In 2002, author, Jamie Allen held his first book tour on a double-decker bus. While they drove around Atlanta, he read for friends and treated them to beer and prizes in-between saxophone performances of "The Star Spangled Banner."  Recently, he read with The McSweeney’s Winter Tour, which was opened by a sword swallower who drilled nails into his nose and snapped mousetraps in his unmentionables.

Many people call these type of quirky offerings a part of the “New Fiction” movement, but it seems to be more of a reflection of the brilliantly strange minds that are bound to entertain readers not only with their words, but with an off beat experience that kick starts a new way of thinking.

Jamie Allen's work has appeared in "The Missouri Review," "McSweeney's.net," "Salon," "Creative Loafing," and other outlets. He is the editor of The Duck & Herring Co., which publishes literary "Pocket Field Guides." Recently he sat down to offer his point of view on the elements of fiction:

Lori Oliva/Pine Magazine: How did you get connected with The McSweeney's Winter Tour?

Jamie Allen: I've always been a big fan of McSweeney's. I met John Warner, an amazing humor writer who also edits the McSweeney’s Web site, and Eli Horowitz, who works with Dave Eggers, et al, to publish the quarterly. I honestly can't be sure why they invited me to read at their Winter Tour, but I can guess that it went something like this: "Hey, Eli is taking John Brandon through Atlanta to promote his novel, plus a sword swallower, plus Davy Rothbart of "Found Magazine." We need to promote this event in Atlanta. Who do we know in Atlanta that we can invite to read and get word out? Oh yeah, there's that guy, what's his name? He writes for us sometimes and puts on readings? Let's email him!" They contacted me through MySpace.

That said, the McSweeney's people perform publishing magic -- their products give off the vibe of this super-hip and somehow untouchable publishing empire spreading from San Francisco to Brooklyn to Iceland and places you don't even know about. But the guys I've met are nothing but super-modest and dedicated and happy to be over-worked for their cause. I learned a lot just by being at one of their readings.

LO: How did Duck & Herring develop?

JA: I wanted to start a literary journal that was the opposite of "the home of southern writing" and would also put on fun readings. The name "Duck & Herring" came about in a random way, and in my mind it started to develop into an idea of publishing literary "Pocket Field Guides" with fiction and other stuff that would "get you through" a season. And the more I thought about it, the more an L.L. Bean/J.Crew "brand" came with the idea, a sort of parody of those catalogs that also celebrates them. Like (comparison to music again) you know how when Jack White rips into a '70s over-the-top guitar solo, and you're like, "That's so 1978! Haha!" but you're also like, "That kicks amazing butt!" I see it sort of like that.

Then I met two people, Tom Bell (Decatur Book Festival co-founder) and writer, Terra McVoy. They said, "Let's do this." So we, as editors of D&H, have created our latest, the Pocket Field Guide for Warm Weather 2008. This issue is my favorite PFG so far. We have writers in it that are so good and established that it freaks me out. And we have great recipes, good and entertaining "warm weather advice," funny stuff. Soon, or not, we will put on another Radio Hour -- we do readings that are like "Prairie Home Companion" without all the great production values. We have sing-alongs and prize giveaways and radio skits. Terra and I harmonize like the Mamas and the Papas, almost, and Tom can't really sing very well but he can do anything else. ANYTHING. He plays a concertina!

LO: Do you consider yourself a "Southern Writer?"

JA: No. That title is full of stereotypes that I don't really fit under. I'm from suburban Tampa, which has a large Cuban and Italian influence. I live in Atlanta, which, as readers of this might know, has fewer moonshine stills and General Lees than the media stereotype of the South. And thanks to McDonald's and Coke and movies and video games and the Internet and etc., I "came of age" in an America that is very much the same as the America in other parts of the country. I sincerely hope the term "southern writer" is fading, if you consider it something the publishing industry, capitalizing on the success of Faulkner, et al, has for decades used to market newer writers from the South. It provides too many limits to the writer who happens to be living in this region.

LO: What are you working on now and is there a sword swallower or double-decker bus involved?

JA: That reading with the McSweeney's people and the sword swallower was fun. If you're going to put on a reading these days, you're competing directly with Facebook. People sit there in front of their computers, addicted to Facebook, and they go, "Should I go to that reading? Nah, someone just attacked me with their Facebook Zombie. But wait, the reading has a sword swallower? I'm there!"

Regarding what I'm working on: Always, every day, "working on a novel." And Duck & Herring will be having a radio hour. If it goes like the last one at Agnes Scott, we will have a sing-along of "We Are the World," and you will laugh at yourself for singing it, and you'll also go, "This kicks amazing butt!"