#BLauthor10: Leah Lederman

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#BLauthor10 is Leah Lederman

Leah Lederman writes her stories when everyone else goes to bed. She cleans a lot.

Enjoy a Lederman story about cleaning—and stay tuned for a guest post and interview with the author next week.

Co-ed Stephanie Crets interviews #BLauthor8 R.M.F. Brown

"Sleepytime," by Kelene Karetski

Co-editor Stephanie Crets interviewed #BLauthor8 R.M.F. Brown after we published his short story “Hyacinth” last week. It’s interesting because we don’t often come across writers who don’t claim to be immersed in contemporary lit (don’t most of us usually wear our tedious knowledge of this or that new publication, or this or that obscure indie up-and-comer, on our sleeves?). Brown lives in Scotland, so he’s a bit removed from at least American print mags. Plus, he’s a historian, so he is, in his words, “fascinated with the past.”

Do you think unplugging from the cacophony of modern lit, even for a little while, can be beneficial? Does focusing on one’s own craft more than on what others are crafting isolate or liberate us?

Read the interview and let us know what you think in the comments.

#BLauthor8: R.M.F. Brown

R.M.F. Brown tweets!
Follow him @RMFBrown.

#BLauthor8 is R.M.F. Brown.

R.M.F.Brown (1983 -) was born in Fife, Scotland. A writer for over ten years, his works include: Death to Love, Dr Acula's book of horror, and A rat's war. He has had various short stories and reviews published in a diverse range of publications from Spiked Online, Cassiopeia Magazine, Stalking Elk, The An Lucht Lonrach project, Paragraph Planet, The Puffin Review, and recently, his work has been published in The clock struck war, an anthology of stories by Mardibooks. His influences include Michael Moorcock, Stephen King, HG Wells, and Alfred Bester. A historian, poet, philosopher, and cartographer, Brown is a multi-genre author who dabbles in crime, sci-fi, horror, historical, and romantic fiction. He also freelances as a film critic for TV Bomb. He is currently a Twitter user for the time being.

Here's a short piece of fiction by Brown, plus art by Kelene Karetski.

#BLauthor4: Erik Hanson

#BLauthor4 is fiction writer Erik Hanson.

Hanson is a former Midwesterner, having lived nearly all his life in Iowa before recently marrying and moving to California.  At the moment, he lives in a little brown house with a white picket fence and an astroturf lawn, and his days are spent delivering mail and teaching online writing classes, which don't allow nearly as much time for his own writing as he’d like—but he does have a terrific tan.  His work has appeared in Alimentum, The North American Review, The Monarch Review, and the Chicago Quarterly Review.

How to Drown in a Desert

We drove west through the desert because Jeff had a dream about crashing into the ocean and won’t fly anymore.  I thought about reminding him that he would be over dry land the entire trip but decided it either wouldn’t help or just make matters worse.  Jeff is fairly independent—rarely asks for help with anything—so I offered to drive him.  Along the way, he told me what he could remember of the dream.

#BLauthor2: Michael Wayne Hampton

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In the spotlight for the next two weeks is fiction writer Michael Wayne Hampton, selected by co-editor Teneice Durrant.

Michael Wayne Hampton is the author of three books: Bad Kids from Good Schools (Winged City Chapbook Press), Romance for Delinquents (Foxhead Books, Jan 14), and Roller Girls Love Bobby Knight (Artistically Declined, May 14, pre-order here). His work has appeared in numerous publications such as decomP, McSweeney's, and Atticus Review. He can be reached via his website michaelwaynehampton.com.

Following is an excerpt from is forthcoming novella, Roller Girls Love Bobby Knight: