wanted, just to know that I was there, that I hadn’t forgotten about her. This is apparently the reassurance button.

And BOOM! You got yurself a zine. Not long after this photo was taken I did an email with The Cambodian Daily about this project. No joke. First bit of international press! Oh, and Yahoo users: did you know about this?

Festive table of contents.

Very happy with this one. Oh yeah, did I mention…

Red staples. It’s called attention to detail, people. Maybe you should look into it (this hubris does not apply to typos).

This zine’s dancing with talent!

Did I mention that we’re only print 100 of them and that orders are shipping now? Click here to buy!

Holy shit, did you know that the deadline for our first themed issue is this Sunday?!? It’s true. If you want to be in the print issue this time around you’d better get your stuff in soon. For the month of February and March we will be reading for online stories only. The shortlist is growing and there’s some impressive names on there as is, so quit monkeyin’ around and send in your A+ material. Today!

Like setting sandbags against the portals for an oncoming flood, we’re bracing ourselves for the deluge of work on our next print issue. Which means a few months from now a giant semi truck is going to arrive at our doorstep delivering ten or so heavy boxes full of books. Our storage space is bursting at the seems. To empty it a little bit we’re giving you the opportunity of a lifetime:

Annalemma Issue #4 is on sale for half price! That’s $5 for stories by Joe Meno, Nick Ostdick, Thomas Cooper and many more. What else does $5 get you? Illustrations by Spanish illustration sensation Raquel Aparicio, photos by Simi Valley photographic inspiration sensation Alex Martinez, and an essay by Sam Weller about Kiss.

What are you waiting for? Forget that five dollar foot-long, spend your money on something that will last!

Before we bust out for the break, we’ve decided to leave you with a feature that I’m really excited about. Read Dawn Sperber’s If the River Men Take You. It’s a bit longer than some of the stuff we’ve been posting lately but it’s worth it. A fine story to ease you into the holiday.

Not sure what you have planned but we’re going to be spending as much time as possible in a warm bed chipping away at the book pile, eating very fatty foods with friends, sipping hot chocolate with peppermint schnapps, and pretending that we have the metabolism of a humming bird and that a walk around the neighborhood counts as enough exercise to burn off the excess calories.

We hope you’ve enjoyed the direction we’ve taken things this year and we hope to take the magazine in new and exciting directions in 2010. If you’ve been coming back here week after week and reading the stories we’ve been posting and feel that they’ve resonated with you somehow then we’d like to hear about it! Post something in the comments, it’s always nice to hear from the readers. And a big thanks to those of you that have commented on the stories. We hope the year is coming to a peaceful close for you and we all get the rest we deserve before we settle into the oncoming frozen months.

See you in 2010!

Thanks to anuragyagnik for the image.

The Holiday in Cambodia project is going along quite well, I must say, but just to give it a good kick in the pants for the sake of pants-kicking, I’ve decided I’m going to match all the funds raised by the Holiday in Cambodia project. That’s right. From my own pocket. So far we’ve got something like $70. Which brings us to a grand total of $140. That’s $140 that goes to teaching young Cambodian women how to make zines. You are a simpleton if you do not think that is cool thing. So start submitting today and put me in the poor house!

In the winter of 2007 editor, author, and activist Anne Elizabeth Moore was invited to live to Phnom Penh to teach Cambodian young women how to make zines. She plans to return December 24th to continue her ongoing project. We think this is awesome. We want to help her out and hope you do too.

Everyone has drama happening around the holidays and we all know drama makes for good stories. Send us your true stories of familial (or otherwise) conflict taking place around the holidays and we will then choose the best ones for publication in zine format entitled “Holiday in Cambodia: a Collection of Holiday Stories for a Good Cause”. There will be an open fee for submissions, meaning submitters are encouraged to send whatever they think is a fair submission fee. Could be zero dollars, could be $100. Yup, just like the Radiohead thing. This book will be available to purchase for $10 on January 31st, 2010 at annalemma.net. All proceeds from sales, as well as submission fees, will go directly to Anne’s amazing work with young Cambodian women.

UPDATE: I, Chris Heavener, hereby proclaim that I will match all funds generated by this project. Out of pocket.

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES: Please keep the stories under 3000 words. Only one submission per person. True stories only. If you have to change names or bend the truth here and there to make for a better story then that’s cool but we don’t want any Santa’s or Frosty’s or Hanukkah Harry’s showing up to the party.

Deadline is January 15th, 2010.

SUBMISSION PROCESS: Login to Paypal.com and click the “Send Money” tab. Payment of your chosen submission fee should be sent to holiday@annalemma.net

Once paid, email your submission to holiday@annalemma.net (in Word or .rtf format) from the same email address associated with your Paypal account, or from a different account clarifying who you are and what email address the payment went through. Then kick your heels up by the fireplace, sip some eggnog and wait to hear back from us.

If you’re interested in donating directly to Anne’s project click here.

Anne Elizabeth Moore’s book, Unmarketable: Brandalism, Copyfighting, Mocketing, and the Erosion of Integrity (The New Press, 2007), received favorable reviews from Forbes, The LA Times, and The Guardian. Co-editor and publisher of now-defunct Punk Planet, founding editor of the popular Best American Comics series from Houghton Mifflin, Moore’s work has been the subject of films, college lectures, and police investigations. She teaches at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. anneelizabethmoore.com

For more information on her work in Cambodia, click here.

For more info on “Cambodian Grrl: Self Publishing in Phnom Penh”, a 36 page collection of essays concerning Moore’s previous experiences teaching a large group of young Khmer women self-publishing in Cambodia, click here.

A couple weeks ago I traveled far. Saw much. Lived heartily.

Had one of the best weekends of my life. And then…

I moved to New York City. If developments here have seemed erratic and overall spacey, this is why.

I live in the same city as Rose! How cool is that?

I lost my wallet on the first day (long story) and had to go get a new credit card at the World Financial Center, which was right next door to ground zero.

Not much has changed.

I’ve been walking by myself alot. In Chicago this would make me lonely. There’s so much to see here. It’s more like exploring.

We went to the New York Tyrant Babyleg thing and it was too fucking crazy so we left immediately. I think we got there too late and missed Brian Evanson thumb-printing his book with blood. Kind of a bummer.

This was the moment when the feeling of being untethered washed away.

And this was the moment I realized I loved this city.

Oh! And I moved into our new office.

Which I will be sharing with none other than Mr. Todd Jordan!

So, preeeeetty fucking psyched about that.

As I unpacked all my stuff I jammed this and thought about Kurt Cobain and how people who kill themselves are fucking idiots. Then again, maybe they’ve been to a depth of depression that I’ll never know about. Or at least, I hope I never will.

I think it’s pretty unlikely seeing as I finally live in a city where I feel like I belong.