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[December 6th, 2006] Can you think of a better holiday gift than Big Crisis, the new chapbook from S&W co-conspirator Nate Pritts? Neither can we. [June 8th, 2005] Our friends at the mighty GO Studios have posted a Quicktime trailer for the animated version of ‘The Happy Seasons’, currently in production. Go. Look. [April 1st, 2005] We've uploaded a Press Room, where we're keeping all of our good reviews. We're keeping our bad reviews somewhere else.
[March 22nd, 2005] Among Wolves received a very nice review in Sunday's Los Angeles Times. You can find the write-up here, and the book here.
[February 25th, 2005]
[February 11th, 2005]
In something of
a lucky coincidence, the second printing of Wolves
should be hitting the shelves of your favorite independent bookshop
and/or Barnes & Noble store as you read this, so maybe at lunch
you’ll want to go out and grab a copy. (If you neighborhood shop
doesn’t have any on the shelves, feel free to inquire, in a level,
non-threatening tone, why in God’s name they aren’t stocking
the book in massive quantities.) Again, thanks, and come back soon. *Like most red-blooded American males, we forgot that our anniversary was actually a few days ago. We apologize. Let us back into the bed.
[December 19th, 2004] Happy Holidays from everyone at Swannigan & Wright. Our small army of underpaid but overfed employees is working ‘round the clock to make sure a copy of ‘Among Wolves’ makes it into the stocking of every “cutting edge” and “easily distracted” friend you know. And for those of you on a limited budget, what could be a better (or cheaper) gift than a floridly composed email to a loved one pointing them to our free, online poetry/photography book ‘The Happy Seasons’ by Nate Pritts?
So,
from all of us to all of you, have a safe & happy holiday season,
and we’ll see you next year. -
Nathan December
[September 6th, 2004] A Rather Important Announcement (First Printing Nearly Sold-Out): This fall, a second printing of Among Wolves will be available in bookstores everywhere. It’s a snazzy-looking package, if we do say so ourselves. Those of you familiar
with the first edition will recognize it immediately, but there have
been some changes made to the covers and endpapers (the story itself
remains the same). We decided on the changes both to help the title
stand out on crowded bookstore shelves, and to preserve the uniqueness
of the First Edition for those readers who got in on this thing when
we were a bunch of shady nobodies selling copies from the trunks of
rental cars. What this means, basically, is that if you’d like a First Edition of the book, you should act soon. Both Amazon and Our Store have some copies available, as do the independent retailers listed on the Availability page. But when they’re gone, they’re gone, so grab one while you can. (If you’re ordering through us, and would like your copy signed, just let us know.) Then be on the lookout for the shiny new printing this fall, wherever books are sold.
[July 13th, 2004] Novelist and screenwriter Mark Sarvas is running a conversation with Scott O’Connor over at The Elegant Variation, discussing, among other things, Among Wolves and the joys and challenges of independent publishing. If you’re not familiar with the ‘Variation, or some other insightful, thought-provoking weblogs, now’s the time to get acquainted. [May 18th, 2004] A review of Among Wolves is running in the new Small Spiral Notebook, and Scott O'Connor's (very) short story "Souvenirs" appears in the new issue of H_NGM_N, the rather wonderful Southern magazine of original writing. The story is online, so head on over and give it a read, then order the actual issue to enjoy the work of the other fine folks involved. [May 10th, 2004] We now have Among Wolves desktop wallpaper. We kid you not. Right-click to download. Put it up and scare your co-workers silly. [May 7th, 2004] This is it. Almost as traumatic to popular culture as the final episode of 'Friends': the last installment of The Happy Seasons. Thank you to everyone who has stopped by, and everyone who has helped spread the word. Due to popular demand, it will remain on the site for the foreseeable future, so tell your friends, tell your enemies; come back as often as you'd like. [April 26th-30th, 2004] Ladies, gentlemen: the world premiere of The Happy Seasons by Nate Pritts. Over there on the right is the button that will get you started. Enjoy today's poem, and we'll see you back here tomorrow. [April 23rd, 2004] Among Wolves and Scott O'Connor's reading at Bookfellows in Glendale, California on Saturday night, April 24th, are the "Critic's Choice" in this week's Los Angeles CityBeat newspaper. Mr. O'Connor goes on at 8:30 PM. See you there. [April 20th, 2004] Next Monday morning, bright and early, The Matter will present the World Premiere of Nate Pritts' The Happy Seasons. Who is Nate Pritts? Well, according to StorySouth, he’s “one of the best Southern poets under 30.” According to his resume, he’s a teacher at the Louisiana School for Math, Science & the Arts, and a professor at Northwestern State University in Natchitoches. According to us, he’s the man who’s going to change the way you think about poetry for the next two weeks. Every weekday, from April 26th to May 7th, Swannigan & Wright will publish a new and/or unusual poem written by Mr. Pritts (and designed by Mr. Scott O’Connor). Yes, yes, wonderful, but what is it? Is it an online chapbook, an ebook, what? We’re not sure, nor do we really care. What we know is that it’s really, really good; that it’s poetry the likes of which you have never read before, presented in a way you’ve never seen. These poems will make your chest ache in good ways and bad, they’ll loop through your head like the catchiest pop song, they’ll follow you home like a stray dog. These poems will rearrange your day. We are not charging anything for these poems, or asking for anything from you except a little time, maybe first thing in the morning or last thing at night. We think, sometimes, that’s enough to ask of anyone. We don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
*** [April 14th, 2004] Scott O'Connor will be appearing at Bookfellows in Glendale, California on Saturday night, April 24th, to read from and sign Among Wolves. This is the first night of the Los Angeles Book Fair, and a whole bunch of writers (last count: 16) will be on hand, reading and signing. Come out and enjoy the cheese tray. [April 3rd, 2004] Skylight Books, one of the most popular and respected bookstores in Los Angeles, has this to say about Among Wolves in their Spring Newsletter: "Hits hard and leaves a lasting impression. The mysteries, fears and insecurities of childhood are described with humor and horror. A dark and poetic trip, this 92 page masterpiece tells of stolen identity and familial disintegration--and contains the best passage ever written on the subject of smoking while wearing a Diggity Dawg costume."*** [March 15th, 2004] Scott O'Connor is the guest weblogger this morning over at Foreward, the book design site. Mr. O'Connor assures us that, in the book design world, this is like guest-hosting Letterman. (His "blog" begins just below an entry on the new, hipped-up version of the Bible.)
[March 12th, 2004] Kendra Hibbert's review of Among Wolves is here. The photographs from the Among Wolves Release Party are finally here! (Rest assured that the actual party was in color.)
Mr. O'Connor regales the crowd with some carefully rehearsed "jokes". [Not shown: capacity audience; various high-level Hollywood producers; assorted groupies]
Mr. O'Connor, having run out of material, introduces The Affect.
The Affect.
The Affect (playing so hard, the room got blurry) ***** [An Event. February 11th, 2004] First off, thank you to everyone who has made the initial launch of Scott O'Connor's Among Wolves such a success. Our Accounting Department has been forced to work overtime counting all of the money. But now it’s time to get the book out to readers who are not members of Mr. O’Connor’s immediate family or his various support groups. To that end, we’re employing two incentives that often lead to folks taking things home that they shouldn’t: live music and booze. That’s right, we’re having a Book Release Party. But, unlike other stuffy literary events you may have attended at the Altadena VFW (booked) or in the back hallway leading to the restrooms at Barnes & Noble (also, um, booked), we’re holding it at a somewhat respectable bar in the heart of Hollywood. And there’s going to be a band. Legendary Los Angeles foursome The Affect are picking up their instruments and putting aside their considerable personal differences for this night only. Unless it goes really well, and then you’ll probably never hear the end of them. Either way, The Matter is pleased as punch to be involved with these fellows, and to offer you something to do on a Saturday night besides “tying one on” while completing the latest Cosmo quiz. You can thank us later, with your $8 US. See you there. -
Nathan December
***** [The Matter Returns. February 1st, 2004] Welcome!
The Swannigan & Wright Literary Matter has resumed publishing
after an unnecessarily long and dark period of dormancy—a period
that seems to have affected not only The Matter, but American
culture at large. Especially network television. Especially network
television on Wednesday nights from 8PM to 11PM. Thankfully, though,
that’s all behind us now. So,
welcome, and thank you for welcoming us into your homes and apartments.
And if you’re welcoming us into your place of business, we thank
your immediate supervisors for being so lax in their duties. (Incidentally,
we hope to make this a much more enjoyable and efficient way of wasting
time at work than, say, the way we wasted time back in the original
S&W offices--namely by typing specific strings of numbers
into our calculators and then turning the machines upside down so that
the messages were decipherable to the comely secretary at the desk adjoining
our own. Ah, Progress! Ah, Technology!) If
you are unfamiliar with tS&W company story (and therefore,
shamefully, with the history of modern American letters and punctuation),
please direct your attention to our HISTORY
section. Currently, it features a characteristically vague and longwinded
overview of The Matter, but in the weeks and months to come
we’ll be presenting the men and women who, often through no fault
of their own, were part and parcel of our history. We'll be publishing
their stories on the site, many of which are terrifically exciting and
end with poor decisions regarding alcohol and choice of bedpartners. Scott
O’Connor’s novella ‘Among
Wolves’ is available for perusal and purchase in
our BOOKS
section, and a 10 page preview is available here.
Mr. O’Connor is far too modest an author to brag about the blindingly
transcendent, genre-bursting, generation-defining book he’s written.
And if he were in fact to say these things, he'd be lying. So allow
us to say only that it is a work full of well-developed characters,
shocking twists of plot, and passable jokes in a handsome volume, crafted
by accredited professionals. Go. BOOKS. ‘Among
Wolves’ and future S&W publications are
and will be available in progressive local bookstores and their equally
progressive online counterparts. AVAILABILITY
tells you more. So
thank you, once again, for your time. And on behalf of the entire staff
of The Swannigan & Wright Literary Matter, I say to you,
with all sincerity, and with a fond remembrance of that prior golden
age of job-shirking and a tip of the calculator: 0.1134 - Nathan
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