James Dorr's Blog, page 11

“Paperboxing” Set for Aug. 10 WFHB Radio Read

This is a slowly breaking story, that began, as I recall, with a notice from the Writers Guild’s Shana Ritter to the effect that local AM radio station WFHB was looking for stories (or essays, or excerpts, memoirs. . . .) of around 3000 words, for on-the-air reading. The program: SPEAKING OF STORIES, with Shana noted as a contact but otherwise information seemed sparse, but I kept it in mind.

So, not too long after, I also received a feeler from one Robert Shull from WFHB and — this still being a little under a month ago — I now wrote Shana. Then, with a little bit more information, I sent a 3200-word story, “The Last Dance” (also lead story in my collection AVOID SEEING A MOUSE, originally published in TOMBS: A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH, by Elder Signs Press in 2017), which came back with a note, via Shana, that WFHB thought it “might be too dark for our radio audience.” So, fair enough, except “dark” is what I write.

But anyway, not too long after that, I sent another from way, way back in NEW MYSTERY magazine, in Summer 1997 (and, subsequently, an “Anthony” award nominee for short mystery story that year), titled “Paperboxing Art.” And this one fared better. On June 18 Robert Shull emailed back: We would like to record and air Paperboxing Art. The next step is to sign a permission to air the story. Then we put you on the calendar for 8/10/24. . . .

And there you have it. I sent back that I would look forward to more information as it became ready, and finally, today, July 3, came the contract: WFHB likes to have written permission to air writers’ works.

Would you please sign and return the attached document.

Robert

So this afternoon I sent back the contract, signed, for as far as I know a presentation still slated for Saturday, August 10. With more to be here as it becomes known.

Chocolat Copy Received from Alien Buddha Sun., Okayed This Late P.M.

The Alien Buddha works quickly, we already know that (see June 13). And so, yesterday, Sunday, June 30 the email from Editor/Publisher “Red”: ­Hi Everyone

Attached is the first preview of THEY’RE CONSPIRING AGAINST THE ALIEN BUDDHA TOO!

If you have any edits to request, please let me know sometime in the next few couple weeks.

Thank you

In it, my story — on a contents page of authors only, both fiction and poetry — from page 179 through 181. And scrolling down, there it was, “Chocolat,” with a French point of view (though French words and phrases in the story not set in italics, but roman along with the rest of the story, as had been discussed before as an editorial preference — nothing un-understandable, though, with at most minimal imagination) protesting a European Union Finance Council ruling adulterating the ingredients needed to define a food as genuine chocolate. A ruling actually made, incidentally, although by now some years in the past (the story itself first appeared in Third Flatiron Publishing’s IT’S COME TO OUR ATTENTION, Spring 2016).

Well . . . most of the chocolate I get, anyway, is American. And probably worse.

But in any event, typefaces and all, the story looks good (and with an updated cover for the book received as well) so, an hour or two ago, I answered the email with my “Okay.”

“Willie” Reprise at June Last Sunday Poetry

Came the time again for the “Bloomington Writers Guild Last Sunday Poetry and Open Mic” (see May 26, et al.), with northern Indiana high school English teacher Steve Henn, with a recent poetry chapbook AMERICAN MALE joining his earlier books including GUILTY PRAYER and INDIANA NOBLE SAD MAN OF THE YEAR as well as the proud father of children with the late American artist Lydia Henn, a Notre Dame fan, a lover of crab cakes, and prolific poetry reader at multi-varied venues, as lead-off reader. He began with a political satire, “How Donald Trump’s Hands Ruined My Life,” and with a promise that “we’ll be funny for a time, then not so funny,” ultimately segueing into such serious and intensely personal works as “Elegy for Daniel Johnston and Lydia Henn.”

Henn was followed by poet and writer of non-fiction prose, as well as a translator of fiction from Indian languages into English, with poems in SOUTH ASIAN LOVE POETRY along with such publications as MUSE INDIA and LAST STANZA POETRY JOURNAL, Mahasweta Baxipatra, also an Indiana University, Bloomington faculty member with many additional essays and other writings as well, with a group of shorter and, in her own words, “much less profound,” although highly interesting poems that referenced beliefs of India among other subjects, as well more universal feelings, memories, visions in moonlight, history, and sorrow, and love.

Then, out of a healthy audience of about thirty, ten poets came forth for the “Open Mic” period, led by moderator Hiromi Yoshida. I was in fourth place and, noting little attendee overlap with last month’s “Second Thursday Spoken Word” presentations of poems accepted for THE RYDER’s 2024 Special Poetry Edition (cf. May 9) but, due to the death of Editor/Publisher Peter LoPilato, unlikely now to be actually published, I offered a reprise of my “Little Willie”-styled Christmas poem “Scientific Method,” now set to be published in the anthology FALLEN (see also June 10) later this summer.

Blue Man Edits Arrived, Annotated, Returned

The book is ONCE UPON A FUTURE TIME, VOLUME 4 (see April 30, March 19, et al.), racing toward publication from an initial March 16 acceptance. Yes, that is fast.

The story: “The Blue Man,” an original tale set in the universe of my TOMBS series (cf. also, e.g., “The Last Dance,” though in its case a reprint, lead tale in my January AVOID SEEING A MOUSE collection), a tale of two sisters and a chance for one to marry a reputedly wealthy but hideous man — in fact, in his entirety colored blue. Of course, one can get used to just offbeat complexions. . . . Well, suffice to say based on the story of “Bluebeard,” to go in a fourth volume of science fiction retellings of fairy and folktales.

Or quoting from the initial call: ­The future is as expansive as the universe and full of untold stories. Rumors whispered in the dark of night and legends shared throughout the day. . . . There are as many tales as there are stars in the sky and now is your chance to share yours, once upon a future time.­

And so, in yesterday’s email from Editor Logan Uber, with attachment: Please look over the edits. For any that you agree with accept the suggestion. For any that you do not agree with do not reject the suggestion, but instead make a comment as to why you do not agree. This allows for a dialogue as we work to make the story the best it can be.

If we do not hear back within the next seven days we will consider this as agreement to the changes.

These types of documents, with buttons for agreements or otherwise and/or comments on various changes, even though in this case the changes were few, are best handled by me on a library computer, which meant a wait on my part till today. But getting to it then lateish this morning, I perused the copy, annotating as needed, and sent the whole thing back this afternoon.

3rd Sunday Write, or, Dragons and Love; A Funny Thing Happened . . .

So it’s that time again with me, as usual, a little bit late. And with, as is the usual pattern, four prompts supplied by moderator Shana Ritter, of which the fourth is most often a link to a poem with an instruction to comment on it, I chose the fourth. The poem itself can be found by pressing here, with the lines I commented on quoted below in italics.

Read and respond (from “Summer Solstice” by Stacie Cassarino)

the paper wings of the dragonfly
aeroplaning the soul with a sudden blue hilarity?
Yes, a quote from a poem, by one Stacie Cassarino,
and well it might end with a question mark.
“Aeroplaning the soul”? (well, yes, British spelling),
“a sudden blue hilarity”?
Well, hilarious, maybe. The poem is about love, I think,
and she and I recognize I believe
the absurdity of love from its start!
What gloriousness of an absurdity, though,
and the fact that it sometimes lasts —
perhaps only rarely —
but even if not, can the swiftest jet plane journey
offer a shadow of love’s sheer joy?
And even if not — as airplanes sometimes crash too —
the fire of that dragon then comes into play
and can burn forever!

And . . . a funny thing happened betwixt yesterday’s post and today’s receipt of emails. It seems that yesterday’s “royalty publisher” made a wee mistake: that the royalty announced was from 2023, not 2024. Not to worry, however — attached was the new report.

And the actual royalty due for this year’s first quarter? A more “normal” zero.

Colossal Royalty Announced for June

Well, technically announced in June, the wheels of royalties like much else grinding exceedingly slowly. So actually this is to be a payment for copies of stories (or story) sold in the first quarter of 2024. And royalties, anyway, for short stories are rare — some might be for one as part of an anthology, but a story alone? How much money could it have earned?

How much indeed. To follow the custom of these occasional reports (cf. January 14, et a number of al.), neither the publisher nor the amount will be revealed here — to avoid embarrassment at either end. But nevertheless, as e-received today: I’ve attached your Q1 2024 Royalty Statement. All payments will be made by June 30. I think that will probably be via PayPal, since the cost of a stamp could seriously compromise the average single-quarter royalty take for short fiction.

Let it build up though, and before you know it, it could be enough to make a down payment on a small sandwich! (Or sometimes, in honesty, maybe more.)

“Chocolat” Conspiracies; Writers Guild Second Thursday Spoken Word

Starting a busy, busy day, it’s got to be one of the quickest story acceptances for me thus far! The story, a reprint originally published in IT’S COME TO OUR ATTENTION (Third Flatiron Publishing, Spring 2016): “Chocolat.” Submitted this time at about 10 p.m. last night, the e-word came only about two hours later judging by the time signatures, even if only read by me early this afternoon: I am happy to include your story in the anthology. . . . Attached is a preview with your work in it.

The call was for conspiracy themed fiction and poetry for consideration, from Alien Buddha Press, publishers also of my AVOID SEEING A MOUSE collection. The anthology is to be titled THEY’RE CONSPIRING AGAINST THE ALIEN BUDDHA TOO! — and, for those interested, continuing to read submissions until the end of June — with a hoped for launch date of Independence Day, July 4. (Yes, they do a fast job of not just deciding on which stories to use, but also bringing the book into print.)

And then tonight, along with going over the story proof, and okaying it with one minor correction, tonight was Bloomington Writers Guild “Second Thursday Spoken Word Series” night (see May 9, April 11, et al.), with three featured poets, Jason L. Ammerman, the Writers Guild’s own Tony Brewer, and Joseph Kerschbaum, who up until 2024 — after Ammerman’s December 2022 diagnosis of having come down with Stage IV Colon Cancer (though still on his feet, at least for now!) — had often performed readings together as “the Reservoir Dogwoods.” And also back in the MC spot, recovering from an accident that had had her out of action for Guild events for some time, was Spoken Word Series co-producer (with Tony Brewer) Joan Hawkins.

Ammerman, who had originally formed the Dogwoods group even if they were doing solo gigs this time, a poet since 1989 with three published books as well as leading innumerable poetry readings and slams in the Indianapolis area in the late 1990s and early 2000s, plus with the Dogwoods through their final March 2024 show, a charity performance for “Man Up to Cancer” — an organization for males who are fighting or have fought cancer — led off with what he called “small stuff,” but were actually three longish poems touching on such things as earthquakes, ghosts, and the meaning of motherhood, along with details of the stories behind them. He was followed by poet and audio artist as well as executive director of the Spoken Word Stage at Bloomington’s annual 4th Street Festival of the Arts and Crafts, and with twelve books and chapbooks under his belt, Brewer, with two “guest” poems, one by Beat poet Ruth Weiss and a second by a poet he’d recently worked with designing a chapbook for it and printing it on a vintage letterpress, followed by a flurry of shorter poems of his own on a number of subjects, as well as brief explanations. Then Kerschbaum, another Bloomington poet with his most recent publications including MIRROR BOX (Main Street Rag Press, 2020), DISTANT SHORES OF A SPLIT SECOND (Louisiana Literature Press, 2018), and MIDNIGHT SUNRISE just out from Main Street Rag Press, came third with about a dozen poems of varying length, some very short (notably the one he opened with, titled “My Sex Life”), including a small clutch toward the end as if by Mattel doll Barbie’s “Ken.”

Music both at the beginning and just before the break, as well as at the close, was by trumpeter Kyle Quass and percussionist Julian Douglas, who’ve worked together some twenty years, as well as performing in many different ensembles, co-led several bands, and worked on multiple recording projects, these latter including Quass’s FRACTURED and Douglas’s TALAFAWA. Then, after the break, it was time for the “open mic” portion of which I came fourth of nine walk-on readers. And for which, it being itself only some 500 words long, the story I chose to present was . . . “Chocolat.”

From Ryder to Fallen (No, It’s Probably Not What You’re Thinking)

So it’d been the one of the small patch of poems I’d sent that THE RYDER had accepted for its 2024 Special Poetry Issue (cf. May 9, February 20). But due to the untimely death of RYDER editor/publisher Peter LoPilato, the issue has since been put in limbo: maybe to still be published as a revival issue, maybe not.

But poems, as life, go on.

Enter Jimmy Broccoli, earlier this month: Beginning today, I will be accepting poetry submissions for my 4th (and final) poetry anthology, FALLEN. Guidelines and all details are below. And the details were many, and complicated, including that the book might be divided in two parts in a sort of strange way. Also that there would be no pay (but then THE RYDER wasn’t going to pay poets either), but the book’s profits would go to charity, notably for the care of the animals and upkeep of the facility at Full Circle Farm Sanctuary. So why not send three poems (the limit allowed for a submission, though generally only one would be chosen) and, on the theory that a publication in hand is worth two in the bush, include as one of them the poem that had been accepted for THE RYDER?

The poem: “Scientific Method,” an elaboration on a class of poems from late Victorian times (cf., again, February 20) about a naughty boy named Little Willie and disasters that he suffers, to the utter indifference (or citation of a clichéd moral principle) of the poem’s narrator. And, as some may be guessing by now, it is both the poem that had been to be in THE RYDER, and that was chosen yesterday evening to be published in FALLEN instead: Your poem SCIENTIFIC METHOD has been accepted into the “Fallen Angel” version of “Fallen.”

Originally, the two versions were going to be identical (contain the same poems) — but I’ve decided they will contain different poems (completely).

The anthology is scheduled to be released in late August 2024.

Time Master, Seasons Unceasing Received at Last!

No fault to the publisher, a check of the contract said I wasn’t due to get a print copy, and my two-year-old ledger had the payment recorded (though with PayPal skimming off one or two bucks). The book: SEASONS UNCEASING, officially published by Worldsmyths (cf. November 8 2022, et al.) in December 2022. But, while I had been waiting for an update on line edits, a number of which I had disagreed with on a previous pass, they had apparently just gone along with me on most and — apparently without letting me know (well, in fairness the Internet Monster has been known to eat messages too) — went ahead and released it.

The story: “The Master of Time,” originally published in the Summer 2002 FANTASTIC. And now in my hands, as big as life, starting on p. 111 of SEASONS UNCEASING, a collection of (to quote from the original call) [f]antasy/science fiction stories, following the theme of “seasons.” (Seasons, weather, cyclical nature, ending, returning, regularity interrupted, growing things, dying things, planet sized impact, local microsystems . . . ) Well, you get the idea. And which arrived now because, having run across the story folder and wondering why it hadn’t been filed a year-and-a-half back — it’s not unheard of, for instance, for publications to be delayed sometimes for longer than that — I discovered the book had in fact been published!

And so, what the heck, the book’s premise still seeming interesting — not to mention to fill a hole on my “trophy shelf” — I went ahead and ordered a copy from Amazon (for more on which, and/or to order a copy yourself, press here) which has just now arrived!

First Sunday Prose Features Pride Month Fiction

June’s Bloomington Writers Guild “First Sunday Prose and Open Mic” (see May 5, et al.) at Bloomington’s Juniper Gallery did double duty, honoring Pride Month with its two featured readers, as well as with stories for, literally, all ages. It’s also the last until September, going on summer vacation for the next two months, when it will resume with an altered time slot, from 4:00 to 5:30 p.m. instead of its current 2:00 to 3:30.

First up for this month was children’s story writer/illustrator Gail Fairfield who began with a short grownup piece for Pride Month, of two older women discussing holding hands at a table, followed by several selections from THE MOSTLY TRUE STORIES OF ROLY POLY’S GREAT LAKE ADVENTURES — holding the book up from time to time so we could see the pictures ourselves! — from her series of children’s books starring a rambunctious as well as extra-cute puppy. Then, second, came Bloomington PetsAlive executive director David Dunn, and a frequent contributor to DRUNK MONKEYS magazine, with two “very queer” stories, the first aimed toward young adults, the opening chapter of a first novel he has in the works, and second, for adult readers, “Anastasia Canary and Her Paranormal Lovers” with themes of extra-terrestrial abductions and environmental intervention.

After a short break, moderator Molly Gleeson introduced, in turn, four “open mic” readers of which I was second with a story published in 2021, in a special issue of FRIGHT NIGHT aimed at young adults new to reading horror, “Upward!,” about a being with, at best, only spotty memory, struggling upward through darkness to . . . what?