Small stone, Vol. 2, #19

Wind in the pines, the earthy scent of someone’s organic wheat bread overlaying the wash of rose petals and loose soil. Children giggling, a Korean woman translating a botanical label for her elderly mother, two French women remarking on the moss climbing the trunks and the sift of light through the branches, a tourist laughingContinue reading “Small stone, Vol. 2, #19”

A Writer’s Notebook: Work details

There’s this story I’ve been aching to finish for a long, long time now, but the details just aren’t coming. Or, weren’t until this week. But thanks to Tom Franklin, things seem to be rolling again. More on that in a minute. First, some writing: Val dropped the ramps and unchained the big yellow WalkerContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Work details”

New fiction from Amos Magliocco

I love promoting the work of people I know, but here in the summer months most of my short-fiction friends suffer a dry spell of publications. Such is the nature of what we do: many of the venues that publish us are tied to academic institutions and therefore are tied to the academic calendar. SoContinue reading “New fiction from Amos Magliocco”

New fiction: the OBCBYL project, story #5

I am finished. My run at Our Band Could Be Your Lit is, today, officially over. My last story is online now. I had a blast doing it, and many thanks to Ryan Werner for making me sound cooler than I am (with only one exception, all those titles were his, and like any good editor, heContinue reading “New fiction: the OBCBYL project, story #5”

A Writer’s Notebook: Packing my bags at OBCBYL

And just like that, my tenure at Our Band Could Be Your Lit is coming to an end: this week, I’m writing my last story for this project. And it couldn’t come at a better time, because Ryan Werner has decided to start throwing simply idiotic songs at me. Seriously — his words: “For your lastContinue reading “A Writer’s Notebook: Packing my bags at OBCBYL”

New fiction: the OBCBYL project, story #4

I really dragged my feet finishing this week’s Our Band Could Be Your Lit story, but I explained why over at the OBCBYL site. Of course, the story itself is about the difficulties of writing — and how obnoxious writers can be — so maybe that’s explanation enough. This is the penultimate story, folks, so checkContinue reading “New fiction: the OBCBYL project, story #4”

Small stone, Vol 2, #17

A long, long silence. Open the phone, close it. Check the ringer. Longer silence still. All this patience, all this waiting: such an exercise. Then, late in the evening with a plane passing overhead in the twilight, my wife calls to tell me she has arrived safe in the US. So close to home.