Bøker av Paige Johnson

What could be more noir than a diner? From the greasy spoon to the gourmet sit-in, these 19 stories show why diners aren't family friendly. Diners are the place where heists are plotted, bodies get dumped behind, and police are tipped off. These eateries host every crime from domestic disputes and drug deals to premeditated murder and mob mutiny. It's all fluorescent-lit, fly-riddled entertainment to the drunk, recovering, or wish-they-were. Whether the characters are the cooks, criminals, customers, or somewhere in-between, these short works pack a gut punch on par with the saltiest, soggiest Grand Slam breakfast special. There're breakups and bruises, gambling rackets and gang warfare, butchering and familial dismemberment--even schmoes tapping into a parallel universe or two. No matter who enters or at what time, wet, weary eyes always seem to find a steaming cup of joe to cloud-gaze in--and cry. (Forewords by Nevada McPherson and Manny Torres, titled, "Get in, loser. We're Going to Waffle House!") 1. Moths by LG Thomson2. Pluto's Place by Stephen J. Golds3. The Fragrant Flavor of the Strawberry Rhubarb Pie by Jhon Sanchez4. Honey Oil by Paige Johnson5. What's Left of the Sun by Michael J. Riser6. Ramblers, L.B.C. by Nolan Knight7. Vonyetta Mosley's Marzipan Palace by David Simmons8. Middle Men by Liv Strom9. Scar on Scar by Jon Gingerich10. A Confederate Engaged to a Jihadist by Nathan Pettigrew11. Two Boys in a Diner by Dino Parenti12. Atomic Getaway by Jesse Bethea13. Denim by Joseph S. Walker14. Watch Yourself by Gordon Dunleavy15. Stuck in the Middle by Karen Keeley16. The Eternal Flame Diner by Meredith C. Kurz17. The Bigger Man by Jim Thomsen18. Pickup At The Main Street Diner by Margaret S. Hamilton19. Help Wanted by Wil Dalton

From cheese Danishes and cheery puppets to Commie directors and curmudgeonly talk show hosts, this novella is how Finley Luker rediscovers life after The Marshmallow Show is cancelled. Hopping out of his father's shadow as the famed creator of Marshmallow is no small task, but it brings about better ones. Thus, Finley brings the obnoxious bunny character to late-night television, stars in an offbeat biopic as Fidel Castro called Fidelity...and he's getting married in Vegas! Blended with cute awkwardness and high-pitch-perfect irony, this cast of sweet-to-screamy eccentrics proves the acting life is a soft satire in itself-and everybody has reinvention in their heart before it hardens.

Inspired by a rainbow array of drug fiends and fiended-over druggies, Percocet Summer encompasses the rush of the solstice, odd obsessions, and other crushables (people and pills and moods). From Florida sweat to Georgia peach sweetness, NYC high-rollers to skidding-by wannabes, these 35+ illustrated poems cover all the shady crevices of a summer well-wasted. We're talking the lows of eating disorders and intervention, to the throes of psychedelia and romance, then the in-betweens of internet celebrity and international/dimensional travel. Gas station syringes and cotton candy softness, rap-fast slang to gushy Valentine verses, cheeky loves to sophisticated manipulators.This collection blurs dirty realism and noir like a Lana Del Rey love song. This is the first installment of the four-part series, Seasonal Dissociation: Poetry for Distancing Dates and Doses. Other titles include Cracked Leaves & Autumn Lines, Citrus Springs, and Aurora Shards of Winter. This is Paige Johnson's debut poetry book. She put together and featured in the short story collections Slut Vomit: An Anthology of Sex Work and In Filth It Shall Be Found. She's working on her third novel, Where Me & The Vultures Live, about a lonely Miami cam-girl who lives out of a motel. The first chapter of such appears in Anxious Nothings (Anxiety Press, 2022) alongside many illustrated, ironically erotic stories and essays. Poems featured: Circular Motions, Garter Belts in the Garden, Bioluminescence, Sunshine Idol, An Icebox in Brooklyn, Fire Escape Sunsets, Circling Saturn, Soulspun, Sweetwater Talker, Carpet-bagging, Phone Sex, Super 8, eBait, Jumping Satellites, SWIMing w/ Sharks, Fishscale, Morning Glory, Beneath the Shadow & Lo(wer), Al Fresco, Rock Candy Renegade, Bubble Wand Waif, Tilted, Blackout Dates, How Did I Get Here?, The Big Peach Pit, Campsite Skin, Nightshade, The Scent of a Woman, New Development, Svedka Blue, Etizolamb, Numb Gum Days, Painkiller, Don't Daydream, Strawberry Panic, Hollywood(, FL), Breakthrough Dose.

"In filth it shall be found" (in sterquiliniis invenitur) is a phrase popularized by psychologist Carl Jung, who wrote extensively on "the shadow side" of the psyche. According to Jung, we are less good, less moral, and less virtuous than we appear to others and even ourselves. He argued that many people operate in a decent manner only because their moral compass hasn't been tested. However, in exploring the shadow side, realizing man's capacity for malevolence, and integrating one's inner monster, people can be actively-rather than passively-moral.Outcast-Press falls in line with this belief that what you need most often lurks in the recesses you least want to tread: taboo topics, disturbing imagery, and the murky gray area within dichotomies. In this volume, you'll find 20 stories that explore the shadow side of humanity. These stories might disquiet, upset, or even enrage certain readers. Outcast-Press doesn't cater to such cries for censorship because we believe the best art isn't comfortable or comforting. Reading isn't a spectator sport. And since life doesn't come with a trigger warning, neither should literature.In these stories, we hope each author has explored the shadow side of their mind. Perhaps by working through past trauma or delving into a place that frightens them. For each piece, you won't find easily digestible, stained-glass, or politically correct perspectives. There aren't many commendable characters, and even fewer happy endings. Here, you'll find the downtrodden and dirty. Because it's in the mud, in the dark, in mainlined misery that truth reveals herself in all her filth-caked, blood-crusted glory.----Authors: Claudia SantinoS.M. FedorGreg LevinStephen J. GoldsLauren SapalaCT MarieSue PettyPaige JohnsonT.W. GarlandGregory J. WolosAmanda Cecelia LangG.C. McKaySimon BroderSebastian ViceEmily WoeCraig ClevengerDon LoganRussell ThayerElyse RussellVictory Witherkeigh