To prepare my Rejects page for future disappointment, I’m posting my 2017 rejection letters. Someday I’ll print them all and make really nice wallpaper.
Category: Life
What’s a writing blog without a boring account of the blogger’s life and thoughts about marriage, children, and cats?
Desmond, Write
I’d like Desmond, Write to be an exercise machine for working out my writing muscles. Through endless reps, I want to build up my grills, err, skills, and see more definition and tone. Naturally, to stay flexible, I’ll be stretching through sketching and keeping my brain healthy with a well-balanced literary diet. When I feel the burn, I hope it won’t be from throwing my manuscript into a flaming barrel, but the heat rising from my smoking hot body of work.
Published — “Saamiya”
I’m proud to announce that “Saamiya” was published in Issue 4 of HeartWood Magazine. Without giving too much away, I’ll say that “Saamiya” is about a depressed Muslim girl who encounters the brave but fatal heroism of Piggy from William Golding’s Lord of the Flies and finds common ground, perhaps inspiration. There are elements in this story I find important, including the guidance we receive from stories and the healing we receive from storytelling.
HeartWood is a digital magazine which publishes biannually in April and October. The editors prefer writing that “pushes into… its own truth” and “that takes emotional risks, that gets to the heart of the matter.” Because the magazine is run by the MFA program at West Virginia Wesleyan College, its voice has a very strong Appalachian presence. Luckily, they found enough merit in my short story to include it as well.
Published — “Spheres”
Theme of Absence just published my comedic take on extraterrestrial nihilism (the story’s called “Spheres“). The digital magazine is devoted to speculative flash fiction, and primarily posts original fiction on Fridays. These pieces are accompanied by a Q&A with the author, which I think is a really smart move on the editor’s part because then readers can come for writing and/or writing advice. And if that’s not enough for the literary enthusiast, the editor and owner of Theme of Absence also runs Write Good Books, a blog dedicated to producing useful writing resources and articles.
Published — “An Obituary for the Coolest Christian”
The Higgs Weldon, a humor site that does everything from comedic credits to caption contests, published my satirical panegyric “An Obituary for the Coolest Christian.” The piece satirizes Christian youth culture (sans the tight pants, iphones, and XS plaid shirts—that’s Christian youth Starbucks culture). The site is run by Los Angeles stand-ups Robbin Higgins and Paige Weldon and others (sorry to cut you short, others). They also have a live Higgs Weldon show which is a mix of character, sketch, games, and other improv facets at the Hollywood Improv Lab.
Published — “Dredge”
Whatever Our Souls published my short story “Dredge” in their June 2017 issue (see its Amazon page if you’re interested in buying the issue—paperback is $7.99). My short story introduces Dredge, a plant zombie and necromancer who just wants to be left to his bog garden and tea. Eventually I’d like to pit this character against paladins, but for now a petty hero will suffice.
Whatever Our Souls is a digital/physical print publication devoted to pushing the peculiar, especially stories that would usually “struggle to find acceptance in traditional literary magazines.” This means everything from “space wolves” to “mutant rabbits.” One unique feature of the magazine is its internal competition between its two editors (Team Pollux and Team Castor). Each editor posts their MVP (“Most Valuable Prose”) to the website,and readers have the opportunity to vote for a “reigning champion”*
*Quotes from the site’s homepage.
Short Film — “To Die For”
Had a quick cameo in Creative Workaround’s 2017 submission to the 48 Hour Film Project. Our film won four local awards: Best Film (3rd Place), Best Cinematography, Best Genre Mashup, and Best Location.
Prose Partner
Since Christmas, I’ve been posting my works (some of the same ones on this blog) to Prose, a social media app that takes what’s best about Facebook and Twitter and Instagram – having followers (“friends”) and getting your posts liked or reposted – and applies those networking techniques to the profession of writing. Recently I’ve become a Partner, a promotion that allows me to create Prose-wide challenges, boost others’ work to the Spotlight (the front-page), and monetize my books on the site. Mostly, however, it prints the word “Partner” beneath my username, which is kind of cool.
Desmond, Write 