V.C. Myers
@vcmyers
author of Ophelia (Femme Salvé Books, 2023) & Give the Bard a Tetanus Shot (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press, 2019) | Fmr editor/reader Muruch, Barren, Ice Floe, Frontier, Sarabande Books | work in EPOCH, Poet Lore, Bombay Gin, HAD, etc.
Rachel Taff's Paper Cut is a suspenseful read about a cult leader's daughter turned true crime celeb
my poem "Papier-mâché" was inspired by a nightmare I had about paper wasps. Originally published @rogueagent.bsky.social (& in my last book, Ophelia): www.rogueagentjournal.com/issue70
Alela Diane's new album, Who's Keeping Time?, was released today. I've loved all of her albums since she sent me a handmade CD of her debut back in my music reviewing days. This one is just as lovely as all her others. #goodmusic #newmusic #newmusicfriday aleladiane.com
read, loved & related to Appalachian Gothic eco/folk novel The Bog Wife by Kay Chronister. Also kinda cool I've been to the WV cranberry bog that inspired its backwoods setting.
finished reading The Award by Matthew Pearl. I didn't like it at first, protagonist is an unlikable aspiring author who idolizes & ends up being neighbors to an even more unlikable famous author. But then there's a Hitchockian twist. Kinda convoluted after that, but held my interest.
first of my summer plans have been booked. going w/ friends to see one of Scottish Ballet's incredible looking Mary, Queen of Scots performances when they tour the U.S.
just finished The Merge by Grace Walker. not a happy book, but riveting. I generally can't take dystopian fiction anymore, but this was an exception. In a near future when people have their minds merged for population control & hope of disease cures, a woman merges w/ her mother who has dementia.
current read is @nnedi.bsky.social's Death of the Author & it's magnificent. Trying not to rush through because it's so extraordinary, but it's also 2 very exciting books in one, so I can't wait to get to the end.
just finished Ian McEwan's What We Can Know. It's about poetry & climate change, so of course I loved it. Sad, but hopeful, too. Slow moving, well written literary fiction was just what I needed this week.
Perfect non-grunge 90s album: Hard to choose! so many great 90s albums... Tori Amos, Garbage, Beth Orton, Concrete Blonde, Belly, Cranberries, but here's one that didn't get enough attention: Elysian Fields' Bleed Your Cedar
If I disappear, it's because my friends & I are children of the corn (maze) tonight.
finished & enjoyed reading Heartwood by Amy Gauge, about a hiker lost on the Appalachian Trail & the search team looking for her. also touches on the pandemic & conspiracy theories.
The Years of Blood by @adedayoagarau.bsky.social has arrived & it's magnificent! My cell pic doesn't do the cover justice. I'm so happy for & proud of my dear old friend & former co-editor. I'm thankful our paths crossed when it did, so I could watch him reach for the stars.
2 of my poems were in Issue 10 of Last Leaves Magazine. Free PDF of the issue here: www.lastleavesmag.com/last-leaves-...
finished reading Charlotte McConaghy's Wild Dark Shore. An extraordinary, exquisite, multi-faceted story about love, family, grief, isolation, nature, science, & climate change. So much beauty, heartbreak, & hope. I also liked her previous book, Migrations, but Wild Dark Shore is next level.
my contributor copy of Bombay Gin's Vol. 49: Strangler Fig arrived & it's spectacular! So happy a poem of mine is in this book.
He literally did this David Brent pose in a recent company social media post only in a suit
A Place to Bury Strangers was amazing! Ace of Cups' stage is always decorated like Twin Peaks' red room, but the band made it more like TP's The Roadhouse. They came out into the audience & played right infront of me.
opening goth/edm band The Serfs were an awesome surprise at the A Place to Bury Strangers concert
Heart played all their hits & a couple of Led Zeppelin covers. Ann Wilson recently battled cancer & was in a wheelchair, but her bombastic voice still scraped the rafters.
Larks by @hanvanderhart.bsky.social has arrived! So beautiful, inside & out. This is one of those times I got the book I truly needed at just the right moment in my life.
I took a much needed beach vacation away from work, news & social media w/ close friends & family here. Good food, drinks, conversation & view.
Rosemary Beach, FL is a lovely little town by the sea inspired by the French Quarter in New Orleans