Checking in With Ramshackle

Ramshackle. Black Sabbath. Yes, yes I think so.

Q (Nicolle Elizabeth): Hey Mark. Ramshackle’s got a group going. Which I am particularly stoked about. What is Ramshackle Review? History, hopes and dreams, mission. Can you buy stock in Ramshackle?

A (Mark Reep): We do, and I’m glad you’re stoked! Ramshackle is about sharing work we’re excited about with as many people as we can. We want to turn people on to artists like Pamela Wilson, writers like Phil McCray. I wasn’t familiar with Breece Pancake until I read Sheldon Lee Compton’s ‘Intruder’, and I hope others who read the story in rr1 will be moved as I was, and want to learn more about Pancake and his work. (Sheldon’s made it easy; just read his comments on Pancake and process, and click on the link he provided.) We’re honored by the opportunity to publish work by well known and respected writers and artists- and we get just as excited about work by people few of us have heard of. Yet. We’re honored to be a part of that, too.

I enjoy learning about others’ processes; seems no matter the media, something usually translates, becomes useful, inspiring- So we intend Ramshackle to share something of process, too. We don’t care much about categories, labels, genres. Ramshackle is that 70’s FM station that played everbody from Elton John to Black Sabbath. We like William Gibson and Elmore Leonard and M. John Harrison and John Crowley’s Little, Big is our desert island book and Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men is even better than the movie. You write literary fiction? Fine, send it along. Crime, noir? Sure, send it. Contemporary fantasy, magical realism, slipstream? Send it. If we like, we’ll run it.

Ramshackle’s about work by teachers we’d all be blessed to learn from, and work from men and women who bus tables and lay stone and drive semis. It’s about putting together the best lit & arts zine we can on a shoestring. If we can do it for free, we’re there. Next goal’s our own scratchbuilt site. Stock offering- That’s probably a littttle farther down the line. :)

How is the Ramshackle Fictionaut Group going? Any gripes, questions, fun things happening?

Just started, no gripes yet. :) Groups are another of the many good things Fictionaut makes possible, and I’ll be posting updates about accepted work, etc.

Mark, what is your favorite rock concert you have ever attended?

Ted Nugent and Van Halen, Binghamton NY, 1978. Van Halen’s first record hadn’t broken yet, nobody knew who they were. They opened for Ted and blew the roof off. Fond memory. Thanks for asking. :)

Please tell us more about you, your work and projects and anything else you’d like here. Go Patriots.

Heh. Well I’m hoping the Celtics have one more run in ’em, we’ll go that far. :) I’m an artist and writer based in NY’s Finger Lakes region; if you’d like to check out my work, stop by my website and blog.

Nicolle Elizabeth checks in with Fictionaut Groups every Friday.