A group of us English types gathered and read from published and in-progress works Friday night. It’s always an inspiring time, and Friday was another great example of why it’s great to work with people you admire. Jim Bishop’s poem “Renaming the Parts” was clever, risky, and pretty much perfect. I also heard Ross Gresham read for the first time and was greatly impressed. Brandon Lingle read his piece “Quakes”, which appeared in the Mississippi … Continued

My non-fiction piece “Devil’s Garden” will be published at Paradigm on Feb 13. Narratively, it’s my most experimental piece, following different thematic currents through short sections. Topics include Chuck Norris, the power of language, blackpowder hunting, an unfortunate incident in a locker room, the Air Force, movies, and mortality.

“Boone Road”, a photo I took on a snow camping trip with Brandon Lingle is up at Stirring: A Literary Collection. Brandon and I were dirt road exploring forty miles east of Colorado Springs in the wide plains. We happened upon a gutted homestead, and there on the backyard fence, a green boot.

The new edition of War, Literature & the Arts literary journal is online. The artwork is stunning and as always, the work inside is top notch. Find it at http://www.wlajournal.com/. Click into Current Issue. I have a short prose poem/fiction piece included in the issue under the Fiction heading.

Today I worked on a flash non-fiction piece currently titled “Whole Life” about my parents’ endeavor to buy life insurance as my mother slowly lost her life. It’s a dense, packed piece filtered through my young teen eyes and much older reflection. Lately I’ve found most of my non-fiction gravitating toward my mother, and the small, glowing reflections of her that arise without summons.