The Wig Leaf Top 50

I've always liked reading the Wigleaf Top 50 for the huge range of original fiction it collects, so I was excited to be included on this year's list with two pieces: "Running," which originally appeared in Housefire and "The Circumstances of My Birth," which originally appeared in Tin House. Plus, there's great work by Steve Almond, Aimee Bender, Sherrie Flick, Sarah Rose Etter, Rachel B. Glaser, Curtis Smith, James O'Brien, Kristine Ong Muslim, Douglas Watson, and so many others.

There Isn't Anybody Expecting Me Anywhere Tomorrow

I have a new story in the spring issue of the Baltimore Review that's called There Isn't Anybody Expecting Me Anywhere Tomorrrow. Plus, there's a piece by my pal, Jen Michalski, in the same issue.

We Are Meant to Be Robots

There's a super nice review of Us up at Insatiable Booksluts. It says, in part: "I really loved this book. It’s a very quick read – I finished it in one day. The last stretch was in the breakroom at work, and I was blinking away tears. We’re not to show emotion at work. WE ARE MEANT TO BE ROBOTS. So my coworkers were not overly impressed with the crying. I passed it off as allergies. Yay for reading this in springtime! Excellent little book. Kimball’s great with emotion and realism and pain and the truth behind a lifetime of love. Highly recommended."

"Since reading Us, I wish most books were Us instead."

The human kindness that is Joseph Riippi is interviewed at The L Magazine where he is asked: "What have you read/watched/listened to/looked at/ate recently that will permanently change our readers' lives for the better?" And where he answers: "Always and forever, Running in the Family by Michael Ondaatje is a book to love. And Michael Kimball’s Us makes me cry each time. I wish I had written Us. Since reading Us, I wish most books were Us instead. I love Us so much. You should love Us, too."

Call + Response

I'm excited to be a part of Call + Response--an annual art show pairing writers and artists--along with Amber Sparks, Reb Livingston, Danielle Evans, Kyle G. Dargan, Trevor Young, Matthew Mann, Lisa Marie Thalhammer, Mia Feuer, and YAY Team.

Writing Machine

I first met Cynthia Gray through her Don't Give Up project and immediately became a distributor. We've been friends ever since and she recently asked me to be part of her collaborative Writing Machine, which I was excited to try. The way it worked: Cynthia would write a line and then I would write a line. We could rewrite, revise, add, cut, etc. as each of us thought best. By the end, I couldn't remember which parts started with me and which parts started with Cynthia, which was a new place for me to get to as a writer. The most fascinating part was writing a line and then watching Cynthia take the next line someplace I never would have thought.

Audacious Ideas

Ilse Munro has a really nice write up about the postcard life story project for the Audacious Ideas series over at Little Patuxent Review. There are links to a bunch of my favorite postcard life stories over there at the right (scroll down).

Literary Equations

There's a really thoughtful review of Us up at Literary Equations. The good Matt Rowan says, in part: "The novel is heartbreaking, crushing ... powerfully so. It's the good kind of crushing, too."

Us for City Paper's The Year In Books

I'm excited that City Paper named Us to its Top Ten list for The Year in Books, along with books by some of my favorite writers—Joan Didion, David Foster Wallace, Errol Morris, Lawrence Weschler, etc. City Paper says, in part: "We’re all familiar with the classic boy-meets-girl scenario, but what would happen if the tale kept going? Kimball takes the reader to the end of the love story—the real end—and shows just how crushing it can be. "

Running

A new piece of fiction called Running up at Housefire. Many thanks to Kira Clark and Robert Duncan Gray.

The Bomb Interview: My Mind Zooming In

My friend and genius Adam Robinson interviewed me about Us for Bomb. He asks me some impossible questions and I tell him what I'd be doing if I wasn't writing novels.

Us Named a Top Ten Indie by Book Page

Book Page has named its Top 10 Indie Picks for 2011 and Us tops the list, which also has great titles by Joshua Mohr, Alan Heathcock, Ryan Bradley, Steve Himmer, Adam Mansbach, Lavinia Ludlow, Vanessa Veselka, Franki Elliot, and Ben Tanzer. Many thanks for Lori Hettler.

BIG RAY

I love this cover -- the presence in the absence, at once beautiful and unsettling. Click on it for a bigger version. Bloomsbury will publish BIG RAY Fall 2012.

Tin House: The Circumstances of My Birth

Tin House is publishing fiction online and I have a new piece there called The Circumstances of My Birth.

Many thanks to Tony Perez.

BIG RAY

There will probably be some tweaks -- a bigger font size for the title and maybe white for my name and the placement of "a novel" might move -- but I love this cover too much to not show it to everybody already. Bloomsbury will publish BIG RAY Fall 2012.