You Are Invited to a Wedding

 

A Cellular Wedding to be specific. One in the pages of Rooted Literary Magazine's latest anthology.

Trigger Warning: Catholic Gore

 

Got a short story published in Trashlight. It's called Binding and Loosing. Never thought it would find a home because of its rather...unusual nature.

Live From My Sick Bed, A Separation for Her Infirmary

 

Hello, The New Absurdist published a short story of mine. 

My First Trigger Warning?

 

Thanks to Finnialla at Pulp Lit Mag for publishing my short story The Glass Palace Chronicle. Half Cheever, half Faulkner, half Dick, it comes with a trigger warning for bigotry. 

A Story to Go with Your Garbage Plate

 

It's something lickin' good

Rundelania, a journal based up in Rochester, NY, published a short story of mine. It is called "Blended Bifocal," It's about dirt, coffee, jogging, pipes, and more dirt. Bonus points if you can spot the Norman Mailer reference.

Ben Takes a Gothic Turn

Pictured above is Frederick III, German Emperor. He was Kaiser for only two months in 1888, until he succumbed to throat cancer. This early demise paved the way for his son ,Wilhelm II, to take charge of the German Empire. We all know how well that went.

What does this have to do with me? Thanks to Macy Skov at A Suffer's Digest, a short story of mine based on the Kaiser's malady is now published. It is called Bureau of Barbarians and is up and ready to be read.

Do Geese See God?

 

"Pull a finger, any finger"

Howdy everyone. My short story, The Odor of Sanctity is up at Do Geese See God. 

A Short Story About Eyewear

 

Hey all, Rundelania has put up a short story of mine "Blended Bifocal." Read about the excavation of a gas pipe gone wrong (NSFW?) 

Gather Round, Children for a Story

Pictured: namesake

Maybe not children. This story gets a little blue. Thanks to The Bookends Review for publishing A Morning Hersey. 

Defunct 12 Is Live! And Up! And Ready!

 

Defunct, the magazine of the Long Island University MFA program, is up. According to the masthead I'm a poetry editor. We've got fiction, translations, and creative non-fiction as well. Some of the art is mine. We cut up and inked an old Life Magazine. Read and enjoy.

HERMENEUTICS BETWEEN CONSENTING ADULTS

 Apologies for the Caps. A short story of mine with this title has appeared in a Thin Slice of Anxiety, inspired by a sign in my local chinese takeout place.

The Cup of Trembling

Thanks to Katie Winkler over at Teach. Write. for publishing my short story "The Cup of Trembling" on page 90 of the Spring 2023 issue. 

Man Versus Fridge

The epic battle of our times, presented in a short fiction form by me. Well, posted and hoisted onto the internet courtesy of Across the Margin. The origins of this story began with the Collected Letters of John Berryman. One of the entries is not a letter to Saul Bellow or a TMI correspondence with his son Paul, but rather an angry missive to the real estate company managing his apartment in NYC. I thought this might be an interesting kind of tale of woe to work with, and work with it I did. To results deemed satisfactory to Across the Margin. Read and enjoy. Then listen to the humming coming from your fridge. 

Kafka, Asbestos, & Prose

 

Image by Frank Jackdaw

Good news, I won a small writing contest. This one was held to promote the work of Robin Hemley's new novel Oblivion, an "after autobiography" where a recently deceased writer gets to encounter Franz Kafka in the afterlife. Read my entry and enjoy.

A Return to Prose Posts

 As some of you may know I am now studying for an MFA at Long Island University. Is studying the right word? I guess technically I'm a candidate. But not THE Candidate. That remains Robert Redford. Yes, the academic bug finally bit me. Who knows how far it will burrow inside. Classes have been good so far, lots of readings and such as you can imagine. I'm learning about the history of the novel and this little thing called "show don't tell." Oh damn. Did I just violate it? In one of my classes, Crossing Genres, we are exploring different forms of writing. One of our first lessons focused on flash fiction. I haven't written much of it, but since that class I've been trying out the form. It used to be easier for me to write 50,000 words than something restricted to a 1,000. Or at least to be proud of the result. Now I can say I'm making progress on this front. Or, show you with a link to one of the first prose pieces I've published in a while. It's called The Magic Palm and it's in the Bright Flash Literary Review. The picture below (not the one on the website) is what inspired it. For all you prose lovers out there, rejoice.

It's a Prose Day in the Neighborhood

The drought of short fiction is broken folks. Up at Short Story Town there is a piece by me called "Plugged into the Jacket." It's at the top of the page for now. In a week or so you might have to scroll down to find it. It may or may not be based on a time when I wrote essays meant for other people to use for studying purposes. No comment.

No, I Don't Have a Cat, Yes Read My Poem About One Anyway

Poetry Life and Times, an offshoot of ArtVilla published a poem of mine with a feline character. My original source of inspiration wasn't real life, so much as a picture of a couch in a book about interior design. 

Oh no, my secret is out!

Strategies for Sleeping (and More)

Happy end of November. I have two published materials to share with you all.  The first is a story called "Strategies of Sleeping." It is in the November issue of LitterateurRw. Go to page 69 (nice) to read it. 

Also there's a poem, another poem, in the Eunoia Review, "In My Alchemy of the World."

Soundscape Theater presents "Nessie" an Audio Play with ME (and others)

 

Listen to Soundscape Theater's latest work "Nessie," a short audio play written by Christine Stoddard, directed by John Cappello, with sound designed & edited by India Stachyra. As for the voices, they are supplied by Donna Morales and yours truly. Listen to it at YouTube or the above links.

An Interview with the Poet/Writer/Former Actor/Celebrity Pharmacist

 

Thanks to Meagan J. Meehan for asking me some questions, allowing me to answer them, and then publishing said answers. Come read all about me.