James Dorr's Blog, page 7

Tunnels Reprint for Last Girls Club Winter Issue

So began the call: Submissions are now OPEN. LAST GIRLS CLUB Winter Issue Theme is Underground. Whether you’re hiding underground or what’s underground is coming for you or both; scare the bejeezus out of us over it. So the money was not much, but reprints were okay, and as it sometimes happens I had a story originally published in LEAFING THROUGH in December 2004, titled “Tunnels,” about a post-apocalyptic subterranean civilization (of sorts) seen through the eyes of a pair of young girls, that I thought might be just the thing.

So, you know how it goes, off the story went. And about a week short of two months after that, came the response today from Editor Eda Easter (well, maybe yesterday as this gets posted): Congrats James!

Your piece Tunnels has been accepted for the Winter issue of LAST GIRLS CLUB. I apologize for the delay. I’ve had a wicked cold all month that made thinking and reading impossible. A contract and further instructions will be emailed to the email you provided later this week. . . . Thank you for your particular slice of creepy. I appreciate your vision.

For which more will be here as it becomes known.

Angela Jackson-Brown Star at 1st Sunday Prose

There was just one featured reader, award-winning writer, poet, playwright, and educator Angela Jackson-Brown, at the December Bloomington Writers Guild “First Sunday Prose and Open Mic” (cf. November 3, et al.) at Bloomington’s Juniper Gallery, but she was sufficient to keep us mesmerized for the entire late afternoon session.  Author of several well-reviewed novels, as well as short fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry, she started us off with two poems, “The Death of my Pen” and “A Love Note from an Ally,” followed with an informal talk about herself and being a writer, and ending with an excerpt from her latest book, UNTETHERED, to be officially launched on Tuesday, December 3, also locally at Bloomington’s Morgenstern Books.

This was followed by a question session with a number of subjects raised by coordinator Molly Gleeson and others in a group of about a dozen attendees, including writing in general, history and historical fiction, a writer’s favorite works (generally what one is working on now, Jackson-Brown emphasized), prose vs. poetry as means of expression, and how she herself started as a writer.  Then, after a break, the “open mic” portion brought two walk-on writers, me with a Christmas story of sorts, “Dead of Winter,” and fellow Writers Guild member Tonia Matthew.

The Goth Cat Triana Suggests Why Not Adopt a Cat for Yourself from Your Local Animal Shelter?

Both you and it would have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Naughty Accepted for “Best of” Antho, Contract Signed; Werewolf Howls at Last Sun. Poetry

A double header this Sunday, though the acceptance and contract actually arrived Saturday.  This was for a Christmas story, “Naughty or Nice,” originally published in DAILY SCIENCE FICTION on December 21 2011 and as a reprint on March 3 this year in METASTELLAR (cf. March 3, February 29), which has now made the cut for the latter publication’s “Best of the Year” anthology.  And, unlike their reprint e-zine in March, this one will pay!

Well, maybe not that much (the pay, that is, which I believe consists of a royalty share), but pay is still pay. And thus Sunday afternoon a somewhat complex — and requiring the library’s computer equipment — contract was printed, signed, faxed and self-emailed back to me, and thence re-attached to wing back to the publisher.  More on this when it’s known.

Then this evening brought November’s Bloomington Writers Guild’s “Last Sunday Poetry,” at Morgenstern Books, with ToledoPoet.com and Facebook Toledo Poetry Museum page co-founder Kerry Troutman, a Pushcart and Best of the Net nominee and lifelong Ohio native with seven books published, first featured reader with poems on such subjects as sunsets on parking lots, Toledo, teeth, showers, and others, several based on paintings. She was followed by author, MFA, and university teacher Shannon K. Winston with poems from her (speaking of artwork!) 2021 book THE GIRL WHO TALKED TO PAINTINGS, along with a clutch of more recent works.

After that came the “Open Mic” section, with a healthy group of eleven readers in which I came ninth with a single poem, “Beware of the Dog,” on the subject of werewolves.

Nov. 3rd Sunday Write Posted One Sunday Late

‘Twas time for the Bloomington Writers Guild’s “Third Sunday Write” for November (cf. September 13 — I seem not to have posted the one for October, lost probably in the pre-Halloween shuffle, but it wasn’t very good either), or close enough anyway, though my response may not be as artful as I would have liked.  But it had been a long day, and a depressing one at that.  So, excuses aside, here were the prompts from coordinator Shana Ritter:

1.    When dusk cloaks the day so early…..

2.    It did not go the way we hoped and so….

3.    Thanksgiving recipe….

4.    Respond to the photo

of which, this time, I went with the fourth.  Thus:

(November prompt 4. Respond to photo. . . .)

Ah,  dusk comes as we look down the river’s curve toward the sea.  All  remains peaceful and calm.  No Loch Ness wanna-be monsters this day at  least, for which we are thanks giving.  Thanks and more thanks, yes, for  peace — unlike Friday.

Yes,  Friday.  You do remember, do you not?  The watchers on Friday, shouting  their warnings into the gloaming:  “Tentacles!  Tentacles!  Krakens  approaching. . . .”

And  that’s all we heard from them.  The head of one did wash ashore Sunday  morning, his mouth still open.  It did not look happy.

But  today, today, not at all like last Friday.  At least for the moment.  The fishermen’s village not half-crushed this afternoon, boats not  aflame.  In the distance, a voice singing.  An odor of early suppers  cooking.

Not one bit like Friday!

Although, come to think of it, there is one strange item out on the horizon. . . .

But, no.  Let’s not think unhappy thoughts this time.  Not like last Friday.

And that’s all she (or in this case, he) wrote!

Reminiscence and Poetry: A Tribute in Kind to Jenny Kander

JENNY KANDER is known to many as the “poetry lady,” a title she says she adores. She came to Bloomington in 1992 from South Africa to live near her daughter, Tamar Kander, a painter. When she moved here, she promised herself poetry classes—something she’d never had the time for when she worked as a grief counselor. But she did much more. She went to the community radio station WFHB with an idea for a daily dose of poetry, The Linen of Words, and for years Bloomington heard her voice or her guests’ voices twice a day. She also hosted The Poet’s Weave on WFIU from 2006-2009.

The above is from a tribute from last December via WFHB to Jenny Kander, who passed away October 8 this year, a major force in forming today’s Bloomington poetry scene. And so last night, at local coffeehouse/restaurant The Runcible Spoon, many of us who she influenced came together for reminiscence and reading, as well as (as it turned out) to partake of copious food and drink. It was not a Bloomington Writers Guild event itself, although many of us who attended were members including Guild notable (and Indiana “Champion Poet”) Tony Brewer who served as MC.

Beyond that, the ceremony was simple. A dozen or so of us in all, in two “shifts” with an intermission between, shared memories and poems, some by Jenny, some by ourselves, some perhaps simply by association or from books she’d published. In my case I read one from a poetry reading about a quarter century ago, “Dust to Dust,” where I had first met Jenny, followed by “Frankenstein’s Mistress,” one of several she’d included in her A LINEN WEAVE OF BLOOMINGTON POETS in 2002, a compendium of work from some fifty Bloomington poets from both the town and the university.

Alien Buddha Proof, Cover Preview Fast Too. . . .

So yesterday’s post, written actually Sunday:  The Alien Buddha, if nothing else, works fast — certainly at least on this occasion. . . . The call was for an anthology of New Year’s stories, THE ALIEN BUDDHA’S CHAOS COUNTDOWN, and the story I sent Sunday afternoon a reprint from Untreed Reads’s December 2012 YEAR’S END:  14 TALES OF HOLIDAY HORROR, “Appointment in Time.”

But then, Monday, yesterday as I write this, two days ago now (be patient, one’s head spins . . . so fast . . . so fast . . .), lateish afternoon:  Hi Everybody

Attached is the first preview of THE ALIEN BUDDHA’s CHAOS COUNTDOWN.

If you have any edits to request, please let me know sometime in the next 10 days or so.

And with it, a second PDF:  Chaos Countdown First Preview Cover which, why not?, let’s post too.  Ten authors are cited (Hi, April — small world, someone else from the Bloomington Writers Guild in the contents too!  A hotbed of artists, we!), with more “TBA” which could mean they’re still open for more submissions(?).  But anyway, Tuesday, today (that is, yesterday when this is posted — these writing-to-posting delays are because I write these at home but have to use a library computer to make WordPress work right), I went through the proof and returned it with one or two minor suggestions.

And eight minutes later (yes, I compared the date stamps) from Editor Red:  Got it. Thank you James. Update made.

Sunday Submission Brings Super-Fast Sale

The Alien Buddha, if nothing else, works fast — certainly at least on this occasion.  And the story itself was about time.  The call was for an anthology of New Year’s stories, THE ALIEN BUDDHA’S CHAOS COUNTDOWN, and the story I sent Sunday afternoon a reprint from Untreed Reads’s December 2012 YEAR’S END:  14 TALES OF HOLIDAY HORROR, “Appointment in Time.” 

The time then — exactly one hour and four minutes when came the reply:

Hi James

This is great.

I am happy to include your story in the anthology.

There will be a preview to see sometime before it goes live.

Red

And that’s that!

Chitlin Circuit Rules Writers Guild 2nd Thursday Spoken Word

Say what?  The announcement and over-all MC Tony Brewer defined it:  The Indiana Chitlin Circuit is based on the traditional Chitlin Circuit that sprouted in the period of Jim Crow segregation.  African American performers weren’t necessarily allowed to share a stage with white performers.  A network of live entertainment venues in the US emerged that catered  to black audiences and black entertainers.  And thus the circuit itself, guest-MC’d by current Indiana State Poet Laureate Curtis L. Crisler who, co-sharing featured reader honors with poet and essayist Ross Gay and the Writers Guild’s own Hiromi Yoshida, took over downtown Bloomington’s Backspace Gallery for November’s “Bloomington Writers Guild Second Thursday Spoken Word” (see October 11, et al.).

But first . . . well, Bloomington’s rare parking space situation delayed the guest of honor’s arrival, so half of the normally after-break open mic started the show, in which I was third of five readers with my poem “Bat Crazy,” introduced (as were several others) as having special relevance to last week’s election.  But then, all three “Featureds” now arrived (with no music this month to allow a third poet), came a program with a bit of a difference, opening with all three poets in a round robin, Ross Gay starting, with each poet in turn with a single poem taking off from the one preceding it.  Then, that completed, each poet got ten minutes to read their own work; and finally a poem read by all three poets, each in turn taking a line until all joined together for the final line.

That done, it was break time, with that then followed by five more walk-ons for open mic, part 2.

“Trad Gothic” Calm Going to Hse of Long Shadows

Trad Gothic.  You know it when you see it.  Such was the opening of the call.  Horror is the most famously Gothic genre — and our number one aesthetic touchstone is horror cinema in the Corman-Hammer vein — but we’re also open to family dramas, murder mysteries, and moody romance. . .

The market was new e-publication HOUSE OF LONG SHADOWS ([a] new story with accompanying artwork will be posted each Saturday, beginning on January 4th, 2025), and pay would be a share of a given month’s subscription revenue.  Yeah, maybe not much, but reprints were okay as long as they went back at least ten years, so why not.  It sounded like it has the potential to become well-followed and, frankly, the cash in this game is low enough that I’m almost getting more interested in just spreading my writing around than profiting from it.

Well, sort of anyway.

But to the point, why not?  I had several stories, especially with historical settings ([p]eriod or quasi-period settings [17th century through 1930s] are preferred, but accurate detail is not a priority) and I had one, “The Calm” (see October 4, July 27 2022; November 20 2020, et al.), taking place during the French and Indian War and originally printed in Marietta Publishing’s NEW MYTHOS LEGENDS way back in 1999, so off it went . . . Tuesday.  And, lightning-quick, yesterday, Wednesday the 13th, the word came back from Editor Sara Bickley:  Thank you again for letting us read “The Calm.”  We are pleased to accept it for publication in January 2025.