Author Archives: weirdodujour

Everyday is Halloween

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Miss Spoken‘s HAUNTED on October 26th was a bloody good time! Thanks to hosts, Amy Eaton and Jasmine Davila, for inviting me to creep everyone out. Extra thanks to readers Mary Lorenz, Joy Wright, and Vicki Walden. They were all hilariously fun and scary!

Halloween double feature on Does it Follow? Dmitry and I discuss Rondo Hatton in House of Horrors and The Brute Man as well as a lot of other films in theaters.

HAUNTED

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Next Monday, October 26th at Cole’s, I’m honored to read as part of Chicago’s Live Lady Lit, Miss Spoken. October’s theme is “haunted”. Drop in for some chills and chuckles.

Also, Dmitry and I have started a podcast where we rattle on about movies we’ve watched and other things. Check out Does It Follow?

Get Lit

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Honored to have a conversation with Donald Evans of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, and Dmitry Samarov about my book, Ornery Cuss. You can read that here.

Photo by John McNaughton

You can catch me at the Printer’s Row Lit Festival on Saturday, September 12th. I’ll be bugging out about the crowds at the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame table from 10:30-1:30. Stop by and buy a book or point and laugh!

And save the date: I’ll be reading at Miss Spoken October 26th and the Written on a Napkin reading series on November 16th.

Salt Lake Taphophiles

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Got the opportunity to speak with Kyler on Salt Lake Dirt about my book, zine culture, and our love of cemeteries. You can listen here or anywhere else you like to get your podcasts.

Brooklyn Vol. 1 recommended Ornery Cuss for the month of June.

I made another appearance on Lets’s Take a Moment to discuss Myke Skye’s zine Joteria. You can watch it here.

And for my local yokels, you can now pick up a copy of Ornery Cuss at Sheep Cult Comics!

Running Wild in the Streets

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Last night’s book release was a success and just down right fun. None of it would have happened without Dmitry Samarov, Nathan Hoks, and Westley Heine. Big thanks to Tangible Books for hosting and to everyone that came out.

There’s a recording of the event here.

Moving forward, you can still buy copies of Ornery Cuss directly from me on this website. Or you can get a copy out in the wild streets of Chicago at Dusty Groove, Tangible Books, or Pilsen Community Books. Plus anywhere else in the world via bookshop.org or the Bezos Borg.

The Orneriest of Cusses

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After decades of talking about it and handfuls of false starts and stops, I’ve completed my first book. On June 1st of 2026, Weirdo Du Jour Press releases my debut novel, Ornery Cuss. Not to be confused with the zine printed in 2023, this is the complete and unabridged version chocked full of the working class dark humor you love. A grubby coming-of-age tale about a sharp-edged loner who runs away from a stifling rural community and into the arms of Chicago’s raw chaos. No shortcuts taken nor lessons learned any way but the hard way.

You can pre-order a copy here. By doing so, 100% of the price you pay goes directly to me as the author. I will sign and write whatever personal inscription you wish on every copy you purchase.

Of course, I didn’t do this all alone. I wouldn’t have gone through with any of this, were it not for the support and guidance of Dmitry Samarov. His talent and experience helped refine these pages through edit and design. Most importantly, his encouragement helped will Ornery Cuss into existence. It’s a gift to have someone so thoughtful in my corner. Yesterday we had a conversation on Hu U No about the book, writing, zines, and the like. You can listen to it here.