My latest short story, “The Fix,” has been published in Fauxmoir. It is, indisputably, among the better sub-600-word tales of eavesdropping in Eritrea in the 1960s.You can read it here. Photo Credit: Tandberg Rullbandspelare Serie 14, by Tubaist via Wikimedia Commons
Tag Archives: Writing
Home Run / Home Free
…see, the premise is that Wiffle Ball Tony is like George Bush, you invite him to the party because you know he’s the guy who’s going to start the Wiffle Ball game. People generally like him and when he shows up everyone’s like, “Yeah, Wiffle Ball Tony’s here! It is so on!” And then one …
RIPQ
Editor’s note: this post is about a British music magazine. If you think it’s about something else, take your tin foil hat back to Facebook. Last year I went into Harvard Square to look for the final issue of Q. I figured the Coop might have it. Nope. As the manager explained, magazines were sold …
No No Song
If there is one matter on which I can speak with authority – or at least experience – it is rejection. I started sending stories out for publication fifteen years ago. For a while I kept count of the rejections. After about a hundred, for the purpose of ego maintenance, I decided to stop. Let’s …
Right Said Fred
I don’t know if it’s the pandemic or what, but the above tweet had some resonance. (NB in the Walter Mitty sense; I have neither the interest nor, probably, disposition to be an assassin.) I’ve been working on a short story and remain displeased with the opening sentence. It’s fine and all, but it ain’t …
ObitCon VI
I went to the sixth conference of the Society of Professional Obituary Writers in Washington, DC. Below are some highlights. I’ve left a lot out, but must record this: it was the best conference I’ve ever attended. Kickers The kicker is to an obit what the punch line is to a joke. Matt Schudel discussed …
ICYMI
Last week I posted individual sentences from books read over the summer. Now I’m going to share with you the one I’ve thought about the most. It’s from Wilderness at Dawn: The Settling of the North American Continent, by Ted Morgan: Both were shot, and Captain Gregg played dead while an Indian removed …
Master and Command Module Pilot
Michael Collins, who went to the moon with Neil Armstrong, is also a first-rate prose stylist with a natural feel for detail and a light touch for humor; his book sounds a lot like what you would expect if E.B. White had qualified as an astronaut and flown to the moon. – Margaret …