We might have a new home. It’s 600 light years away, which isn’t that far if you are a beam of light. Let’s not waste $100,000,000 on tickets to the moon. Kepler 22b is the home of future generations. I suggest we start preparing and seeing what we can each bring to our new blue planet. Personally, I’m working on a monolithic ark of a spaceship that will carry two of every kind of condiment. Miracle Whip and sweet relish will most certainly be a part of our way of life on Kepler 22b. There will be dijonaise, “fancy” ketchup, and even those peanut butter and jelly combination jars. If there is a condiment that you are afraid I might overlook, please make your request known and I will see that it has a home on the ark.

Meanwhile, here on Earth, while we eagerly wait for our new home to receive the final ok, we keep ourselves occupied (I know, I know). And might I make a few suggestions for today:

* Matthew Savoca’s hair gets interviewed

* Ryan Ridge balls up a 50-word fist

* Ethel Rohan plays with fire

Bookslut’s review of Trees of the Twentieth Century opens with some well-deserved praise:

This is what poetry is supposed to feel like; that is my strongest impression of Trees of the Twentieth Century. Poetry should be written toward the “unlanguageable,” about the invisible, seeking the impossible through ideas too abstract, complex, and paradoxical to be contained in the structures of prose. If poetry is candid, it is candid about the concealed. If poetry is obvious, it is obvious about the contradictions of life. If poetry is direct, it is direct about the confusions of consciousness. Works like this should be the baseline of American poetry, the starting point on the path to whatever is next.

Must say it is satisfying to see Sturgeon’s work get the recognition it deserves. Read the full review at Bookslut and visit Dark Sky Books to check out the Trees of the Twentieth Century book page.

Today marks a year since Cut Through the Bone’s release. The book and I have had quite the year. Cut Through the Bone has sold over 1,000 print copies in 10 countries; was longlisted by The Story Prize along with collections by Robin Black, Amelia Gray, Belle Boggs, Nadine Gordimer, Ron Rash, Justin Taylor, Joyce Carol Oates, and more.

I’ve read from Cut Through the Bone at over twenty readings including trips within California and to Seattle, New York, and Ireland. Thanks to this book, I was invited to read at the 2011 Cork International Short Story Festival, at which I shared the stage with many incredible writers and people, including Órfhlaith Foyle, Siobhan Fallon, Mary Costello, Suzanne Rivecca, Alexander MacLeod, Colm Tóibín and Edna O’Brien — the festival was a thrill, honor and the highlight of my year.

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So, here it is. The skinny. Another installment of Dark Sky Author News. If you happen to be in New York or Huntington Beach, come on out and support Matthew Savoca, Kendra Grant Malone, and Ryan Ridge.

Some big news for Morocco, the most recent addition to the Dark Sky Books catalog. November 9 is the book release party for Matthew’s and Kendra’s new beautifully fetishistic and voyeuristic book of verse. Morocco will bring out your inner depravity, and you will be grateful.

* Kendra and Matthew

1) Morocco Book Release Party (with additional readings by Dorothea Lasky, Giancarlo DiTripano, and Catherine Lacey)

Where: The Gallery at Le Poisson Rouge

When: Wednesday, November 9

Time: 6:30 pm – 9:30 pm

Cost: Free

2) Hudson River Loft Reading Series (additional readings by: Daniel Nester, Sean H. Doyle, Chloe Caldwell, Stacy Pershall, Mira Ptacin, Danielle Winterton, Ryder Collins, Jason Diamond, and Eric Wybenga)

Where: The Loft at MUSICA (17 N 4th Street)

When: Saturday, November 12

Time: 6:00 pm – until

Cost: Suggested $5 donation

* Ryan Ridge

Poetry Reading at the Huntington Beach Art Center (additional reading by David Hernandez)

Where: Huntingdon Beach Art Center (538 Main Street, Huntingdon Beach CA 92648)

When: Wednesday, November 9

Time: 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm

Cost: Free

Greetings, readers of Dark Sky, followers with heads in stormy clouds. Our authors are up to good things and this here blog gives us the opportunity to tell you all about them.

1) Ethel Rohan, author of Cut Through the Bone (December, 2011), has a busy weekend in New York City.

* Brooklyn Reading, at Unnameable Books (600 Vanderbilt Ave, between Dean St & St. Marks Ave.)

When: Saturday, October 15, 5:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Also featuring Kathy Fish and Greg Gerke

* Sunday Salon Reading, at Jimmy’s No. 43

When: Sunday, October 16, 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Also featuring Kathy Fish, Heather Fowler, and Jen Michalski

2) Ryan Ridge, author of Hunters & Gamblers (July, 2011), has some appearances coming up:

Author Series at the University of California Irvine Bookstore.

When: Wednesday, October 19, 5:00 pm

How much: Not a cent. Open to the public.

Also featuring UCI lecturer and poet, Collier Nogues, author of On the Other Side, Blue

Stay tuned for more Ryan Ridge upcoming for the month of November.