The guys of Suspect Thoughts Press, Greg Wharton and Ian Philips, are moving the whole kit & kaboodle to Cleveland in just a few weeks. I am so psyched! I love Cleveland. Loyal readers of this lofty blog will no doubt recall that I grew up there and that I am now, ahem, growing old not too far from there.

Here's the scoop:

First, an introduction... My full name is Suspect Thoughts Books. I had to scrunch it down to fit in the wee MySpace window. I'm the brazen lovechild of Suspect Thoughts Press and a whole slew of other progressive publishers and zinesters and pranksters and tricksters (see heroes). Yes, I'm an independent ("look, ma, no chains!") new and used bookstore, and I hope to be all that that word implies to people--safe haven, breathing room, ticket booth to anywhere in the universe. To see all the new titles I hold within, see here. To see all the used ones, well, you're just going to have to come and visit me in Cleveland. What does alternaqueer really mean? We use "queer" in the broadest sense possible. That means the continuum of identities that range from gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender to intersex, genderqueer, same-gender-loving (SGL), and beyond. It also includes heterosexuals who see sexuality as fluid as the dark matter and strings of energy that make up our flesh. "Alternative" covers a lot of ground as well. Everything from progressive, populist politics to polyamory and BDSM play parties to neo-paganism worldviews to good clean anarco-feminist/punk living. So, "alternaqueer" is pretty much everybody save the small hidebound fragment of the US population that still thinks Bush is the second coming...of Reagan, Jebus, [YOUR APOCALYPTIC ICON GOES HERE]. Where are you located? When are you open? Suspect Thoughts Books is located at 4903 Clark Ave, between W 48th and W 50th Streets, the heart of the up-and-coming Alt City district, in Cleveland, OH. Our hours are 11am-7pm Wed-Sun. We're open afterhours (7pm-9pm, more or less) every Saturday for Suspect Saturdays. Once more in a nice handy info-nugget: 4903 Clark Ave Cleveland, OH 44102 11am-7pm Wed-Sun afterhours 7pm-9pm Sat What is Suspect Saturdays? Suspect Saturdays is when we open up the store to the community for an open mic (1st Sat) and various readings and events. You'll have to check our calendar to see what's happening next. I've lived in Cleveland all my life and never heard of "Alt City." "Ohio City," sure. What gives? Did you just make that up? Busted. We wanted a cool, semi-demi-ironic name for our little strip of Clark Avenue, other than "that stretch between Tremont and...um...Oberlin." We're reclaming it. Won't you help us make it a hot-bed of all kinds of alternative goings-on.

Who I'd like to meet: Any reader or writer who sees the world a bit askew and thinks Cleveland Rocks!