With Regard to the Publishing Venture

neoNuma Arts has, for intents and purposes, has ceased to exist as a publishing venture. The neonuma.com website no longer exists and I may not bring it back. It sort of slipped out of existence when I was preoccupied with other things and not sure when or if I'll get it back.

The books that neoNuma Arts published continue to be available. Those books are:

Nighthawks by Evan Guilford-Blake. Evan continues to get produced here and there and around the world. Check out this play. It's a lovely piece of drama.

The Comic Flaw by Alan Berecka. I've recently described this as "Sh*t my Dad Says only in poetry." Except it's the whole family. Alan isn't all laughs, as he usually turns the hysterical anecdote into poignant human commentary---which is what makes him brilliant. It seems this book has a special resonance with people who grew up in a strongly ethnic, Roman Catholic family, but that doesn't describe me, so the appeal is broader than that. I'm just saying, in case a Roman Catholic from a distinct ethnic heritage is reading. (There are rumors of a second Berecka collection coming in 2011 --- get this one now so you don't have to buy too many books at once!)

Necropolis by Jill Alexander Essbaum. Jill is the superstar of the neoNuma fold. She had a poem in the 2010 Best American Poetry and her name is on the cover of the January, 2011 issue of Poetry Magazine (on stands now). She's even in a text book, now. I forget which one. A Longman anthology, if I'm not mistaken. Anyway. I'm biased, but I still love this collection best of all, dark and brooding as it is.

The Fatal Gift of Beauty and Other Plays by Christopher E. Ellis. Christopher isn't as produced as Evan, but these plays are such little gems of theater. The title play is a tour de force for two young actors. Give this a chance, especially if you're in the theater world and have need of short plays. There's some beautiful stuff here.

Able to... edited by Neil Ellis Orts. This was the first venture into literary publishing and I only have the rights to publish these stories through the end of 2011, so if you're interested, get it in the next 12 months. These stories about people (not superheroes) with super-powers still remain close to my heart. I always feel like they never found their audience. Poignant, horrific, wonder-filled, funny . . . they run a gamut of emotions. Perhaps that's its weakness---to many flavors between one cover---but I've always thought variety was a good thing. Check it out and see if you can't be persuaded. You'll believe a man can glow. And that a boy can run on water. And a girl can speak flowers. Among other things.

And if you've found this blog while looking for the old neonuma.com and you're needing to contact me, here is one place to do so, or you can reach me at neilellisorts (at) yahoo dot com. (The neo@neonuma.com address died with the website.) The P.O. Box remains available for contact as well:

P.O. Box 460248
Houston, TX 77056

These are rare gems of books and I'm so proud to have presented them to the world. If you haven't yet, won't you purchase one (or more) soon?

Regarding Art Stimulates Lit and the Psalms Project

I don't know how many people check this blog, but I thought I should at least put out there some information on two calls for work that I put out last fall.

First, the "psalms project," which is being edited by Jill Alexander Essbaum, Anne McCrady, and Alan Berecka. They have been going through the many submissions and are working on getting a final list of work to be included in the final book. There have been some delays due to everyone's full schedules (including, in one case, a trans-Atlantic move), but the project is moving ahead and I project we'll be sending out notifications regarding acceptance and rejection (what an ugly word, but there it is) in early fall. Maybe sooner.

The Art Stimulates Lit project is a little stickier. I'm trying to read through the submissions this summer and see if I have a book. I'm not sure that I do, yet. I'm hoping that in September, I can start emailing authors with firm status of their work. That's a long wait for some of you who submitted with the first call I put out. I've closed the call for now, but may reopen it if I don't have enough material. Stay tuned.

It's all rather embarrassing to admit, but I bit off more than I could chew this year. It seems everything has been delayed (remember when the just released Necropolis was announced for an April release?) and things snowball. I'm very sorry. Until I get some of the things I've committed to cleared off the plate, I won't be looking at any new projects, possibly for up to a year.

In the meantime, all of you who submitted stories for Art Stimulates Lit, I encourage you to continue to send your work around, if it's not previously published. Because this is an anthology, I don't mind using previously published work, and there's no need for you to wait around for me to play catch up with my schedule. Even if I find I have enough material for a book this fall, the very earliest it would be published is fall of 2009, and a more realistic time frame is early 2010. (yikes! That looks so very much like The Future, doesn't it?)

If you have any questions about either of these projects, please feel free to email me at neo (at) neonuma.com, but there's not much more to tell you than what's above. Again, very sorry for the delays. I'm still trying to figure out these entrepreneurial endeavors.

Submission Guidelines

Howdy, everyone. I know I said the next blog would be about what I'm reading, but this is what I'm hoping to be reading in the next few months. If you're not a writer, point out this blog to someone who is! Thanks!

(i'll be back soon enough with some blather about some books i've read recently.)

Art Stimulates Lit
a fiction anthology about art and artists

neoNuma Arts, publisher of Able to... and The Fatal Gift of Beauty and Other Plays, is soliciting short fiction on the theme of art and artists for an anthology to be published in 2008.

In each story, an artist or work of art must play an integral part. This may be a fictionalized biography, a story of one person’s relationship to an artist or work of art, or some combination or permutation of the same. The artwork may be from any realm of creative endeavor, not only visual art, but dance, theater, music, and other literary figures are equally fair game for stimulating the literary imagination. For models, consider Colum McCann’s Dancer (Rudolf Nureyev), or Michael Cunningham’s The Hours (Virginia Woolf) or Specimen Days (Walt Whitman). Do NOT consider Dan Brown’s The Da Vinci Code.

Length is open—shorter than a novella (although neoNuma would be interested in seeing novels and novellas along similar themes). Genre is open. Stories should be human, character driven explorations of art and artistry.

Submit stories to:

neoNuma Arts
P.O. Box 460248
Houston, TX 77056

Authors will be paid a royalty, based on sales. Previously published stories are acceptable, with proof of available anthology rights.

Questions to: neo@neonuma.com
Deadline: March 31


neoNuma Arts is looking for a few good psalms

Here, at the beginning of the 21st Century, life is much different from ancient Israel. The world of electronics and instant communication give us a different set of images to use in expressing our praise and worship, new cultural contexts within which to speak of and to God.

As such, neoNuma Arts is seeking out poets and other wordsmiths to create a modern psalter, one that uses imagery that might draw modern people into worship and praise in new and unexpected ways.

Form is open—free verse or any form known to poetry.

Content may be as broad as the Biblical psalms, which are:

songs of praise and worship to God (Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. –Psalm 41)

songs of despair and lament (My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? –Psalm 22)

songs addressed to the faithful (Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. –Psalm 95)

even personal songs (O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. –Psalm 139)

but they are all songs that might be useful in personal devotion and corporate worship. While we don’t expect this book to become standard use in any church’s worship services, the intention is that any of these modern psalms could be used in such a way.

Is there poetry and praise in modern church architecture as the ancient psalmists found in the tabernacle and temple? Can SUVs and jets evoke imagery that draws us to God as chariots and horses once did? What in this 21st Century world brings us to joy and praise and awe? Conversely, what modern imagery might we borrow to express our despair and loneliness and brokenness?

The editors for this volume, Alan Berecka, Jill Alexander Essbaum, and Anne McCrady, will be looking for psalms of high craft and literary worth.

Submissions to: psalter2008@gmail.com
Deadline: February 29, 2008
Projected publication date: November, 2008