Prose and Prizes and Punch

Pleased as punch to find out Michael Solender and the other fine folks at Full of Crow Press liked my story COCHINOS (MiCrow 7; Summer 2012) enough to nominate this very small fiction for Pushcart Prize.

I love the annual Pushcart Anthology. So much excellent fiction, poetry, essays, many by familiar writers published in familiar journals. The heft of the volume feels good in my hands. I have last year's on the table by my bed--it makes for a good read when I want to read something dependable and short.

I haven't a chance in hell of 'winning'--I am an unknown, and admit it: the Pushcart judges do not smile too often or favorably upon electronic journals. But the persistence of internet journal editors like Michael Solender and Lynn Alexander, who publish provocative prose, poetry, and art, will eventually wear down the old-fashioned walls of the Pushcart Prize. I am humbled to have my story published in Microw, nominated for the Pushcart, and most of all, to be a small part of the electronic movement changing the face of the written word. Peace...

Twelve Reads of Christmas -- Great Things Come in Small Packages

'Tis the gifting season, and what better present than a book? Over these final 10 shopping days, I'll highlight 12 of my picks for giving. Up first, three small gems well worth purchasing for a friend -- or yourself.

MYRA KING is an amazingly versatile writer whose collection of short stories, CITY PADDOCK AND OTHER STORIES (Ginninderra Press) hit the Australian bookstores this spring. Ten stories, each packing its own particular wallop: a former soldier's love for the dignity of his horses and his life, the futility of bringing a child into a bitter and brutal world, a future where love is prohibited. Here, the opening of CITY PADDOCK: I've been watching grass grow. Every morning you can see me, an old bloke, on my way to the shops, lifting my feet carefully as I cross over a strip of it outlining a path.

A beautiful little book by Tim Horvath, CIRCULATION (Sunnyoutside Press) pays homage to books and maps and the intricate relationships we have with our parents. Tim Horvath writes lush and spare; yes, I intend the apparent contradiction. The first sentence: When we were awash with youth, we were all led to believe that our father was assembling a book called The Atlas of the Voyages of Things. Buy it ==> HERE.

LAST WINTER'S LEAVES is an intimate and moving chapbook of poems and micro-short stories by MICHAEL SOLENDER (Full of Crow Chapbook Series). The contents show a 'tender' side of Michael, and a personal side: the poems and stories reflect the end of a crippling despondancy. From his poem PANIC ATTACK: Panic skips like flat spinning stones my mind's stagnant river/apathy growing at desire... Interested in a copy? Contact the writer himself ==> HERE.

Please support authors and their creations. Next up, collections for the pack rats among us. Happy shopping! Peace...

Gratitude #28

TODAY I am thankful for social media. Without virtual salons such as FICTIONAUT and the twitter-enabled #fridayflash, I'd be one lonely -- and likely unread -- writer.

BTW, fictionaut is invite only, but MASHABLE is giving away 100 free FICTIONAUT invites. So sign up now -- you'll see many familiar nom de plumes.

And to celebrate hump day -- and the end of summer -- here's a fabulous chapbook of more than eighty 101 word stories. Revolving around the theme DOG DAYS OF SUMMER, Michael Solender, congenial host of NOT FROM HERE, ARE YOU, held a hot contest that netted some amazing small stories. So come, set a spell, pour yourself a lemonade or something stiffer, and enjoy the read. I'm pleased and honored as heck to have my shortie DRIP included. Enjoy!

Open publication - Free publishing - More flash

Peace, Linda

Daisy Chain Poetry Gang --> Focus on Michael Solender

Michael Solender -- writer, essayist, journalist, and poet extraordinaire. Also the third link in the daisy chain poetry gang. I've had the pleasure of flashing and poeming with Michael for over a year, and all I can say is -- wow. Michael is one of the most versatile writers I know, and one of the most talented. You can find his colloborative poem OUR DISTANT FRIENDS at The Not. I time traveled to Charlotte, where we kicked back on the front porch and threw back a couple of icy cold brews while talking all things writing.

Michael, which calls to you more, poetry or prose? Prose, I think, has a stronger pull for me. I have difficulty with structure in poetry but ironically can find the discipline liberating so I do try. I went through a Villanelle stage and Pantoums which are variations on that theme. Prose allows me to be more loose with conceptualization and flow that seem to better fit my mood.

How would you characterize your poetry voice? your prose voice? I really like to experiment. Trying second person, female characters in prose is challenging and fun for me. I think of it less as voice and more mood.

What inspired these first lines of your poem?

They reside on shores unseen
waiting, wanting,
wrestling with weighty wonderment
Do they feel what we feel?
Know what we know?
Care our cares?

I was actually thinking sci-fi for some strange reason and about parallel universe!

When you wrote the first line(s), did you have a preconceived idea of how your poem would shape and form? If yes, what was that vision? I really had no idea whatsoever... I was looking to be surprised and I was.

What surprised you about the final version? Just how tight and seamless it was, the flow and cadence were wonderful.

What are you working on now? I have a story (non-fiction) I'm pitching about two local documentary filmmakers who have produced a film celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of the Newport Folk festival and they have hundreds of hours of interviews and concert footage with major principals like Joan Baez, Odetta, Pete Seeger etc. The back story is incredible and I anm expanding my comfort zone and taking the story to some big name national publications..we'll see.

Bio: Michael J. Solender is editor of On The Wing. A recent corporate refugee, he foolishly turned to writing for salvation. His opinion and satire has been featured in The Richmond Times Dispatch, The Winston-Salem Journal, and Richmond Style Weekly. He writes a weekly Neighborhoods column for The Charlotte Observer and contributes frequently to Charlotte ViewPoint and Like The Dew, Journal of Southern Culture & Politics. Solender’s micro-fiction and poetry has been featured online at Bull Men’s Fiction, Calliope Nerve, Danse Macabre, Dogzplot, Gloom Cupboard, Full of Crow, Right Hand Pointing, Shoots & Vines, The Legendary, Metazen, Writers’ Bloc and over one dozen other venues. His essay, Unaffiliated, will be featured in the upcoming print anthology TOPOGRAPH, New Writing From the Carolinas and the Landscape Beyond, published by Novello Festival Press in the fall of 2010. He blogs almost daily at Not From Here, Are You?


Peace, Linda

The Kissing Tree

Up at Michael Solender's wondermous Blog NOT FROM HERE, ARE YOU?.

Lately, I've been pondering place, mostly North Carolina and Baltimore, and the meaning of home. The kissing tree is a 'character' that shows up in several stories and poems. When my family travels to my parents, a signpost telling us we've almost arrived is a huge oak smothered with mistle-toe. We always kissed as a family at the intersection. Shortly before my father died, I traveled alone, and only the tree trunk remained. A poem was born...

Thank you Michael for the chance to grace your pages. I am honored...

Peace, Linda