Musical Pencil

Dew on the Kudzu is a zine I keep returning to. Idg, the editor, is such a kind person and always responds lightning fast. Wheelchair Shadow is a story I wrote after a fishing trip on Memorial Day. Most of it is true, some descriptions are more my grandfather than father, but based on family nontheless. Hope you enjoy this one and check out the zine. It's a southern thing - I'm a southern thing - yeah, I like how that works out, it all fits together. http://todaysdeepsouth.blogspot.com/2009/06/wheelchair-shadow.html

A new story with a Southern Gothic flair is up at Thirty First Bird Review . I wrote this story about a month ago and have had trouble placing it - then I came across Thirty First Bird Review - which focuses on religion in literature - they mentioned such writers as Flannery O'Connor - and I thought - why not send them this story - not that it is of the calibre of an O'Connor story - but it does have that southern twisted dark religious element. I'm not sure if this is my "style" or not, but I do seem to keep writing these little gothic things from time to time and they feel natural to me - so, maybe this is one consistent facet to my writing. I hope you enjoy "Saturday Night Sinner" Thank you Edward Simon, Thirty First Bird Review editor. link seems to be a little slow and it takes you to the story page - not my story specifically - I hope you'll read the other stories there - especially Edward's - it's great! http://www.thirtyf...

A new poem is up at Moon Drenched Fables . It is the polar opposite of the story I posted yesterday. This poem plays with rhyme and meter, falling out of each and back in again. It was written with a bedtime story feel - something soft to whisper to a sleepy child, most likely a little girl - if I ever were lucky enough to have one. Hope you enjoy the poem. Ethel Rohan, one of my favorite contemporary writers, has a poem featured in this issue as well. The links are a bit fussy, but I suspect the fine editors at Fables will iron that out rather quickly. I certainly appreciate all the effort they put into this issue and I'm loving the little fairy animation they posted at the top of my poem. http://www.capriciousquills.com/moondrenchedfables/id9.html

A few months ago, I had just begun submitting stories and poems and was scoping markets on Duotrope. I noticed an interesting zine that was seeking erotic sci-fi. I had never written in this genre before and was eager to take a crack at it. I wrote a story that was accepted and now I read it - I can't even believe I wrote it - it is strange and one would think I was on crack when I penned it, but nope - I was sober as can be and had fun writing it. Like I've been telling you all along, variety is key- dabble in all the genres and use all the colors. Check out Yellow Mama's June issue and my newly posted story: Tumor . Beware - adult content combined with creepiness. http://blackpetalsks.tripod.com/yellowmama/id326.html

New story up at the Dead Mule School of Southern Literature . This story is loosely based on a trip taken with my mom and dad right after dad came back home from Vietnam. It was also inspired by a pastel drawing by Cooper Renner. The picture was of an old work trailer. I wrote this one shortly after signing up with Fictionaut - a writer's site, but I haven't been spending much time there as of late - I need to get back into it. There are lots of fun Southern Legitimacy statements to check out by authors and great stories as well. I hope you enjoy "Jack in the Box U-Haul". http://www.deadmule.com/fiction/2009/06/paula-ray-jack-in-the-box-uhaul/

I just realized, with the recent acceptance of two poems for Zygote in My Coffee - I've now reached the fifty mark in regards to things published or forthcoming. Since I've only been submitting work for eight months - I think that's pretty good. I'm feeling proud of myself and eager to produce more work, break into more markets, and see if I can crack open the code to get into some of the more challenging markets. I'm on a mission, see - I want to build a decent portfolio, so when I apply to grad school - they won't laugh in my face and maybe - just maybe I'll have a shot at being accepted. I don't have people to vouch for my work, except for other writers and some editors I've interacted with online. I wonder if it would be unacceptable to request their support when I start the application process. hmmm, maybe I need to get out of the house more and meet people face to face...I always clam up in person...time to be braver.

A couple of years ago, I frequented a writing forum for poets. I was just beginning to discover how much I enjoyed writing and this site gave me a chance to post my work and get feedback. There weren't very many published writers on that site...soon I discovered why. The critiques were usually positive - no one ever really gave suggestions and score was kept - via popularity contest type things. One male poet, sent a friend request to every female on the site and had gathered quite a little harem. He wrote mushy love poems and eventually published a collection, using the picture of his online lover's face - she was married, as was he - but they had a public - online blow out when she discovered how many women he'd been romancing on that site, etc. This collection he published, was what we call vanity publishing -through Lulu press - now, a lot of people do this and it makes sense - chapbooks for poetry rarely make money to speak of and it is hard to get a chapbook published...