29 November 2018

Montgomery Maxton’s debut graphic novel, The Manhattan Man, was released today marking the award-winning writer’s crossover from poetry to fiction after a decade of publishing.

The highly anticipated book was released online via hard copy. An eBook version is forthcoming.  The book has generated quite a buzz online.

In early reviews the book has been described as “dark,” “beautifully rendered,” and “fucked-up.”

“I’m very excited that this is now out there for you. Thank you to JAPA for illustrating it, and thanks to my creative team for allowing me to be a boss,” Maxton said on his popular Instagram account.

Maxton penned the short but dark tale in 2007 in Ohio (the full version of the short story was cut drastically for the graphic novel and remains unpublished). He told writer Collin Kelley earlier this year that he writes all the time but rarely publishes.

Maxton designed the book, with Italian illustrator JAPA creating the cover and illustrations for the inside.

Moon Ice Press, the author’s private publishing company, is releasing the book.

Maxton plans a second graphic novel, The Philadelphia War, in 2019, and a third, Magnolia80, in 2020.  He said the stories are not linked.

A book release party is planned in January in Manhattan.

Description:

Set in New York City in the 2K decade, Adam Mada is a Wall Street prodigy whose wealth and jetset lifestyle contributes to chronic, treatment-resistant insomnia. When a new sleep aid becomes available, and Adam is coincidentally visited by a night voice claiming to be the Almighty with dire warnings on the eve of Adam's month-long worldwide travel, the resulting roulette is a page-turner at a pulsating pace.

30 September 2018

Montgomery Maxton’s Twitter account was placed in a 12-hour ‘time-out’ Friday night into Saturday after he responded to an account that seems to be a Russian Bot account that misspelled the word ‘Americans’ to “Anericans.”

“You stupid fucknut, go to school. #RussianBot ← #TrumpMoney” Maxton tweeted in the early hours of September 29th.

Russian Bots are fake accounts controlled from a hacking factory in Russia. The hackers and bots are used to try to cause discourse in American society and politics. Maxton has been hypervigilant of them and frequently calls them out so other users know they’re fake accounts.

Maxton refers to the 12-hour stint as being in “Twitter jail.” He has been active on Twitter for nearly a decade.

The filter used to identify possible abuse, which is not monitored by actual people, looks for keywords and, upon finding them, partially or fully shuts down a Twitter account, normally for 12 hours, but in some cases longer or permanently.

Homophobic slurs like “f*ggot” are not part of the filter, nor are racial slurs. “Kind of pretty much defeats the purpose,” Maxton said.

Maxton’s account was not fully suspended, meaning he could post but only his followers could see it, which is a feature normally only found on private accounts. Had there been a breaking news story during this stint, that Maxton was apart of, like a terror attack on his train into work, his post about it would not have been able to be seen by media, only his followers.

Maxton slept through the detention, "Kind of like I was back in high school," and returned to tweeting the next day, mocking the situation. One of his followers said to "be proud" of his accomplishment.

22 September 2018

Montgomery Maxton’s cousin, Christopher Baker, has died. He was 32. He reportedly died from liver disease following a battle with alcoholism.

Baker was an identical twin. Just a few months after their birth their father, Greg, died in a car crash, leaving their mother; one of Maxton’s closest cousins, Allison Elliott Baker, to raise them as a single parent.

Maxton remembers first meeting Chris in 1986 a few days after he was born. Maxton was 6 at the time.

Baker died near Cincinnati, Ohio where he lived. He also leaves behind two sisters and a girlfriend.

Maxton expressed sympathy on social media. He has not stated if he would be attending the funeral.

Last year, Maxton’s cousin, Jeni Irick, died from complications from drug addiction at age 33.

Maxton has twenty first cousins and nearly forty second cousins on his mother’s side. Both cousins were his second cousins.

Montgomery Maxton gave an inpromptu poetry reading Wednesday night in Brooklyn, breaking a hiatus that lasted 12 years.

The 37 year-old-poet, whose third poetry book will be released in less than a month, read to a captivated audience of about 40 at a wine bar in the hip Williamsburg neighborhood, where Mr. Maxton frequently haunts.

Maxton has not given a public reading since 2006 where he read to a crowd of about 150 in Cincinnati, his hometown.

Reading from memory but with his iPhone in hand, Maxton powerfully and with animation delivered ten short poems in 15 minutes. He ended with “Philadelphia” which is where he’s scheduled to give a reading at the library of next week.

Following the reading he received a roaring applause, with several snapping selfies with him as he made his was out of the bar to his chauffeur-driven SUV.

He then dined in TriBeCa with a tech company president.

Montgomery Maxton announced via his publicist today that he has agreed to participate in a poetry reading in April 2018 in Philadelphia. 

The event, “Is There Queer Poetry?” will also include three other poets. He will also answer questions from the audience.

Maxton has not given a public poetry reading since 2006, stating social anxiety as a reason. In 2016 Maxton gave private, “less than 5 people” readings at private homes and hotel rooms in Virginia, New Jersey, Ohio, New York, and California.

The New York City-based poet and photographer is a former resident of Philadelphia, having lived there from 2010 until 2014 when he left everything and moved to New York City following years of an alleged abusive relationship and a rumored heartbreaking love affair. 

His most recent poetry collection, Champagne (2016, Moon Ice Press), highly reflects that time period.

Maxton briefly returned to Philadelphia last fall and tweeted that it was part of a healing process for him, and that despite his love for the city, it still hurt to be there.

The event, scheduled for April 24th at the Independence Library, will be hosted by Jim Cory, one of America’s most foremost poets.

Maxton lives in Brooklyn and manages a tech company on Wall Street. In late 2018 he will release his debut graphic novel, “The Manhattan Man."

Montgomery Maxton’s long-rumored bodyguard was all but confirmed tonight after intervening during an incident in Brooklyn that left an entire restaurant staff dumbfounded following a run-in with the bartender.

After arriving at a favorite downtown Brooklyn restaurant with a friend, the bartender reportedly refused to seat Maxton and his guest, which set Maxton off.

The host intervened and sat Maxton on the back patio, where his bodyguard, whose name is Romeo, soon arrived and stood by his side as Maxton’s private driver idled outside.

“This huge gorgeous SUV pulled up and next thing you know,” a patron said via Twitter direct message after tweeting about the incident, “two men came swarming inside and went right to the back private area where dude was. A huge muscle man and another man, both that looked like you didn’t want to fuck with them.”

“I don’t know who this dude is but he isn’t playing” the patron said when asked about Montgomery Maxton.

Maxton reportedly tipped his waitress well but not before telling her that the bartender was a "fucking jerk" and should "fired." 

It is not known why the bartender, acting as a host despite a host being on duty, refused to seat Maxton.

Maxton claims the bartender was homophobic.

A call to the restaurant resulted in a voicemail.