Tag: creative writing
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On the Undisputed Reality of Ghosts
This appeared in a pagan newspaper in either late 2021 or early 2022. The newspaper changed hands and the online articles were removed. No answer was given by the current owner regarding the status of the pieces that I and other authors had submitted. So, I offer it here for your enjoyment. It is late…
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Star Trek: Picard — I stopped watching and I’m glad I did
So, on about episode 3 or so of season 2 of Star Trek: Picard, I stopped watching. The thing that sealed the deal for me was the reference to the hole in the ozone layer. (Hint: There is no hole in the ozone layer; we patched it, we reversed it, we saved ourselves from that…
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On the Death of Robert Bly
Time’s iron claws graspto tear back what was not ours;leaves us breathless, bewildered,orphaned children of titans, twice-birthed, twice-traumatized, the newest inhabitants in a fractured-skull-landscape that we call our home
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Sage Advice on Art
Years ago, I wrote for Toolband.com, the official website for the rock band Tool. It was a brief gig but I was paid through in-kind contribution: tickets and backstage passes, oh yes. My big contribution from that era was postulating that the “4:20 code” for smoking marijuana came from an H.P. Lovecraft short story. Good…
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Recent Publications
I recently had an essay published. You can read “On the Undisputed Reality of Ghosts” here. I also had a poem published. You can read “We Eat Our Own” here. Thank you for reading!
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To Sell or Not to Sell…
Sometimes I write a poem or a short story and I know it won’t make a dime. But that’s fine. There are lots of online publications out there that will take the work and use it. So, I submit it to them and let them run with it. In the end, the publication goes on…
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Rejected After Almost 150 Days of Patience
After being shortlisted early on, a story I’d written was rejected after almost 150 days of waiting. The worst part of this is how shabby the rejection was—a form rejection. A general rejection. A simple “We’re going to take a pass, this wasn’t a good fit for us. Good luck elsewhere.” After five months, the…
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Elevating Your Writing Through Reading
One of the problems I encountered in my MFA program was that most of the students in my program weren’t terribly literate beyond the genres they wanted to study. “I don’t read your genre” was a common phrase. Worse still, many students didn’t read beyond genre, they didn’t read literary fiction (or literary genre because…
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Building Your Audience: A Writer Needs Readers
When we look at people like Stephen King and J.K. Rowling who became overnight sensations with their first novels, it’s easy to believe, “That’s how you do it! That’s what I’m going to do—write a great first novel and write my way to the bank!” But those writers are the exception, not the rule, to…
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Writing as a Profession
I have signed two contracts this year; I have sold two pieces. One was a poem, the other an essay. The amount of money I’m making from these sales is truly negligible. Nobody is getting rich writing but if you want to share your work and tell a good story, it’s very rewarding to be…