The Challenge Call: New Schizophrenic Summers

Yesterday I posted a poem entitled Emergence to our Schizophrenic summers category, which has been a graveyard filled with the remnants of submissions past for over a month now. Yes, Jessie and I became bored with the format — monthly poetry themes that we would arduously and obligingly toil over to submit, usually days after the end of the month (or sometimes not at all). And we have had precious few submissions from others (ahem! fellow poets).

But we cannot reasonably expect others to submit to a monthly theme that we barely participate in ourselves. It was time for a change. And I believe we have found an appropriate and much more invigorating use for this space. Continue reading “The Challenge Call: New Schizophrenic Summers”

Friday Write-Day: The Revision Plan

fwd-the-revision-plan

My short story has been submitted to Five on the Fifth’s contest! I read through Wolf’s Moon Night on Sunday night, making a few small changes, then again on Monday night. I finally worked up the courage to submit it on Tuesday, one day before the deadline. Submitting to a litmag — and particularly a contest — is daunting. Continue reading “Friday Write-Day: The Revision Plan”

Friday Update: Short Story First Draft!

My new schedule is awesome. I have a new schedule at work, by the way. For well over a year I had been trudging through an early shift, 6am to 3pm. I loved having a full afternoon of daylight ahead of me when I got home, and I even enjoyed being in the office a solid three hours before most everyone else — 3 hours of peace and quiet before the fluorescent lights blazed and the coffee machines were overrun with empty mugs waiting to be filled.

Continue reading “Friday Update: Short Story First Draft!”

Short Story Update – The Deadline is Coming!

So I’m pretty sure I mentioned last week that I’m working on a short story to submit to an online litmag contest this month. Right? Yes, here!

Five on the Fifth‘s submission deadline for their short fiction contest is looming rather large on August 31. I currently have about 1,500 words of a first draft, with a pretty clear idea of how I will set up the final act and conclude the story. I think my submission will end up finishing around 2,500 words, but I’ve been known to miscalculate projected word counts in the past. Continue reading “Short Story Update – The Deadline is Coming!”

Shakespearean Sonnet – (Secret) Love – SD

“Secret Love”

Obsidian hair tinged with red, like Blood Moon’s night,
Sways with every step of your bulldog swagger.
Sandstone-quarry eyes betray your pretty smile,
Refusing to let the faces see your fractures. Continue reading “Shakespearean Sonnet – (Secret) Love – SD”

Literary Inspiration – What are Rights?

I think about George Carlin a lot. He was one of the first comedians I really started listening to when I was about eight… which is probably too young. But I think his cultural impact goes far beyond being a stand-up comedian. I really think he was a modern-day philosopher, especially as he got older and the subject matter of his comedy became more existential. I don’t know if he believed all of the ideas that he presented on stage, but he at least had the intellectual capacity to consider and explain them – convincingly. Continue reading “Literary Inspiration – What are Rights?”