Publications
Despite the lack of posts lately, I'm not dead. Trust me. In fact, I can even supply proof of my continued existence: a new poem published online over at Prairie Poetry called Finding Religion on Interstate 80.
Prairie Poetry has been online since 1996, offering bi-monthly images and poetry from and of the North American plains - poems to feed the vast open places of the soul. Click here to check out my poem or here to check out the July 2008 edition of Prairie Poetry.
My poem Last Call Confessional is now viewable online as part of the inaugural issue of Asphalt Sky.
Asphalt Sky’s goal is to connect audience and author, and create a little virtual space for a vibrant artistic community. The first issue is chock full of fresh poetry, fiction, and art. Check it out by clicking here.
The Spring 2008 issue of Denver Syntax is now online. Denver Syntax is a literary, art, and music review based out of (you guessed it) Denver. The writing in it is edgy and provacative, and its format and style are top notch, in my humble opinion.
Anyway, I am lucky enough to be in this kick-ass issue of Denver Syntax. I have two poems included in the issue, When I Speak of Life and Burn Everything Down and Start Over. Much thanks to editor Jonathan Bitz for the chance to contribute. Go on check out my poems and the whole issue. C'mon, it's just a click away. You know you want to.
I have work in the inaugural edition of Imagine, the Arts Ministry Journal of Imago Dei. My poem Conversation with an Atheist appears in this new magazine dedicated to expressing Christianity through the written word, visual arts, and creative arts ministries.
I also have new work – three poems to be exact – in the third edition of MO: Writings from the River. MO: Writings from the River is the journal of the Montana State University - Great Falls Literary Guild, published annually.
I’ll have work later this month in the upcoming first edition of a new online journal, Asphalt Sky. When it is online, I’ll post up a link. Also in May, I'll have a poem in the online journal Prairie Poetry.
More of my work will appear in Talking Stick later this year. My poem Minnesota and my micro-fiction piece False Hope have been selected to be part of this Minnesota literary journal.
As far as my goal to write 100 works in 2008, I am right on pace. I count 26 poems, 2 short stories, and 1 ranting piece in various states of disarray. I’ll keep on the grind, I suppose.
Finally, in the coming weeks, I’ll be doing work as a guest blogger (somewhat ironic, considering the erratic pace of the posts I make on my own blog) at Scribes’ Tribe Scribblings ), a unique and helpful writing website/blog that was spawned by a writers’ critique group. I’ll post more a little more about this guest blogging stint tomorrow. Until then, be good…
My poem Mistakes is the featured poem this week for What Light:This Week's Poem.
Mistakes will appear here, on the Magers and Quinn website, for this week only. It will also appear here, on mnartists.org, where it will be archived forever...I think.
The What Light reading on Sunday was uber-cool. I was one of four poets who read work, and there was a lot of energy and diversity in the poetry that was shared. And the (free) wine samples from Artisan Vineyards were terrific. Good times, good times. I can only hope that I get lucky enough to be part of What Light again in the future.
My poem, What the Dealer Didn't Tell You About Heroin, was just published over at the super cool literary magazine Cherry Bleeds. Go on, check it out - you know you want to. Click here to read that poem.
While you are there, read some of the other great writers in the February '08 issue, too, including Michael K. White, Scott Casale, and Daniel S. Irwin. Click here to check out Cherry Bleeds - it's like no other online lit mag you've ever read.
If you didn't catch my poem Why I Believe in Monsters the first time I mentioned it, it is now also featured on the Poets for Human Rights website. More exposure is a good thing for a writer, right? Click here to give this poem a read, if you haven't done so already. It is a strong social commentary on today's crazy world.
Not much else going on, which is why I haven't blogged lately. I just received my first two rejection notices of the new year. I'm actually glad to get that unpleasant (yet necessary) evil out of the way. Now I am just waiting (impatiently) for the first two acceptance notes and the first two contest wins of the year - yeah, I'm greedy. Be good...
My poem Why I Believe in Monsters recently won third prize in the 2007 Anita McAndrews Award poetry contest, a contest put on by the organization Poets for Human Rights. It has been a good December.
The Anita McAndrews Award poetry contest was established in 2006 by Anita's seven children to commemorate their mother, a poet, artist, journalist and human rights advocate whose 82 years of life epitomized the spirit of Poets for Human Rights. I'm honored to place in this contest that brings human rights to the forefront; thanks to Stazja McFadyen for the contest opportunity and Dr. Marvin G. Kimbrough who judged the contest and deemed my work worthy of commendation.
If you'd like to know more about the organization Poets for Human Rights, click here.
If you'd like to read my 3rd place poem Why I Believe in Monsters, as well as the other winners in the Anita McAndrews Award poetry contest, click here.
I'll be spending my day getting my life together in anticipation of 2008 - just can't bring the new year in dirty or cluttered. Bet many of you will be doing the same. Good luck...
Hope you are having a happy holiday season.
I have some new work recently posted at Six Sentences, a very cool literary blog. You should go read it, along with some of the other pieces that are all exactly six sentences.
Details of an Author's Divorce is one of those pieces that straddle the subtle void between micro-fiction and prose poem. Therefore, it fits in well with the rest of the innovative work at 6S. I already have received a few comments by readers, and I'm really happy with the positive feedback - as a writer, I need praise to bolster my ego.
Click here to read Details of an Author's Divorce for yourself. Feel free to shower me with faint praise...or condemn me. :)
Looking for something to read during these blah winter days? Take a chance on the latest edition (Volume III) of the Cuivre River Anthology - it is filled with great poetry and fiction.
The Cuivre River Anthology takes its name from a river that originates in northeastern Missouri and flows through farmlands, forests, and rock formations to its confluence with the Mississippi River. The anthology is a collection of short stories, poems, and essays from a diverse group of talented writers with unique and memorable voices. Works included in the collection come from: a novelist who has won multiple Spur awards, a poet who was named finalist in the Missouri Writers' Exchange Contest sponsored by Poets and Writers Magazine, a Catholic Press Association winner, a Pushcart Prize nominee, and other award-winning writers. Lots of talent...
Oh yeah, I somehow weaseled my way in there, too. Two of my poems are included in this anthology, fighting words and How the Blues Can Bruise; the latter won the 2007 Saturday Writers One-Page Poem Contest. Find out more about this dynamic publication by clicking here.
The Talking Stick 16: Finding the Words is now available for purchase. My poem wedding song appears in this edition of The Talking Stick, a Minnesota literary journal published annually by The Jackpine Writer's Bloc. It is an excellent read, filled with some interesting poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction from emerging and established Minnesotan writers.
You can read all about the talented writers who have contributed to this issue of The Talking Stick by clicking here, and/or purchase your own copy by clicking here.
A writer once told me (note I resisted the temptation to name drop) that you know you are doing something right when people not only want to print your writing, but also want to print why you wrote what you wrote.
Guess I'm doing something right, for once. :)
Head on over to The Write Helper and check out the short profile and picture they have up on me. It was fun doing this because it gave me an opportunity to reflect on my writing process, something that I don't often get a chance to do. Here's an excerpt:
I am a believer of writing as a vehicle for catharsis, confession, and change. In other words, you won’t find any odes to butterflies or cheesy fairytales authored by me. My inspirations are varied; I can’t pinpoint what defines my manically changing style. I’m definitely stirred by classic African-American writers...
Click here to read the rest of my profile - hopefully you'll find it interesting.
Also, they have been nice enough to publish my prizewinning poem Meditation on Meditation online for the masses to read. Click here to read it. Hurry up. Now. No excuses.
Big thanks to Amy Harke-Moore for this opportunity to shine a little bit on the worldwide web.
If you are a writer, take some time to look around The Write Helper website. They have contests that actually pay cash (wow), as well as editing services. You know, things you might find useful. Later...
...my first fiction chapbook, Survival Notes, will be coming out soon through Cervena Barva Press. It is slated to be published in December 2007.
Survival Notes will be a sampling of my best short fiction pieces, including several stories that were award winners. I'm hoping that if you like my work that you might support me and Cervena Barva Press by buying a copy. I'll be sure to provide updates as we get closer to the publication date.
Head on over to the Guild of Outsider Writers and take a look through their Agit Prop Poetry 101 section. They've been nice enough to feature a couple of my opinionated rant poems, Stand Up and Sing and Just Another Poet Ranting About Revolution. Click here to check them out...
So I just found out that two of my poems placed in the Cedar Hill Press Poetry Contest - click here to see a list of contest winners and check out links to both of the poems. I Hate Poetry took Second Prize, while Observations at a Downtown Starbucks earned an Honorable Mention. I would like to say thank you to the judges and to Cedar Hill Press for this great contest opportunity and their appreciation of my poetry. September has been good to me so far - it has either been feast or famine this year, and this month has me eating well, at least in terms of my writing.My poem So Cool, a satire piece on those silly Hollywood starlets that are in the news way too much, is now up on the website for Death Metal Poetry. It is the poem posted for 8/26/2007. Click here to check it out, as well as all the other edgy, entertaining poems featured on this site.
A couple of years ago I had a flash fiction piece entitled A Version of Karma that appeared in the online journal HeavyGlow. It was a dark piece that abstractly described the impacts of a child abuse in a single parent household, and how that abuse manifested itself into a twisted act committed by one brother to another. I am happy to announce that "A Version of Karma" has been included in HeavyGlow's first print anthology, HeavyGlow Flash Fiction: Two Years Burning Brightly.
The anthology is packed full of flash fiction pieces written by contributors of the web magazine, HeavyGlow Journal of Flash Fiction. This book holds an eclectic amalgamate of sadness, death, surrealism, joy and humor. Often lyrical in style, these worlds of 750 words or less will introduce readers to exquisite extremes and leave them wanting more. Other noted authors who contribued to this great anthology include Anna McDougall and J.D. Riso. Click here to learn more about the book and/or purchase it - I am confident that you would find this book to be a solid addition to your personal library.
Pop Quiz, my experimental prose piece that appeared in the 2006 edition of Colere, can be found online now. Colere is a cultural journal of prose, poetry and art produced and edited by students of Coe College. I had the honor of having my work appear in the 2004, 2005, and 2006 editions of the journal.
Pop Quiz is a short prose piece that attempts to explore racial and cultural stereotypes using a multiple choice test format. Click here to read and "take" the test - your answers just might surprise you.
What could be cooler than having a poem featured on the website for The Wandering Hermit Review, an international journal of arts and literature? Street Corner Blues, a poem that will be in my upcoming book My Own Brand of Blues, appeared in the second issue of this journal. Thanks to the editor, Steve Potter (no relation), for including this poem in his journal and for using it as a preview poem online. You can click here to check it out...
The Cuivre River Anthology takes its name from a river that flows through a six-county region in eastern Missouri, a land settled by Germans and French, rich in stories and tradition. This collection reflects the voices of those who live there today, as well as voices from around the country and even abroad. From Lincoln County, Missouri, to Lincolnshire, England, these stories gather us together, bridging the distance. And like the steady, enduring rhythm of the river, these stories travel the places we live and call us home.
My award winning short story, Fighting Instinct, is among the many fine stories and poems that are included in this collection. Fighting Instinct is a tale that on the surface is about a bar fight and the fallout from it, but underneath makes a subtle commentary about violence, manhood, and being the better man.
The Cuivre River Anthology is a diverse anthology well worth its price. Click here to order.
