Basement Missives

On Saturday mornings, my eldest daughter attends a swim class. This is her second round, which means she's starting to feel more comfortable in the water. It's cool to watch her improve from week to week, but it is a bit scary as well, what with the whole potential for drowning. I try to remain … Continue reading Swim. Swam. Swum. →

I wanted to go over some poetry with my tenth grade students because it's National Poetry Month and they have to take a standardized test week which features questions about types of poems, figurative language, and analysis. This is not a great reason to talk poetry with students. In fact, it's downright shitty. I even … Continue reading Myth: Frank Stanford →

Garage sale season. Light poles littered with flyers and street signs feature varying levels of directional signs, a totem to DYI commerce and a beacon for murder. Premise for a story I'm working on. Looking to submit to Ravenswood International Publishing for their spring anthology. The theme is super-powers. Stumped at first, but then decided … Continue reading Garage Sales →

It's incredibly frustrating how hard it is to form good habits and how easily they disappear. These bags of ham are leftover from Easter lunch (I should mention that I am the only person in my house that eats ham. In fact, for the most part I'm the only person in my house that consumes meat on … Continue reading Back in the Habit Again (This post has nothing to do with Sister Act 2) →

This will be a relatively short post, nothing more than a recommendation, really. If you get the chance, please read Don Robertson's "Morris Bird III" trilogy. I'm about to finish the third book, The Greatest Thing That Almost Happened, and I'm kind of bummed. I've grown fond of the character and I don't know that I … Continue reading Morris Bird III →

In his memoir/instructional book, On Writing,Stephen King discusses the importance of rejection letters. He explained that he hammered a huge nail into his wall, and every time he received a rejection letter, he slid it onto the nail. Eventually the nail filled up. I think he offered this anecdote to show that rejection is just part … Continue reading Rejection →

Having listened to three different podcast interviews with Grant Morrison (Fatman on Batman and The Nerdist) and one with Brian Michael Bendis (The Nerdist), I find myself on a bit of a comics binge, thanks solely in part to libraries. I burrowed through the graphic novel stacks at my school's library, procuring copies of Planet Hulk, Kevin Smith's Green Arrow, … Continue reading The Joy of Comics →

= I subscribe to Duotrope, a service providing listings of journal and literary magazines seeking submissions. This resource is crazy valuable, as it allows me to match the pieces I'm working on with the perfect, or near perfect, or just okay avenue for publishing. So far, I've submitted two stories...still waiting to hear back. Tonight … Continue reading Brevity & Kendrick Lamar →

I put in a small, concerted effort this evening of about 380 words. Bit of a drop-off from last night's 1,000 word slog, but I take consolation that I go something down. I'm not quite sure where this story is going yet or what kind of story it should be. Centers around a pizza delivery … Continue reading Pizza My Heart →

Today, badass author, Chuck Wendig, went on a bit of a rant on Twitter (Read about it on his blog, which you should be reading on the reg anyway). His target? Lazy writers, like myself, who make excuses as to why they're not getting their writing done. And it cut me. It cut me deep, but … Continue reading Chuck Wendig Yelled At Me →