Rejection 288

Are this lady's legs okay?

An essay of mine was rejected from Diagram. I've been trying to crack that Diagram code for years with no luck. It's good for the soul, I suppose!

I was really excited to judge the Heavy Feather Review Fiction Chapbook Contest! I picked an incredible novella called Kiddo as the winner, and today found out the blind sub belonged to Leslie Parry, who has a book coming out from Ecco in May. Can't wait to read more of her work!  You can read more about the contest and winner here.

Rejection 287

I got such a nice rejection for an essay of mine from the Missouri Review, and I swear I felt nearly high for hours afterward. They said, "Your work impressed the editorial staff with its strong voice and unique perspective on the undertaking that is Disney. Though not selected for publication, the piece makes us hope we'll see more of your writing in the near future." I love am encouraging rejection, maybe more than an acceptance? It means the piece still might find a home somewhere, but I get a compliment. I try to remember how great this feels when I'm sending out my own encouraging rejections, and that taking an extra minute can really make a person's day.

I was also rejected from a residency in France I applied for, but that seems to be expected.

New Poems at Poor Claudia

Pina Bausch's Bluebeard

Poor Claudia invited me to contribute to their 10 Sources series, and I wrote some chain letter poems about skeletons and biographical lace and medication refusal and trail cams and birds falling from the sky and crucifixion and Pina Bausch and Snugglepot & Cuddlepie and the Coral Castle. Enjoy!

Rejections 285 and 286 and a Poetry Book Rejection and a Contest Lost but encouraged

Me and WW! Great minds.

Below is a list of recent rejections, and honestly, I felt excited to get each one. A day with a literary rejection is better than no peep out of progress. Here we go: 

Subtropics politely declined my Disney/mortality essay. 

A Public Space politely declined my essay about ambivalence toward New Year's Eve.

Barrelhouse declined my book of poetry with words of encouragement and a request to submit to the journal again. 

I submitted a section of my novel manuscript in progress to the SLS-Disquiet Lit Prize, and did not win, but they said some very kind things: "In fact, our readers thought your entry, "The Grip of It," was simply outstanding. They thought your submission was strange, lovely, fantastic. They said they wanted to read more. They offered a partial scholarship to their program in Lisbon, which would be a total dream come true what with my love of Pessoa, but I don't think I can make it work this time around. Maybe next year!"

That's all for now! Lots of readings/panels/signings coming up at Mission Creek and AWP in the next couple weeks. Look at the Events page for more!

Rejection 284

The Dodo: another thing I want but can't have. 

Black Warrior Review turned down a short essay I sent them in a very timely manner. Still in love with them. 

Another Rejection for the Little Poetry Book that Might...Someday...Maybe

Publishing Genius rejected my little poetry book, but that seems reasonable. They reported receiving over 800 submissions and I can only dream about what will come out of this open call. I can't wait to read whatever it is they've chosen!

I've also got a little essay up about balancing writing and work over at Writers Bloc. Enjoy!

Judging Chapbook Contest!

Everything's BETTER when it's carved out of BUTTER.

I'm super psyched to be judging the Heavy Feather Review Fiction Chapbook Contest! The deadline is 2/15/15 so send me exciting things to read, please!

Thanks to Karen Shimmin and Willy Nast for inviting me to talk about Unsolved Mysteries (and also writing) at the

I snuck in one more Best of 2014 list over at The Weekender.

And I've got a story about mass hysteria up at The Butter thanks to Roxane Gay!

Happy New Year!

Poetry Book Rejection

Dance!

Lovely Sarabande has an incredibly well-worded form letter they send to the inadequate poetry collections. I found it enjoyable to read, despite it's rejection of my submission. 

Doesn't Sarabande just have the loveliest books? I'm very thankful for the amazing work they bring into the world. I can't wait to get my hands on Kerri Howley's THROWN, but there are tons of other favorites of mine include: 

• Simone Muench's Wolf Centos
• Kyle Minor's Praying Drunk
• Jenny Boully's The Book of Beginnings and Endings
• T Fleischman's Syzygy, Beauty
• Karyna McGlynn's I Have to Go Back to 1994 and Kill a Girl
• Jean Valentine's Lucy

Carry on the incredible work, please, Sarabande!

New Story at Fanzine! Residency!

And whatnot.

I love what's going on over at Fanzine and I'm excited to have a story about bingo up over there: Bulls-eye. 

I'm also way excited that I'll be spending my second (though non-consecutive) February in Vermont at the Vermont Studio Center. 

I'm going to share this, and hope I don't jinx anything, but guys: I am more excited about writing than I have ever been. I feel like I have a million projects I want to work on and I am so incredibly thrilled to have the time to work on them. You probably think I am either a) blowing smoke or b) always like this, but I AM NOT. I usually hate writing, and drag my feet when trying to finish a project or have no idea where the next one will come from, and I am the opposite of all these things right now. I don't care how hokey all of this sounds. It feel rully good. 

Rejection 283 and nice press for stories!

Get outta here. 

Fence doesn't want the story I sent them. Someday!

A Different Bed Every Time has got a nice write-up in the The Chicago Reader, a not so complimentary write-up in The Harvard Crimson, and made the Amazon Best of 2014 list for Short Stories. 

I've added a slew of readings to the upcoming events list, so please come out and say hi!