Writing. Reading. Worshiping at the altar of rock n roll. Tasty vegan treats. Drinking, especially at the Beacon Pub. Bad decisions and the stories they create. Car rides. Sidney, the punkest cat ever, and Kaspar and Lars, his partners in crime. My fiance (awww). My friends. Lack of sleep (we have a love/hate thing). My house. The Midwest. Chicago, Wisconsin. Seattle. The West Coast. Traveling (especially to Seattle and LA, and I'd love for someone to pay for me to go to Europe. Please?). Chicago White Sox baseball. Pirates. Playing my geetar (badly).
Music
Nirvana, Hole, Social Distortion, Rancid, Civet, The Distillers, Against Me!, Screaming Trees (and Mark Lanegan's solo stuff), Rise Against, The Gits, Sleater-Kinney, The Cure, Dinosaur Jr, White Stripes, Joy Division, REM, Pixies, Babes in Toyland, Propagandhi, Johnny Cash, Leadbelly, Material Issue, Katastrophy Wife, Robert Johnson, The Capricorns, Office, The Wipers, Tiger Army, Alkaline Trio, Sex Pistols, Bowie, The Muffs, P!nk, The Vaselines, Bad Religion, Bauhaus, Rush, PJ Harvey, Mudhoney, Rise Against, Lucid Nation, Eyes Adrift, Everclear, Alice in Chains, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Rites of Spring, Sonic Youth, Tori Amos, Foo Fighters, The Clash, Tilt, MTX, Screeching Weasel, The Queers, NOFX, L7, Huggy Bear, Morphine, Garbage, Green Day, Huggy Bear, Smashing Pumpkins, Auf der Maur, My Bloody Valentine, 7 Year Bitch, The Afghan Whigs, Death Cab for Cutie, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Concrete Blonde, Soul Asylum, The Replacements, The Dead Milkmen, Faith No More, Echo and the Bunnymen, Heavens to Betsy, The Stooges, Jane's Addiction, Patti Smith, do you want me to keep going cause I can...
Movies
Pirates of the Caribbean(all of them!), The People Vs Larry Flynt, The Breakfast Club, Juno, Almost Famous, City of Lost Children, Heathers, Beetlejuice, Delicatessan, Titus, The Lost Boys, Grease, Harry Potter, Sid and Nancy, PCU, Office Space, Nightmare Before Christmas, The Crow, Walk the Line, Winnie the Pooh, The Labyrinth, Dark Crystal, Finding Neverland, Edward Scissorhands, basically anything with Johnny Depp, Gross Pointe Blank, Singles, Velvet Goldmine, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, Clerks, Mystic River, Reality Bites, Blade Runner, Lord of the Rings, Rebel without a Cause, Amelie, 40 Year Old Virgin
Television
Degrassi Junior High, Degrassi High, Degrassi: The Next Generation, My So-Called Life, Twin Peaks, Californication, Grey's Anatomy, Rock of Love, Weeds, Dirty Sexy Money, Star Trek the Next Generation, Family Guy, White Sox baseball, Beverly Hills 90210, (the new) 90210, and last but not least, the one I watch 5 days a week... One Life to Live (though I miss the original Todd Manning). Yeah some of my TV watching habits are dorky, I am fully aware.
Books
Grapes of Wrath, Beige, Hairstyles of the Damned, The Scarlet Letter, Queen of the Oddballs, Trainspotting, Ecstasy, Porno, The Book of Ralph, America's Report Card, The Hanged Man, all of the Weetzie Bat books, Wicked Game, Bad to the Bone, Ink Exchange, Wicked Lovely, Harry Potter, Shout Down the Moon, Shrinking Violet, Love Medicine, Such A Pretty Girl, Leftovers, Graffiti Girl, Invisible Touch, Almost Home, Bastard Out of Carolina, Adios to My Old Life, Heavier Than Heaven, Perfume, Whores on the Hill, Pretty Little Dirty, Brave New Girl, Tropic of Cancer, American Skin, Wraeththu, Thin Air, The Great Gatsby, and many many more
Heroes
All the writers I mentioned in the book section. Kurt Cobain. Girls that play guitar and rock hard like Courtney Love, Brody Dalle, and Liza, Suzi, Roxie, and Jacqui of Civet. And above all others, my mom.
Columbia College Chicago
Chicago,Illinois
Graduated: 2006
Student status: Alumni
Major: MFA and BA in Creative Writing
Clubs: Fiction Writing Student Board, Fictionary
2000 to 2006
Antioch College
Yellow Springs,Ohio
Graduated: N/A
Student status: Alumni
Major: Aborted bachelor's degree in Self Society and Culture, whatever the hell that means.
Clubs: Randall girls!
1997 to 1998
Oak Park & River Forest High Sch
Oak Park,Illinois
Graduated: 1997
Student status: Alumni
Major: going to as few classes as possible and still managing to graduate early with a 4.0
BALLADS OF SUBURBIA is my newest book, which comes out July 21, 2009.
BALLADS OF SUBURBIA Book Trailer:
About BALLADS OF SUBURBIA:
There are so many ballads. Achy breaky country songs. Mournful pop songs. Then there’s the rare punk ballad, the ballad of suburbia: louder, faster, angrier . . . till it drowns out the silence.
Kara hasn’t been back to Oak Park since the end of junior year, when a heroin overdose nearly killed her and sirens heralded her exit. Four years later, she returns to face the music. Her life changed forever back in high school: her family disintegrated, she ran around with a whole new crowd of friends, she partied a little too hard, and she fell in love with gorgeous bad boy Adrian, who left her to die that day in Scoville Park. . . .
Amidst the music, the booze, the drugs, and the drama, her friends filled a notebook with heartbreakingly honest confessions of the moments that defined and shattered their young lives. Now, finally, Kara is ready to write her own.
My first book, I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE, came out in July of 2008.
About I WANNA BE YOUR JOEY RAMONE:
A raw, edgy, emotional novel about growing up punk and living to tell.
The Clash. Social Distortion. Dead Kennedys. Patti Smith. The Ramones.
Punk rock is in Emily Black’s blood. Her mother, Louisa, hit the road to follow the incendiary music scene when Emily was four months old and never came back.
Now Emily’s all grown up with a punk band of her own, determined to find the tune that will bring her mother home. Because if Louisa really is following the music, shouldn’t it lead her right back to Emily? Get a sneak peek of the first chapter here
Who I'd like to meet: People who love books. People who love punk rock. Girls who dream of being rock stars. Hell, anyone who secretly wishes they were a rock star. Midwesterners. Run aways. Pirates. Freaks. Misfits. People who love road trips. People who are just looking for a good story.
We're proud to announce the birth of our latest EP. It's called "Die Krazy Die" and you can hear it now on our myspace page. Give it a listen and let us know what you think!!
-earl
Remember we're playing Summerfest on Tue June 30th at 1pm!!
Hey, I just got your street team message with the first three chaps, and I'm so excited about reading them. I was looking for a good read last night and picked up IWBYJR, but this is perfect. Can't wait! Oh, and hang in there, you're a terrific, emotionally-driven writer and your work is so intense... we, the fans, know that and we support you =)
Thank you for being a friend. I look forward to getting to know you.
During this month, I've started a Summertime recipe exchange on my blog. I will be posting recipes sent to me from various authors, so stop on by and check them out. Plus, I have monthly contest for free books. This month's is coming soon!
Thanks for the friendship and your kind words. I am looking forward to reading "Ballads of Suburbia" and now I know what to give for my friends birthdays!
Nirvana, Hole, Social Distortion, Rancid, Civet, The Distillers, Against Me!, Screaming Trees (and Mark Lanegan's solo stuff), Rise Against, The Gits, Sleater-Kinney, The Cure, Dinosaur Jr, White Stripes, Joy Division, REM, Pixies, Babes in Toyland, Propagandhi, Johnny Cash, Leadbelly, Material Issue, Katastrophy Wife, Robert Johnson, The Capricorns, Office, The Wipers, Tiger Army, Alkaline Trio, Sex Pistols, Bowie, The Muffs, P!nk, The Vaselines, Bad Religion, Bauhaus, Rush, PJ Harvey, Mudhoney, Rise Against, Lucid Nation, Eyes Adrift, Everclear, Alice in Chains, Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Rites of Spring, Sonic Youth, Tori Amos, Foo Fighters, The Clash, Tilt, MTX, Screeching Weasel, The Queers, NOFX, L7, Huggy Bear, Morphine, Garbage, Green Day, Huggy Bear, Smashing Pumpkins, Auf der Maur, My Bloody Valentine, 7 Year Bitch, The Afghan Whigs, Death Cab for Cutie, Pretty Girls Make Graves, Concrete Blonde, Soul Asylum, The Replacements, The Dead Milkmen, Faith No More, Echo and the Bunnymen, Heavens to Betsy, The Stooges, Jane's Addiction, Patti Smith, do you want me to keep going cause I can...
