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Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Howl for Bob Arter
Yesterday, I learned that the world lost one of its most beautiful people over the weekend. Bob Arter was, for me, a bit of a mentor, probably without his even realizing it. He was the guest editor of the 17th issue of SmokeLong. As a quadriplegic (due to a surfing accident in 1973), he had to write or type using an instrument held in his mouth. Despite that, he offered line by line edits on hundreds of the submissions that came in for that issue, making us see beauty in pieces we might have more easily passed over. I don't think the writers who submitted for that issue realize how much love Bob put into reading their submissions.
He also NEVER talked about his condition. He wasn't embarrassed by it, but he just wasn't interested in calling attention to it. He was gregarious and met several folks from the Zoetrope community in person. It was only through those meetings that others of us ever learned of how he lived his life day to day.
Tonight, around the world, dozens of writers who loved Bob will be reading pieces of his outdoors, howling at the moon, drinking toasts to him. Maryanne Stahl came up with the idea, and folks immediately jumped on board. Won't you all join us in reading, howling, and drinking to Bob tonight? I'd like to think he'll hear us.
If you have your own favorite piece of Bob's, have at it. If not, here are links to several of his stories:
And the Sun Soared from the Sea, Oh Me! (Painted Moon Review)
Back Home (SmokeLong)
The Big Texan (FRiGG)
Chitlins (SmokeLong)
Dancing with Anthony (Pindeldyboz)
Grace (LitPot)
The Gown (Opium)
Holiday (Mississippi Review)
How I Came to Love the Godless Eskimo (Opium)
I Went to Barnes, I Went to Noble (LitPot)
Jenny Craig Confronts Lady Higgs-Boson (The God Particle)
L'Amour (Juked)
Mating (FRiGG)
My Mom's Prom (Pindeldyboz)
Nice Easy (Mad Hatters Review)
The Old Folks (Juked)
Paper Mouse (SmokeLong)
Pictures of You (FRiGG)
Psyche Asea (Gator Springs Gazette)
Remembering Elizabeth (SmokeLong)
Riley's Shoes (Gator Springs Gazette)
Sinker in the Hole (Hobart)
The Spaceman (Night Train)
The Star (Hobart)
Survivor's Assistance (Zoetrope All-Story Extra)
That Gladrag Razzmatazz (Absinthe Literary Review)
The Trouble with Fishing (Quintessence... you can't see the text unless you highlight it all, as this is an archived page that has lost its original dark background)
The Wind (Juked)
We love you, Bob. May you rest in peace, finally free of pain.
Labels: Bob Arter
posted by Dave Clapper at 10:54 AM 5 commentsFriday, October 03, 2008
Top Ten Page Views for September 2008
Well, Matt Bell owned the month of September, not only capturing the top spot with his most recent flash in SLQ, but also checking in at #8 for a flash published two years ago. You go, Matt!1. (2) The Folk Singer Dreams of Time Machines by Matt Bell (6/15/08)
2. (5) This Is What You Left Behind by Tod Goldberg (3/15/07)
3. (9) Pornography by Steve Almond (6/15/05)
4. (8) Ten Very Short Stories by John Leary (3/15/07)
5. (NR) Feeling Sad by Darby Larson (6/15/08)
6. (4) Paper Mouse by Bob Arter (6/15/08)
7. (3) We Decided to Make Porn by Brian Allen Carr (6/15/08)
8. (NR) How the Broken Lead the Blind Until They Both Become Something Else Entirely by Matt Bell (6/15/06)
9. (10) The Bone Orchard by Randall Brown (6/15/08)
10. (NR) Handful of Dirt by Jim Ruland (6/15/08)
Total page views for the month? 96,057, another huge month. Woo!
Labels: Bob Arter, Brian Allen Carr, Darby Larson, Jim Ruland, Matt Bell, Randall Brown, SmokeLong Quarterly, Steve Almond, Tod Goldberg, Top Ten
posted by Dave Clapper at 4:29 PM 0 commentsWednesday, September 03, 2008
Top Ten Page Views for August 2008
August's top ten is a great example of why I'm such a huge fan of publishing online versus print publishing. Alexandra Fox's story was the most viewed piece of the month, with over 1000 page views last month. And it was published three years ago. And how did this come to pass? Apparently, somewhere along the way, it got tagged on StumbleUpon, and so users of that service wound up being directed to this work quite often. Lots of new readers for a story from 2005. When's the last time you saw print do that?1. (NR) A Deep Desire for Blue by Alexandra Fox (6/15/05)
2. (3) The Folk Singer Dreams of Time Machines by Matt Bell (6/15/08)
3. (1) We Decided to Make Porn by Brian Allen Carr (6/15/08)
4. (2) Paper Mouse by Bob Arter (6/15/08)
5. (NR) This Is What You Left Behind by Tod Goldberg (3/15/07)
6. (8) The Cougar by Dave Clapper (6/15/08)
7. (6) Disease Relics by Blake Butler (6/15/08)
8. (4) Ten Very Short Stories by John Leary (3/15/07)
9. (7) Pornography by Steve Almond (6/15/05)
10. (5) The Bone Orchard by Randall Brown (6/15/08)
One other quick note: for the month, we had 96,892 page views, shattering our previous monthly record. Holy cow.
Labels: Alexandra Fox, Blake Butler, Bob Arter, Brian Allen Carr, Dave Clapper, John Leary, Matt Bell, Randall Brown, SmokeLong Quarterly, Steve Almond, Tod Goldberg, Top Ten
posted by Dave Clapper at 5:41 PM 0 commentsWednesday, August 13, 2008
Top Ten Page Views for July 2008
Last month was a huge month for the latest issue: nine of the top ten were from Issue 21. And total page views for the month was a big number again: 87,560. Looks like this year we aren't have the usual summer slump in visitors to the site. Woo!1. (7) We Decided to Make Porn by Brian Allen Carr (6/15/08)
2. (5) Paper Mouse by Bob Arter (6/15/08)
3. (3) The Folk Singer Dreams of Time Machines by Matt Bell (6/15/08)
4. (2) Ten Very Short Stories by John Leary (3/15/07)
5. (6) The Bone Orchard by Randall Brown (6/15/08)
6. (4) Disease Relics by Blake Butler (6/15/08)
7. (1) Pornography by Steve Almond (6/15/05)
8. (NR) The Cougar by Dave Clapper (6/15/08)
9. (NR) Real Estate by Bonnie ZoBell (6/15/08)
10. (NR) Pen and Notebook by Natalie Goldberg (6/15/08)
Labels: Blake Butler, Bob Arter, Bonnie ZoBell, Brian Allen Carr, Dave Clapper, John Leary, Matt Bell, Natalie Goldberg, Randall Brown, Steve Almond, Top Ten
posted by Dave Clapper at 2:55 PM 0 commentsTuesday, July 01, 2008
Top Ten Page Views for June 2008
Almond moves back on top again, and I'm sure that's due at least in part to Microsoft's pervy search engine results, but whatever. Lots of stuff from the anniversary issue appears here as well, and it was a huge traffic month: over 90,000 page views, our highest-traffic month ever. Can't complain about that!1. (2) Pornography by Steve Almond (6/15/05)
2. (5) Ten Very Short Stories by John Leary (3/15/07)
3. (NR) The Folk Singer Dreams of Time Machines by Matt Bell (6/15/08)
4. (NR) Disease Relics by Blake Butler (6/15/08)
5. (NR) Paper Mouse by Bob Arter (6/15/08)
6. (NR) The Bone Orchard by Randall Brown (6/15/08)
7. (NR) We Decided to Make Porn by Brian Allen Carr (6/15/08)
8. (NR) Ethnic Lego Girls Carry Spears by Heidi W. Durrow (9/15/07)
9. (1) The Cockroach by David Barringer (3/15/08)
10. (NR) Memento Mori by Rosanne Grifeth (6/15/08)
One thing I really notice about the top ten is that a number of these pieces were highlighted in various blogs recently: Matt Bell's piece was featured by Dan Wickett here, Dogzplot here, and in Matt's own blog here (along with links to every other story in the issue); Matt and Blake Butler were featured by Josh Maday here; Blake is also featured by Keyhole Magazine here (as are Rosanne Griffeth and Shellie Zacharia), and in his own blog here; Randall Brown's piece appears on his blog here; and Rosanne, in addition to the Keyhole feature, is featured by The Angler here, Carolina On My Mind (the blog of the artist who illustrated the story) here, Dew on the Kudzu here, and in her own blog here.
Labels: Blake Butler, Bob Arter, Brian Allen Carr, David Barringer, Heidi W. Durrow, John Leary, Matt Bell, Randall Brown, Rosanne Griffeth, Steve Almond, Top Ten
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