Borrowed
Writing a novel is a terrible experience, during which the hair often falls out and the teeth decay.
—Flannery O'Connor
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Here are links to some fine publications—print, online, or somewhere in between—that have published
things of mine, or something about something I've written. Click a blue title (often in quotes) to go directly to that story.
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"Death Drive" |
Part of this venerable magazine's "End of War" project. I've wanted to be in Plazm forever, and am very happy about this, also about The Oregonian's nice review.
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What was once the opening to my novel |
Sentences are my favorite, but paragraphs are my second favorite, making it fitting that I came in second place at The Paragraph of the Day.
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"What Not To Talk About"
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Two weird little stories for you.
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"The Heart Is Also a Furnace," |
Paul A. Toth is a terrific writer, who also does a great service to the literary world by running a fabulous podcast series. Number 67 happens to involve me. (No iPod required.)
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A little, old, untitled something |
400 words is a fascinating little magazine full of tiny truths. Buy one now so you can say you knew them when.
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Concerning sports cars, foreign royalty, and cake.
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"Pore,"
"Page Six," |
Join me in wishing the fabulous 5_Trope a happy tenth(?!) birthday. (If you like these stories, there are plenty more where they came from.)
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"Geography Lesson" and |
This is a super, new upstart from Seattle, with a lovely website, delightful staff, and, in only two issues so far, a running start on a fine collection of poetry and prose, with Martha Clarkson, Daniel Nester, and more.
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"The Interview" |
A story concerning a particularly nonstandard job interview having something not entirely to do with pants, in a magazine full of, dare I say, a veritable cornucopia of fine literature.
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The Heart Is Also a Furnace (the new book!) |
Twenty-six tiny stories for your reading plaisir. Gary Lutz loves them, and so should you.
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A girl, a boy, a girl, some trains, some hooch, and at least one metaphorical dog, alle in Deutschland.
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"Things To Do in Prague" |
An itinerary of sorts; otherwise about bridges and the water that flows under them.
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"Mavourneen" |
The title's from Ireland, the magazine's from the Olympic Peninsula. Dubbed "the saddest story I've ever read" by its first reader, though not, perhaps, by you.
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Viz., "Cooking Outdoors," which is not about cooking, and "Tense," which, though it does invoke Zeno's paradox, has nothing to do with math.
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Seventh-grade science, bird-watching, and perchance a new vocabulary word in "Meniscus" and "Chance-Medley."
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"Heavenly Bodies" |
Searching the skies, but not for birds. A brief meditation on loss and dessert.
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"The Cars in Dog Heaven Have No Wheels" |
You know how when you were a kid, you had the best and most original dog ever? Me too!
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Concerning, among other things, why so-called transitional jobs are sometimes not such a good idea.
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"To Do" |
A tiny tale, ripped from yesterday's headlines.
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"I, Leafblower,"
"Going to the Dogs," |
What do leafblowers, commuters, lumberjacks, poodles, and airline placards have in common? Not a lot. Communiqués from, as they say, the land of dreamy dreams.
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"The house of Fyodor Pavlovich Karamazov stood far from in the very center of town, yet not quite on the outskirts. It was rather decrepit, but had a pleasant appearance: one-storied, with an attic, painted a gray color, and with a red iron roof. However, it had many good years left, and was roomy and snug. It had all sorts of closets, all sorts of nooks and unexpected little stairways. There were rats in it, but Fyodor Pavlovich was not altogether angry with them: 'Still, it's not so boring in the evenings when one is alone.' " (Dostoevsky, trans. Pevear/Volokhonsky) "For the Mouse is a creature of great personal valour." (Smart/Britten, Rejoice in the Lamb Or: Of mouse and me. Gawker says: Yeesh!
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Three Short Pieces |
"Ignorance," "By the Light of the Silvery Moon," and "Dearest K." at The 2nd Hand, which hails from the fine city of Chicago.
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A little something originally titled |
A tiny brunch tale at the ever-fabulous ¶. Available where very fine lit mags are sold, and also obtainable (though not readable) online.
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A girl, a boy, a rope, a river. Summer reading just for you.
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Do the embarrassing things you like stop being embarrassing when people start giving them to you as gifts? Who's to say? Still, I love the little cookbooks, yes I do.
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"Going to the Dogs," |
Beef. Dogs. Lipstick. On paper. Buy now.
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Three Fictions |
After some friendly encouragement (cf., etc.), I actually wrote some things and sent them out. Hence: "There Are Things that Can Be Moved Here, but Not Without Some Force," "A Girl's Best Friend," and "The Opposite of I Love You."
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Demographing a tourist icon.
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"Little Indignities: A Beginner's Guide to New York," |
Love/hate/bemusement in the Big Apple: an essay.
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[About] "On Paper," |
Wherein So New Media, yours truly, a big Austin shindig, and many other persons and things are discussed.
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If Leatherstocking had been a girl and gone to summer camp in the '70s and been pretty consistently disappointed since then: A Poem.
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An Actual Book, with Actual Stories (and extra goodies), from those fabulous nuevos tejanos at So New Media. My mom's going to buy one (ohdearGodno), and you should, too!
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[About] "Mommy, Write Me a Story," |
News of Manual and our, ahem, Tens Of Thousands Of Downloads. (Look for the "Web collaboration" header.)
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How Jane Eyre can change your life. Or someone else's. Or not.
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"Fandango" |
A little light conversation, at yet another Deeply Shallow escapade, The Dialogue Project.
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"On the Nature of Instruction" |
I don't know about you, but this just makes me so excited: Many fine pieces of writing written (well, yes), put together, and produced by many fine people (ahem). Possibly the only how-to manual you'll ever need. So go get it, in easy-to-read PDF format, to print and share.
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"The Hour Maker" |
A dog, a watch, and some big trees—all in an Actual Magazine, complete with pieces by half of everyone else in creation. What more could you ask for? Buy now!
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Little things originally titled "Nature Poem," |
¶ is one of my favorite little magazines ever, and not just because they print my stuff. Fine examples of letterpress printing and quirky and occasionally deep prose. Brought to you by Walker Rumble and Karen Donovan of the fine state of Rhode Island. Current and back issues available by post.
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Not exactly a Hallmark-free-calendar type of story, but it's something.
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Eponymous Bosch.
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If you know Romanian, you may enjoy this. (If not, click the link below.)
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"Punch-drunk" |
DS, the magazine, is (most unfortunately) no more. The site, however, is still home to erstwhile editor Jason Gurley, who is brilliant and crazily driven in a way I think you might like. "Even Your Friends' Husbands" won the Deeply Shallow First Quarterly Meaningless Short Story Contest, of which I am unduly proud. The stories are republished here for your convenience and reading plaisir. You can also (will I ever stop saying this?) get them in print.
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Hey, it could have been worse.
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"Write What You (Don't) Know (Yet)" |
Wherein our intrepid author attempted to shoot down the piece of writing "advice" which bothers her the most, in a truly fine publication which was—all together now—a casualty of capitalism. I'll post the piece here someday, I swear.
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Like the song says, I was dreaming when I wrote this, forgive me if it goes astray.
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"He Said, She Said" |
Stephen Champeon and I on the sleeper self-help book of the century, How to Juggle Women (without Getting Killed or Going Broke). No, I did not think it was about baseball. I am only half as stupid as I look (approximately).
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"The Power of Yes" |
Dopey idealism, which I only scowl at because I have failed to live up to it.
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Look in the January 1999 archives
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Originally a poem, originally titled "To Slaughter the Phoenix" (it's a long story), originally written in 1992 in two days straight in a third-floor attic on a manual typewriter. See? I used to be cool.
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Wherein Our Heroine climbs up on her soapbox and lets it all hang out. Not for the faint of heart or anyone even vaguely related to me. I am not kidding. You have been warned.
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You will have to hunt for it, but: A dulcet apologia for Demon Alcohol. Real Audio required.
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"The Collector," "Hand Over Fist," |
I forget, it was a really long time ago and my only copy of the magazine (now defunct) is in a box in my grandparents' garage about 2,900 miles from here, so I cannot be held accountable for any innacuracies
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My tiny contribution to one of my favorite sites ever (as mentioned in The New York Times).
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"Nobody Knows Nothing" and "Grace" |
BLASTS! was a magazine I used to work on with James Dennison and Michael Lally (read his stuff now! it is fantastic!). (The first of these tales is now available, dare I say it yet again, in book form, as is "Hand Over Fist," above.)
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