Tag: Writer

  • BEST OF 2022: Short Story Review of “Long Distance,” by Aysegul Savas

    (The short story “Long Distance,” by Aysegul Savas, appeared in the January 31st, 2022 issue of The New Yorker.)

    Sometimes it’s nice to read a love story. And sometimes it’s also nice to read a love story about “relationships where you get jerked around,” to quote the Fortune Teller from The Simpsons. When it came to Aysegul Savas’ story “Long Distance,” it’s a love story about two people who try not to jerk each other around, but might be jerking each other around.

    This was a story that seemed like it could have been published in Collier’s back in the 50’s, as it sort of had the casualness of a Post-War world where American’s came and went in Europe, like visiting a farm upstate – free of the burdens the rest of the world is dealing with. The story is basically about Lea, a student doing a semester of research in Rome, and her male gentleman friend (I don’t think he is ever referred to as a boyfriend) Leo, coming to visit her from California. Their relationship is new, starting just before she left for Rome, and has consisted of phone calls and emails. There is a large anticipation on Lea’s part, and when Leo arrives, the two never seems to line up their intentions, especially when it comes to a story about an elderly woman Leo met on his flight to Rome.

    I am a fan of the short story with subtle and small events that have impactful ramifications to character’s lives, even to the point where the reader understands the importance though the characters may not. That’s what I think this story was aiming for, and I feel it succeeded at that goal. I understood Lea’s high expectations for Leo’s visit, and how when each miscommunication occurs, she feels more insecure that the trip will be a failure. The story is from her point of view, as she is the only character we get internal thoughts from, so we have to take Leo’s words and actions, and figure out what is his truth. I like that Savas structured his story in that way, as it doesn’t make Leo’s true intentions the focus, but rather Lea’s decision on what she thinks is Leo’s true intention are. For that reason, I feel the story stuck its landing.

  • This Week: The Best of 2022 (So Far)

    As the Summer comes to a close and we can see Labor Day on the horizon, I will be taking this week off from working on the blog. I want to spend this final week with the kid before she returns to school, and see what trouble we can get in.

    For this week, I will be posting the top five blogs that have received the highest view counts. A “Best of 2022” so to speak. (Well, the first six months of the years, anyway.) The fifth most viewed post will be today, Monday, and I’ll work our way up to the most seen post on Friday.

    I would also like to take a moment and say an appreciative thank you, to all of you who have stopped by and read my blog over the past two years. When I started out, I was lucky to get one person to look at it. Now, on a good day, I just might get ten views. So, don’t tell me that hard work doesn’t pay off.

    And (you know it’s coming) if you like what you have read, don’t be chicken, go ahead and like, comment, and share. You’ll be helping an angel get his wings!

  • ODDS and ENDS: Student Loans, Champions League, and This Site

    (I haven’t done the tag line thing in awhile…)

    I am sure you all know this; if you have a Federally backed student loan, the government is forgiving $10,000 of it, and up to $20,000 if you received a Pell Grant. This does personally affect me, as I have student loans, and when I was in college, I received Pell Grants. (Full disclosure: I did refinance and consolidate my loans fifteen years ago, so I’m in a limbo right now because I’m not sure the action I took so long ago now disqualifies me from the forgiveness. I’m still waiting to hear from the DOE as to what the status of my loans are.) What I do want to talk about is the debate about this action taken by Biden. Conservatives have an emotional response to it (It’s not FAIR!) while Liberals seem to be mucking up their response – veering between emotional (The right thing to do) and logical (It will help people economically) which makes the progressive message not very clear and easy to explain. The one argument I find funny is the Conservative accusation that Biden is just doing this to please his base, which Democrats dance around. Personally, I think that Biden should just lean into it and say, “Yes, I am doing this for my base.” Republicans have been cutting wealthy peoples taxes for years, and the only reason they do it is to make their donors happy, and no one is surprised by it. Biden has sort of said it, claiming that he’s fulfilling his campaign promise. But, really, I just want to see a Democrat put it like this, “You vote for us, you get your loan forgiven. You vote for them, you get nothing.” At the end of the day, that is politics. No one votes for a party to only help the other side. People vote for a party because they will get something first, and then hopefully the rest of the country next.

    CHAMPIONS LEAGUE is COMING! Which means I will be writing about Tottenham matches even more! And the Spurs play Nottingham Forrest this weekend in the Premier League, which I am expecting Tottenham to win. No offense to Nottingham.

    So, I paid the money and have my own site now, and no longer am I under the yoke of Word Press. I really haven’t had a chance to try out all the bells and whistles that I now have access to being that I am a paid site. Most likely, I’ll start working on some updates after Labor Day, when the kid is back in school. The one thing I have noticed is that my page views are WAY UP! While my blog views are exactly the same. Not sure if this means anything, but my gut tells me that my site is being poked by bots. The four of you who continue to come by and read this blog, again, I thank you for your dedication. I am looking into monetizing this site. Not sure how to do that, nor am I sure how I’m going to spend the $0.15 cents I will make annually. But, I think some changes might be coming.

    (Yo! Please take a moment to give tis post a like, or a share. No comments though. Seriously, I don’t know if I can handle to contact.)

  • A Polite Rejection Letter to Kilgore Trout

    At the start of this year, I decided that I would actively work towards getting one of my short stories published in a lit magazine. To accomplish this task, I came up with a schedule that I would follow during the week, you know, while the kid was in school. In this schedule, I had time set aside to write, re-write, outline, and do research for stories I was working on. Also, I made time to do research on publications that I wanted to submit to, and submitted as well. It was a good system, as I did get a solid amount of work done in a very short time, which left me feeling productive. Now, for Summer, I stopped following the schedule because the kid was home, and vacations, and other home projects. After Labor Day, when the kid returns to school, I’ll get back to my work flow.

    I bring this up because, even though I haven’t actively worked on anything for two months, I’m getting responses from all the magazines I submitted to at the start of the year. I have yet to be accepted by anyone, no shock there. When I get the rejection email, it’s a form letter, which is to be expected, and I take no offense to it. During my time working for a publisher, and it was a very tiny publisher, we were inundated with submissions, and it was hard to stay on top of it. You needed form letters. So, it goes…

    Yet, the one I got yesterday has caused me to wonder me, slightly. It was the type of rejection letter that thanked me for submitted, but unfortunately they couldn’t find a place for my story in the magazine, and wished me luck in the future. All pretty standard stuff, and I don’t believe insincerely meant. Then the letter took a turn. They told me I was welcomed to submit again, that they accepted simultaneous submissions as well, and added a list of websites that contained lists of other publications to submit to. I took this to mean that they were trying to be encouraging – that there are hundreds, if not thousands, of other publications out there. I thought it was a nice touch. I spent twenty years doing theatre, an industry that is built on persevering rejection, so getting told no is nothing new.

    What I started thinking about this morning was the lists, of lists, of lists of publications out there. In essence, these publications wouldn’t exist unless there was a bottomless collection pond of unpublished stories to draw from. I know of no publication or publisher that has a lack of material submitted to them; lack of talent might be a different story. There are probably millions of unpublished writers in America. People we may never read, or ever know of. Billions of words and ideas that never get beyond a small circle of friends and family.

    At moments like this, I start to wonder if there aren’t just millions of Kilgore Trouts running around. I mean, minus publishing stories in porn mags, but I think you get the idea. Maybe there should be a Kilgore Trout Society for unpublished writers. Their symbol could the asterisk.

    (You know, if you liked it, please take a second to “like” it, or comment or share. There is a version of me that really needs the validation.)

  • Blog, Journal, and Fiction Updates

    Some funny things happened on the blog the other day. The first was that someone, or maybe a bot, sat on the home page and looked at it 55 times. It was great for my paltry stats, which if I am lucky, I will get four views/visitors a day. So, one person looking at my page 55 times was cool, but at the same time, if you were a person, what the hell were you looking for? The home page is pretty basic, and not very informative. Were you a person that I know? Were you looking for your name? Odds are it was a fluke, a bot, or something that wasn’t human related. I mean, who looks at a home page 55 times over the course of an hour? Anyway, just thought I’d get that off my chest.

    As for the journal, I have been having issues with it. The issue I speak of is writing in it. This is clearly an after effect of getting out of the habit of writing. Over the past two days, I have had opportunities to take a half hour and write in it, but I have passed. I came up with some excuse of why I should put it off, and I did. I wanted to blame the Summer schedule I have with the kid, as I am with her all day now, but that excuse comes down the blaming the kid, and well, that makes me a shitty parent. (I don’t want to be a shitty parent.) No, no this one is on me. Writing was easier when the kid was in school, that’s a fact, but back in the Covid days when we were all up on each other, I was able to make the time, and that also is a fact. I need to make the time, and on a small level, that annoys me. Making time, means that it’s work. And if work annoys me, then that means I’ve become lazy again. Hence, why I am annoyed.

    And if I haven’t been writing in the journal, then I clearly haven’t been working on the fiction. I got four stories that are still out with magazines. I am expecting to hear back from them in the next month. I’m not trying to be a downer, but odds are they will be rejected. What I want to do is go out and submit to more places, but I am coming around to the idea that I might want to do another round of rewrites. That will take time. I have a plan in my mind of what I want to do, and where I can tighten things up. But, again, I need to make the time.

    (Say! If this blog tickles you in a fancy way, please bestow me an appreciated like, share, or comment. It will make the bot-gods happy, and keep me on the right side of the River Styx!)