Thursday, November 3, 2011

Exciting News!

Hello, all,

I want to update you on two things. My poem "Saying Goodbye" was chosen to represent Camroc Press Review for Sundress Press's Best of the Net Anthology! You can find the poem here.

Also, I will be participating in NaNoWriMo this year! It's not too late to start yourself; you can find more information here.

Happy reading!

Thursday, September 22, 2011

"Revisions" up at Metazen

Hello there,

I just wanted to let you all know my short story "Revisions" is up here at Metazen.

I have also received two very exciting rejections: I made it past the slush pile for Camera Obscura, and I got a rejection from Cream City Review saying they "really enjoyed these pieces". I've been focusing some of my better work on higher end publications, so although I haven't been getting as many acceptances lately, an editor from a publication on the "Challenging (bottom right)" or "Extremely Challenging" lists at Duotrope taking the time to send a personal rejection makes me feel pretty good.

I will have a few pieces of poetry up at Eunoia Review in November, and next spring I will have some more poetry at The Stray Branch. I'm also thinking about doing a donation drive for Duotrope sometime soon, so keep an eye out!

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

An Acceptance, Two Poems, and a Story

Hey! Sorry it's been so long since my last post. Life has been hectic and full of change. I've moved into the most amazing little apartment, complete with an office, and I've started a novel! It's slow moving right now, since I'm doing to much research and planning, but I've got a great concept and very well fleshed out characters that I'm very excited to work with.

I've recently had two poems accepted and posted at The Camroc Press Review, "Saying Goodbye" and "Grief". I also had my short story "Tennyson's Prophecy" accepted and posted at Luna Station Quarterly.


And finally, I've just received an acceptance from Metazen for my short story "Revisions". It will be posted in September, which happens to be Bilbo and Frodo Baggins' birthdays. (Such a nerd...)

Thanks for keeping up with me! You can also follow me on Twitter @TheLazyWriter.

Friday, March 18, 2011

Another Print Magazine and a Book Recommendation

I would like to share my latest print magazine debut. You can order the latest copy of Indigo Rising magazine here. My poems "For the Professor Whose Name I Share" dedicated to Amanda Skjeveland, and "Speechless" are included in this volume. You can purchase your copy here for only $5. Go ahead and add Heavy Hands Ink volume 3, with my poem "No Country", here. Thank you for supporting me and the literary community as a whole!

On a related note, my good friend Keri from Write Turn Here is featured in Short, Fast, and Deadly's most recent print anthology. You can find that here. If you're interested in microfiction, you can read Keri's interview with SFD editor Joseph Quintela here.

Finally, I believe the best way to improve your writing is to read, read, read. To that end, I'm going to start posting book recommendations periodically. These books will be chosen specifically to target specific writing skills they exemplify. And if they look interesting, buy them through the link here!

Today's recommended reading is Neil Gaiman's American Gods. I recommend this book once at almost every writing workshop I participate in. First and foremost, it features one of the hardest mixes in contemporary writing: literary quality writing with a creative, original story. Gaiman successfully weaves non-Classical mythology into a contemporary setting into a well written story. I recommend this frequently to authors who are attempting to take myths, folk tales, or fairy tales and twist them into something more. Gaiman is a great example of how to do that without sounding like Stephanie Meyer. Buy it, read it, love it.

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Postpartum

My poem "Postpartum" was published in the Spring 2010 edition of The New Plains Review. Since it was published over a year ago, I'm posting it online so people who were not able to get the print edition are able to read the poem. You can find information about The New Plains Review here. Thanks for your continued readership!


Postpartum

Let your tiny cries like barbs
sink into my flesh,
let those delicate tears
eat into my skin like acid.
He holds you the way
he’s forgotten to hold me.
My world orbits yours, my parasite,
stealing my beauty,
drawing wrinkles on my forehead,
sagging skin once firm,
sinking your predatory teeth
with a smile
into me: haven’t you heard
not to bite the hand that feeds you?
Mostly, though,
let the way I hate you mingle
with the love I can’t help,
let the hate seep into me,
my sweetness,
let only you remain.

Friday, March 4, 2011

And The Winner Is...

Keri Faulkner! Keri will receive a copy of Heavy Hands Ink, Volume III and a $10 Borders gift card. Thanks to everyone who participated, and look for a new contest soon! Keri will be buying the book "Magic Slays".

Friday, February 11, 2011

A Giveaway!!!

Hello all! I'm going to do a giveaway! I have a copy of Heavy Hands Press's Volume III and a $10 Borders Gift Card to give away! Here's the deal: follow my page and leave a comment on this post telling me what book you'd buy with the gift card. If you don't have a Borders near you I can get an Amazon for you, just let me know your prefernce if you win. Winners will be chosen randomly based on people who both follow and comment. You don't need a special account to follow, either!

I urge you all to check out this 'zine whether or not you win. It's available as a free PDF download too. Thanks for your time! I'll close this contest at the end of February and announce the winner March 1st!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Two new publications and an announcement...

My poem "Coffee and Tea" is up here, at The Orange Room Review. One of my favorite slam poets, Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, was published in the December 2010 issue, and I'm beyond honored to appear in the February 2011 issue. Working with the editors to polish this piece was one of the most exciting experiences I've had so far in the world of writing.

The other poem, "No Country," is available here at Heavy Hands Ink. This is one of the ones that's really been of part of my life. Writing this poem led me to a realization that I am a writer, and a good writer, and I have the potential to be a great writer.

I'm excited to share these with you, especially since I've just gotten home from the AWP writer's conference. I'll be posting more about that later on. I have officially decided to create a pseudo-chapbook of my published fiction and poetry. I'll be working on it over the next few weeks and will have more information about that soon, too. Thank you all!

Friday, January 28, 2011

"Burning" in LITSNACK and two new publications out in a few short days!

My flash fiction piece "Burning" is in the current edition of LITSNACK. Hope on over and feel free to leave a comment if you like it!

I will have two more publications showing up in a few days.

My poem "No Country" will appear in Heavy Hands Ink (available both online and in print).

My poem "Coffee and Tea" will appear in The Orange Room Review.

Thanks to everyone who continues to support me! For more updates, feel free to "like" me on Facebook by clicking here.

Friday, January 14, 2011

Two Updates and a Word on Choosing the Right Market

I've had two acceptances so far this month. My poem "Dreams" has been accepted by The Stray Branch with a publication date of Spring/Summer 2013, and my poem "Coffee and Tea" will be appearing at The Orange Room Review for the February issue.


These two acceptances are very representative of my market selection process, and I'd like to take a few moments to share my philosophy with you. Like I'm so fond of saying, you can't get published if you don't submit. If you send everything you've ever written out to every single publication out there, the odds are someone will take something. But, since that's so time consuming, it's much easier for a writer juggling family and friends and school and work and all the other things you do to target your pieces. I've found Duotrope to be the easiest way to do this... Writer's Market is also a very valuable tool.