I read something this morning that was so much YES for me it drove me to actually update this dusty old blog. Dawn Raffel talks about fear and writing, what keeps us from the page, in this short piece, “Writing Well Will Cost You,” at the Jaded Ibis Productions site: “Writing well is a destabilizing
Wendy Russ at Lascaux Review asked me (and other writers) to contribute a small bit of writing advice to the site while their 2nd annual flash fiction contest is underway (see details HERE and submit!) And here is what I had to say: Read Flannery O’Connor. Read Joy Williams. Read William Maxwell. Read about the
This past week I sent out a short story to 13 journals and two short story contests. It feels like a gigantic accomplishment in itself. For various reasons, it has been a “quiet” couple of years for me as a writer. At one point, I felt I’d never write a short story again. I felt
Many thanks to Randall Lahrman for this lovely review of my chapbook with Matter Press, WILD LIFE, at Litconic, where he says, among other nice things: “The stories are short, intelligent, and linger. Although capable of being experienced in small doses, these are not stories to be rushed through. This is a book to keep
Christopher Allen asked me to contribute something to Metazen, a journal I’ve long admired. I haven’t been writing much flash lately, working on a much longer story, so it was fun to write a microfiction. You can read it in 40 seconds here: As Outside the Clouds Made Fists. Thanks, Chris and thanks Metazen for
Read this in Rookie Magazine and it brought me so much joy: Etgar Keret’s Ten Rules for Writers. As I work on revisions of my short story, a story I feel like I’ve been working on forever, I found #9 and #10 especially resonant: 9. Let people who like what you write encourage you. And
My talented friend, Berit Ellingsen, told me that today was Buzz Aldrin’s 83rd birthday, and that this reminded her of my microfiction, “Space Man” which was originally published by Keyhole magazine. Here is the link to the story, now on Fictionaut: Space Man. Happy birthday, Mr. Aldrin!
Huge thanks to my friend, Susan Tepper, for tagging me on this…is the word “meme”?…for writers. You can read her response to it on Jules Archer’s blog, Jules Just Write. Susan’s answers are fascinating and so is her book, FROM THE UMBERPLATZEN, and Jules’ blog is the coolest. Aaaanyway, the questions for this seem better
Many thanks to the lovely Meg Tuite for interviewing me and featuring two of my flashes at Connotation Press. “I just read “Wild Life,” again and am mesmerized by the movement of your characters, dialogue, stories. They have their own pulse. I find something buried deeper with each reading. I’ve been sharing “Petunias” with my
Night at The Reservoir on Airline Drive My brother’s friend, Del, said, hey little girl, wanna Tootsie Roll? I asked him if there was anything he could do to make my Slurpee taste better and he poured a healthy dose of vodka in. That summer it was Vodka Slurpees, Vodka Mountain Dews, Vodka Lemonades. Dad