tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-91906642182316169182024-03-08T12:08:35.405-08:00The Fiction of T.C. PowellThe erratic thoughts, reflections, etc., of a would-be fiction writer as he attempts to make a career for himself. (Or at least have a little bit of fun...)El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-14956722489208560532021-12-04T22:23:00.003-08:002021-12-04T22:23:35.632-08:00Another Recommendation: tick, tick... BOOM!<p>Film on Netflix by Lin-Manuel Miranda about Jonathan Larson, the writer/composer of Rent. Brilliant.<br /></p>El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-3511980634375684942021-11-03T22:48:00.001-07:002021-11-03T22:48:05.569-07:00Things I Love + A Recommendation<p>We spend a lot of time on hate. What about love? I'd love more love.</p><p>Right now I'm listening to Queen (their first eponymous album) and eating home-roasted pumpkin seeds. These are things I love. Also, tonight we finished watching Midnight Mass (on Netflix) which was flipping fantastic. Highest recommends.</p><p>Maybe, depending on how things go, this space can be used as a bit of a clearinghouse for the things I love most in the world. If no one is listening anyways, it's not like I have to be super strict with myself. May as well stretch out, put my feet up.</p><p>With respect to my reading list, I'm already cheating my own system. I haven't finished 1Q84 -- I've relegated it to the Finnegans Wake seat of honor (aka porcelain throne) to ensure, erhm, daily progress. In the meanwhile, I've read The Hunger Games and started Johnny Got His Gun. It's not totally tidy, but it's something. And something is so much better than nothing.<br /></p>El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-61761144522631622222021-10-18T23:11:00.004-07:002021-10-18T23:11:58.448-07:00Reading for 2022 Update #1<p> Finished <i>SPQR</i> today (and posted a review of sorts, <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4294463496?book_show_action=false&from_review_page=1" target="_blank">here</a>); picking <i>19Q4</i> back up tomorrow...<br /></p>El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-29042054570047518272021-10-17T23:15:00.001-07:002021-10-17T23:15:56.486-07:00Reading for 2022<p>I like books.</p><p>Or, I used to. I've always defined myself as a "reader," but actual reading has been in short supply for a while. Initially the transition to writing made it (perhaps ironically) harder to read fiction -- I think because I was reading things from this new, highly-critical perspective, and it prevented me from being absorbed by the fiction. For a while I was afraid that I'd lost the magic permanently.</p><p>Then my child was growing, and what little time I might have had for reading was spent either writing, or participating in workshops, or with my family in other pursuits, etc. And then, when I would read, I often got sucked into some non-fiction, for one reason or another. For the last couple of years, I've been homeschooling my child, and that's led me to read a number of works of history and etc., to help remind myself of the things I ought to know, to pass them along. And no mistake, I love it. I love history.</p><p>But it isn't fiction.</p><p>So here I am, ready to read once more. And because I cannot have a slice of cake, but must stuff the whole thing in my mouth, I have a plan to read... 54 books next year. (Which represents 52 books I've never read before, and 2 more that I have.)</p><p>Here they are:</p><p>It being October, I was initially inspired to attempt something like this when I stumbled over several "favorite horror books" lists. I started writing down suggestions, which eventually became... this. So a ton of horror to kick this thing off.</p><p>1. <i>The Ruins</i> by Scott Smith<br />2. <i>Ghost Story</i> by Peter Straub<br />3. <i>Blindness</i> by Jose Saramago<br />4. <i>The Cabin at the End of the World</i> by Paul Tremblay<br />5. <i>The Books of Blood</i> by Clive Barker<br />6. <i>Funland</i> by Richard Laymon</p><p>I've never read anything by Clive Barker, yet, which seems a bit of an oversight. (...a theme that shall develop throughout this list.) And <i>Ghost Story</i> I've meant to read forever, given that Stephen King has namedropped it in the past.</p><p>Speaking of Mr. King, it's a life ambition of mine to read his corpus (or corpses, as the case may be), so a couple of his earlier works that I've somehow missed:</p><p>7. <i>Pet Sematary</i> by Stephen King<br />8. <i>Cujo</i> by Stephen King</p><p>And I've never yet read anything by his kid</p><p>9. <i>Heart-Shaped Box</i> by Joe Hill<br /></p><p>Filling in a few more gaps in my literacy with</p><p>10. <i>The Exorcist</i> by William Peter Blatty<br />11. <i>Red Dragon </i>by Thomas Harris</p><p>And a return to the author of <i>Hyperion</i>, which I enjoyed long ago. I've heard he's a great horror writer, too<br /></p><p>12. <i>Summer of Night</i> by Dan Simmons</p><p>One of the subgenres I've read about in these lists, which will be reflected above, presently, and later, is "extreme horror," by which I take to mean lots of unpleasantness. Frankly, I don't expect to enjoy it, but I've always set the most stock in my own, direct experience. I mean, I've subjected myself to Finnegans Wake; I can stomach anything.</p><p>With that hubris in mind</p><p>13. <i>American Psycho</i> by Bret Easton Ellis<br />14. <i>Blood Meridian</i> by Cormac McCarthy<br />15. <i>Johnny Got His Gun</i> by Dalton Trumbo<br />16. <i>We Need to Talk About Kevin</i> by Lionel Shriver<br />17. <i>Haunted</i> by Chuck Palahniuk<br />18. <i>House of Leaves</i> by Mark Z. Danielewski<br />19. <i>The Wasp Factory</i> by Iain Banks<br /></p><p>Lest this sound too stuffy or sanitized, some works that I think veer a little further from mainstream respectability...</p><p>20. <i>The Girl Next Door</i> by Jack Ketchum<br />21. <i>The Bighead</i> by Edward Lee<br />22. <i>Exquisite Corpse</i> by Poppy Z. Brite<br />23. <i>The Ressurectionist</i> by Wrath James White<br />24. <i>The Troop</i> by Nick Cutter</p><p>I plan on regretting a few of these decisions, I'm sure, and maybe not the ones I most expect. But if I'm not taking chances, what am I doing? Besides, I plan on learning from the bad at least as much as from the good -- or so I shall tell myself.</p><p>Now a little SF/Fantasy to lighten the mood, which I've roughly divided into "classic" and "modern" (but don't hold me to that, or anything).</p><p>25. <i>The Left Hand of Darkness</i> by Ursula K. LeGuin<br />26.<i> Ringworld</i> by Larry Niven<br />27. <i>Rendezvous with Rama</i> by Arthur C. Clarke<br />28. <i>Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?</i> by Phillip K. Dick<br />29. <i>Snow Crash</i> by Neal Stephenson<br />30. <i>The Mists of Avalon</i> by Marion Zimmer Bradley</p><p>All classics, so far as I'm aware, and I've never read a single one of 'em. So I figure I can either sit here embarrassed or do something about it. These then must be the "moderns" (mostly so I could split 'em, six and six -- I'm sure they're equally "classic" in their own right, or will be):<br /></p><p>31. <i>The Hunger Games</i> by Suzanne Collins<br />32. <i>Redshirts</i> by John Scalzi<br />33. <i>The Three-Body Problem</i> by Cixin Liu<br />34. <i>The Fifth Season</i> by N.K. Jemisin<br />35. <i>The Calculating Stars</i> by Mary Robinette Kowal<br />36. <i>A Memory Called Empire</i> by Arkady Martine<br /><br />In searching for titles to add, I came upon a video talking about peoples' favorite books. There's nothing particular in this, but it's as good a starting point as anything, and so</p><p>37. <i>The Bell Jar</i> by Sylvia Plath<br />38. <i>Norwegian Wood</i> by Haruki Murakami<br />39. <i>Call Me By Your Name</i> by Andre Aciman<br />40. <i>The Night Circus</i> by Erin Morgenstern<br />41. <i>Rebecca</i> by Daphne du Maurier<br />42. <i>One-Hundred Years of Solitude</i> by Gabriel Garcia Marquez<br />43. <i>The Song of Achilles</i> by Madeline Miller<br />44. <i>The Book Thief</i> by Markus Zusak<br />45. <i>A Secret History</i> by Donna Tartt<br />46. <i>A Little Life</i> by Hanya Yanagihara</p><p>And two taken from there that I've already read, but years ago, such that I think could stand revisiting:</p><p>47. <i>The Great Gatsby</i> by F. Scott Fitzgerald<br />48. <i>The Picture of Dorian Gray</i> by Oscar Wilde</p><p>Finally, to round this out</p><p>49. <i>The Idiot</i> by Fyodor Dostoevsky<br />50. <i>On the Road</i> by Jack Kerouac<br />51. <i>A Passage to India</i> by E.M. Forster<br />52. <i>Sense and Sensibility</i> by Jane Austen<br />53. <i>The Master and Margarita</i> by Mikhail Bulgakov<br />54. <i>Anna Karenina</i> by Leo Tolstoy</p><p>And now that I see this all written out, it looks like... a lot. It is likely, at the very least, that I shall have to call an audible or two along the way. But let's see what happens! If nothing else, the daunting prospect of climbing a mountain like this excites me -- and maybe that alone is worth the challenge, whatever else results.</p><p>Anyways, I'll start off by letting myself cheat. If I can wrap up my current projects (<i>SPQR</i> by Mary Beard and <i>19Q4</i> another novel by list author Haruki Murakami, which I've been reading off-and-on for a very long time), I'll let myself get a small head start. I suspect I shall need it.</p><p>Otherwise, I'll report back soon on what happens. Or maybe in another five years. We shall see!<br /></p>El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-55538286033826915372021-10-17T21:48:00.002-07:002021-10-17T21:48:49.252-07:00The Path<p>The path ahead is not straightforward. Obviously.</p><p>2016 was enough to send me straight off of a cliff, apparently. And then there were other things, and then 2020 and 2021, but that's life, isn't it? Life always gets in the way of living.</p><p>But here I am, because I haven't given up. I ought to have given up, I'm sure. But I haven't. Won't.</p><p>What's the way back to the path? I don't know. But I intend to move.</p><p>My first best guess is... reading. I intend to read. I'll post this to get it out of the way, then another, less awkwardly navel-gazing post about what specifically I intend to read. (It will still be awkwardly navel-gazing, rest assured, but hopefully somewhat less-so.)</p><p>Let's go.<br /></p>El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-57987075667568164492016-07-29T10:06:00.003-07:002016-07-29T10:06:40.975-07:00Fiction Upcoming!I've got new stories coming out -- some sooner than later! :)<br />
<br />
Sometime soon we should see the anthologies <i>Fragments of Life's Heart</i> and <span data-mce-style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;" style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;"><em>The Great Tome of Cryptids and Legendary Creatures</em>, and I have a story in each! Also, the Sci Phi Journal has scheduled a story of mine to run close to Christmas.</span><br />
<span data-mce-style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;" style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;"><br /></span>
<span data-mce-style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;" style="font-family: 'book antiqua', palatino; font-size: 12pt; line-height: normal;">I'll update again when each comes out. Very exciting!</span>El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-45629380513159026792016-03-04T08:12:00.001-08:002016-03-04T08:12:28.206-08:00LOL -- A Story of MomentumThey say that it doesn't matter how many times you get knocked down, but how many times you get back up. I hope it's true, because it is this notion (and perhaps this alone) which keeps me getting back up.<br />
<br />
My plans of "winning" NaNoWriMo in my first year of entry were quickly and ruthlessly dispatched by an illness (more on this in a moment) which lasted nearly throughout November, into Thanksgiving. Momentum is a funny creature. Or it is for me, at any rate. I'm a creature of momentum, both fair and foul. And the combination of being sick, attending a writing workshop (which I was also doing in November), and feeling obligated to churn out words at an unprecedented rate, conspired to absolutely drain me of my momentum and knock me down. But not out.<br />
<br />
Winter quickly became a period of survival for me (as it often is). But having finally made it through the holidays and <i>another</i> bout of illness which, no lie, basically put my family out of commission for the entire month of Februrary, I'm ready to dust myself off again and get back to work.<br />
<br />
First, a bit of a status update:<br />
<br />
I've had some successes, despite myself. The crown jewel (thus far) is certainly winning the Michael J. Sullivan Short Story Contest. My short story "The Methuselah Treatment" was published in the bittersweet month of November, alongside Mr. Sullivan's novel, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Death-Dulgath-Riyria-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B014WOCH0A" target="_blank"><i>The Death of Dulgath</i></a>. Very exciting!<br />
<br />
In addition, I've been published by <a href="http://futurefire.net/2015.35/fiction/perspective.html" target="_blank">The Future Fire</a>, and I have stories upcoming through GoAL (Glimpse of Anthropomorphic Literature), the anthology Fragments of Life's Heart, and the Sci Phi Journal!<br />
<br />
So that's momentum, too. I just need to seize it and not let it go again, come what may. Let's see how far we can go!El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-16237705852186615762015-11-01T01:48:00.002-08:002015-11-01T01:48:35.337-08:00My very first NaNoWriMo......begins today.<br />
<br />
This is just a perfunctory post to say that I'm taking a shot at NaNoWriMo for the first time, beginning nowish. It's not a brilliant time to do this, frankly. I'm still trying to eek out time to write at all, and what's more, I'm sick! But I know how it goes, looking for "the perfect time" to do something, so now's just as good as later. Probably.<br />
<br />
Anyways, I'll try to update here on my progress as other writing-related tasks take a small backseat during the month of November.<br />
<br />
Many thanks for your patience.El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-67240423152167316542015-10-19T07:16:00.002-07:002015-10-19T07:16:46.149-07:00This story is honorable! (Just thought I'd mention...)<a href="http://onthepremises.com/issues/issue-26/issue-26-honorable-mention-3/" target="_blank">Here's a new story</a> that received an honorable mention from the fine folks at On the Premises. Entitled "What He Loved Most," it's a mainstream tale about the relationship between an aging painter and the young girl whose family has just moved in next door...<br />
<br />
I hope you enjoy!El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-68752219036357751542015-10-09T11:40:00.001-07:002015-10-09T11:40:41.918-07:00Recent Success and Personal TruthRecently I've had among the greatest successes of my fledgling writing career. Along with my recent publications in <a href="http://grimdarkmagazine.com/products/grimdark-magazine-issue-5" target="_blank">Grimdark Magazine</a> and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Odd-Tree-Quarterly-October-2015-ebook/dp/B0163TRUHW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444008690&sr=8-1&keywords=odd+tree+quarterly" target="_blank">Odd Tree Press Quarterly</a>, I am now a proud Writers of the Future <a href="http://www.writersofthefuture.com/writer-winners-3rd-quarter/?inf_contact_key=d0a4c2e96f8893d8c70239e39a7fe26c1066b9712c650d12d68f84c33c122809" target="_blank">finalist</a>!<br />
<br />
Hooray!<br />
<br />
The truth is, however, that I don't much relish the idea of talking about these sorts of things. I recognize this as a part of what I'm trying to accomplish; blogging, tweeting (<a href="https://twitter.com/tcpowellfiction" target="_blank">@tcpowellfiction</a>), tooting your own horn, it's all part and parcel with the "business end" of writing (and, so far as I can tell, modern society). I can't stop from doing it... and in fact, I recognize that I have to do it more, and better. But if there's any truth to having an "inner nature" (and I suspect so), this goes against mine. I've never had a taste for ceremony or celebration... I didn't attend my junior high graduation, and if I could have skipped the high school or college ones, I would have. But I went for the sake of others, and that's something like what brings me here, now.<br />
<br />
It's not that I'm not grateful to those who've assisted me in getting where I have, or don't feel a touch of pride at what I've accomplished. I am and I do. But I always feel like there's more yet to be done and that celebrations are premature. I have <u>so much further</u> to travel, and that awareness seems to temper my ability to enthuse about how far I've come.<br />
<br />
Anyways, if you'll forgive me stumbling my way through this process, and my awkward attempts to let you know who I am and what I've done, I'd appreciate it. In return, I'll do what I can to become a better writer <b>and</b> a better spokesperson for myself.<br />
<br />
For today, I'll announce that I remain a "Writer of the Future... of the future," but that I'm one step closer to achieving a goal I'd set for myself years ago.<br />
<br />
And that's not so bad.El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-21264140102808725582015-10-07T15:18:00.000-07:002015-10-07T15:18:00.467-07:00And Another!Along with <a href="http://tcpowellfiction.blogspot.com/2015/09/incoming-alert-incoming-alert.html" target="_blank">my recent publication by Grimdark Magazine</a>, I've had the short story "Halloween Surprise" published in the inaugural edition of Odd Tree Press Quarterly -- huzzah!<br />
<br />
It can be found <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Odd-Tree-Quarterly-October-2015-ebook/dp/B0163TRUHW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1444008690&sr=8-1&keywords=odd+tree+quarterly" target="_blank">here</a>! (And it also contains the fiction of fellow Wordo, Sarina Dorie!)<br />
<br />
October has started out as an exciting month, and I have the feeling it's only going to get more exciting from here...El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-75518202994501405842015-09-30T11:53:00.000-07:002015-09-30T12:08:56.854-07:00Incoming Alert! Incoming Alert!(klaxons)<br />
(red lights flashing)<br />
(members of the Enterprise bridge crew throwing themselves around)<br />
<br />
I have a brand new story in the latest issue of <a href="http://grimdarkmagazine.com/" target="_blank">Grimdark Magazine</a>! The issue is available for purchase <a href="http://grimdarkmagazine.com/products/grimdark-magazine-issue-5" target="_blank">here</a>. It's a gorgeous little volume; kudos to the editors! My own contribution, "Lessons of Necessity," concerns a mother trying to teach her son to survive in a post-zombie apocalyptic world...<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/GAC7cArH2gw/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GAC7cArH2gw?feature=player_embedded" width="320"></iframe></div>
<br />
The next few months should be exciting. I have a couple more publications lined up, and maybe a surprise or two more... and then, in November, I plan on throwing my hat into the ring for NaNoWriMo for the first time. Yikes!<br />
<br />
Till next time.El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-73569445055281216412015-08-15T12:29:00.002-07:002015-08-15T12:29:57.791-07:00A Little Bit of Good NewsOkay, so, waking up at 4:30am on the regular sucks.<br />
<br />
It sucks for me, at least. I'm certain that there are many fine morning people in the world who prefer things that way, but I'm not among them, except out of necessity. My current necessity is having a moment's peace and quiet before the family (bless them) wakes, because really that's the only time I can gather sufficient focus to write.<br />
<br />
But why am I complaining? Isn't this post entitled "A Little Bit of Good News"? Glad you asked!<br />
<br />
It's paying off! Waking up early is hard enough, but it's <u>impossible</u> if I don't see that I'm doing good with that time. Fortunately, the good folks on Whidbey Island have seen fit to grant me the Penn Cove Literary Arts Award for the second month in a row. I do believe that's a first, ladies and gentlemen -- back to back wins. (And also a last: their newly updated rules specify that previous winners should not submit again... which is a shame, since it was a good source of inspiration to me these last couple of months.)<br />
<br />
Furthermore, one of my short stories has been selected as a finalist in the 2015 Defenestrationism Short Story Contest! It can be found <a href="http://defenestrationism.net/through-the-window/" target="_blank">here</a>. (There is voting involved as part of the contest, and anyone so inclined may participate, but of course there's no obligation to vote or to vote for my story. The other finalists are all worthy.)<br />
<br />
So hooray or huzzah or something similar. :)<br />
<br />
Now to just keep it up...El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-11281594115154966092015-07-17T10:44:00.000-07:002015-07-17T10:44:31.309-07:00Submissions CentralSince I'm trying to "get back into the groove," I've been looking for new markets for my fiction, and I've found a number of exciting ones.<br />
<br />
One that's very interesting to me personally is <a href="http://www.sciphijournal.com/" target="_blank">Sci Phi Journal</a>. (That's Phi as in "philosophy," though I expect they pronounce it Fi, notwithstanding.) I have an abiding interest in all-things-philosophical, and I tend to write like it (sometimes to the detriment of my stories...), so I'm eager to start sending them the best fits. Perhaps there can be an evolving relationship there! Or maybe they'll reject me! So much to learn, so much to see. :)<br />
<br />
All right. Time spent blogging is time not spent submitting, or writing, or editing. (Or doing dishes, or making lunch, or raising my child -- and yeah, there's some of all of that ahead of me today, too.) So back to the grindstone... or, as I've taken to calling it recently, the <i>dreamstone</i>.<br />
<br />
Consider that silliness trademarked! ;)El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-64165031611927376472015-07-13T06:13:00.000-07:002015-07-13T06:13:36.670-07:00Getting Back into the GrooveOver the last few weeks, it finally has felt like I've somewhat been returning to form. I've attended workshops and produced crits and received rejections and -- yes -- even found time for a little bit of writing.<br />
<br />
It's not <b>exactly</b> what I want, yet. (What is?) I'm waking up too early to get it all in, and ignoring many chores/duties which ought not be ignored, which makes me... a less than ideal husband and father. And I haven't made time for reading yet, which is huge for me, both personally and professionally. Still, and even if I cannot keep this pace up forever, I feel good for what I've done in this time. It's progress.<br />
<br />
Speaking of happy things, a story of mine has received the Penn Cove Literary Arts Award. Yay! :)<br />
<br />
All right, back to work.El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-84376079287842832352015-05-24T06:38:00.001-07:002015-05-24T06:38:28.392-07:00Years!?Years.<br />
<br />
As it turns out, having a child is a bit of work...<br />
<br />
Of course it is happy work, but nonetheless I have been greatly distracted from reading, writing, submitting, and all of those things that a writer ought do. Updating this blog has received the very shortest end of the stick.<br />
<br />
With my kid on the cusp of three, I cannot promise any great change immediately. But slowly, slowly, I am trying to find some hidden time to put myself back on track. Blogging will always be below reading, writing, and submitting, I'm afraid, and all of those will remain below parenting forever.<br />
<br />
That said, I plan on stopping by from time to time, if you'd care to meet me here.<br />
<br />
Till then.El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-60658543934713895502013-02-12T16:41:00.002-08:002013-02-12T16:41:36.909-08:00Busy with BabyOf course!<br />
<br />
Despite this, I've been published a time or two since last we've spoken. First in Whisperings Magazine. An actual print publication -- I actually have a copy! :)<br />
<br />
And then in Every Day Fiction, who were gracious enough to take on my (apparently) controversial flash piece, "In Line." While I don't want to try to use the occasion to set out anything like a position paper, I must say that it's interesting to note how different people can respond so differently to the same story. Not surprising -- I didn't say "surprising." But interesting. And it occurs to me that a person cannot make everybody happy simultaneously... so that's probably not a goal worth having, anyways.<br />
El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-50160985348380957562012-11-19T09:02:00.003-08:002012-11-19T09:02:22.758-08:00jerseyworks!Received word last night that one of my poems had been published on jerseyworks! I'm very pleased -- I'd been submitting to them for quite some time, so this is a good success for me.<br />
<br />
The poem can be found <a href="http://www.jerseyworks.com/fall2012/fallpoems2012.html" target="_blank">here</a>.El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-59864326584237654802012-10-15T10:37:00.000-07:002012-10-15T10:37:07.007-07:00Lacuna Matata!What a wonderful phrase! -- a flash fiction piece of mine has just been (re)published by the Lacuna Journal!<br />
<br />
It can be found <a href="http://lacunajournal.blogspot.com/2012/10/george-morris-brothers-dirty-old-shoe.html" target="_blank">here</a>. :)<br />
<br />
Now you'll have to excuse me -- I have some diapers to address...El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-10241586886792915672012-10-10T12:01:00.000-07:002012-10-10T12:01:30.568-07:00A wee bit busy... and horror poetry?Not that I need particular excuses to have horrible, unforgivable delays between blog posts -- I'm simply awful about it -- but this time I actually have one worth sharing:<br />
<br />
I'm a father! Huzzah!<br />
<br />
So yeah, that's what's been on my mind (and on my plate, though not literally, because yeech) of late. In the meantime, and since this is October, I should note that I've had a couple of horror poems published, <a href="http://www.snmhorrormag.com/snmdarkpoetryas.htm" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://bloodmoonrisingmagazine.com/shortstory5013.html" target="_blank">here</a>. So huzzah for that, too! :)El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-44343237634742368442012-07-06T14:20:00.000-07:002012-07-06T14:20:16.333-07:00Woot..? I'll say woot!Apparently a story I had published last year was selected as an Honorable Mention for possible inclusion in the anthology Best Horror of the Year vol. 4!<br />
<br />
Woot!<br />
<br />
But not published in that collection.<br />
<br />
Woot. <br />
<br />
It is... <a href="http://ellen-datlow.livejournal.com/391918.html" target="_blank">one of 608 Honorable Mentions</a>...<br />
<br />
...woot?<br />
<br />
But! The anthology is legit. The story was selected in its fashion by Ellen Datlow, who says that she'd "read or skimmed...a LOT more" stories than that to whittle it down to just the... er, 608 best. At the very least, I'll take it as an affirmation that my story isn't God-awful, which -- if you're me -- is important and high praise.<br />
<br />
And when I think about it... being in the top 608 in anything, any category, across the US (or however wide this net was cast) for an entire year? Is actually a pretty remarkable thing, and especially for a novice such as myself.<br />
<br />
Also on this list? Peter S. Beagle. Elizabeth Bear. Peter David. Kelly Link. Joyce Carol Oates. Robert Silverberg. Kate Wilhelm.<br />
<br />
Oh, and Stephen King.<br />
<br />
So, you know, when an award-winning and eminent editor like Ellen Datlow puts one of my horror stories on the same list as those of folks like Stephen King?<br />
<br />
I think it's time to woot.<br />
<br />
Woot!El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-58674044526699384812012-06-11T00:28:00.000-07:002012-07-11T18:39:49.951-07:00Fiction (and Poetry) Available!Yay! :)<br />
<br />
With the help of a good friend (and <a href="http://marylowd.com/" target="_blank">talented fellow writer</a>) I have put up some easy-to-find links to fiction and poetry still available on the web. A few pieces have been published in other venues but are sadly no longer available...<br />
<br />
Hopefully in the near future, I'll have some new things to add to those link lists... :)El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-86975219349226252982012-06-10T13:46:00.003-07:002012-06-10T13:47:33.308-07:00Still alive!Still writing!<br /><br />For a while, I'd taken to posting reviews of other people's fiction in this space... but now I've deleted that stuff so that I can focus in on what this ought to be about: my own writing.<br /><br />More to come.El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-61953521414510192722009-10-17T16:38:00.000-07:002010-04-14T08:38:42.677-07:00The Poetry of T.C. Powell...?Wow. So I don't write much poetry--and if you've read any of mine, you know why--but a few months ago I wrote a small poem and sent it away and, lo and behold, it's been published!<br /><br />You can find it <a href="http://www.csmonitor.com/2009/1015/p18s09-hfpo.html">here</a>.<br /><br />(4-14-10, Edited to Add: the online formating of the poem seems a little... screwy, now. But it still looks nice in my Word doc, and hopefully in the print edition, for whomever out there that has a copy of it. :)El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9190664218231616918.post-57186974527152171612009-06-29T03:43:00.000-07:002009-06-29T04:12:19.460-07:00A Little Bit o' WhySince I'm here, boasting about my (victory, say victory) near-victory in taking semi-finalist honors in Writers of the Future, I might as well set some of my thoughts down on writing.<br /><br />Why this? Why write?<br /><br />I won't be able to give a full answer here and now... but however much I do say, I want it to be true. No safe, pat answer--nothing about how I write because I have no choice, etc. To do this right, I'm gonna dig a bit into my feelings, and ones that I don't normally try to put into words. The result might not be particularly coherent:<br /><br />I write because, when I've read stories (and not just read them, but seen/heard/experienced them)... good stories, I have been moved. Not by all of them, certainly, nor even most. But a few have gotten through to me, to my core, and I know that I'm a different person because of them.<br /><br />I feel them now, and carry them with me today. I can name a few, of diverse origins: a filmed-stage production of Camelot on PBS; the text adventure (interactive fiction) Photopia by Adam Cadre; It by Stephen King; Buffy the Vampire Slayer (television); others.<br /><br />Anyways, when I look back on those... works (? stories? experiences?), I recognize that I have received something special from the universe. And I find that I desperately want to give back--to take these brushes with divinity I've had, refilter them, reshape them, and then blast them into the souls of people unlike me, yet like me, too.<br /><br />I want to touch as I've been touched.<br /><br />And yeah, I'm babbling more than I ought to, and sounding hokey to myself. I should stop. But there it is: I've known beauty, and it demands--from inside of me--to be shared. It's as close to God as I've known.<br /><br />And so that's a little bit of why. Not all of it; I'm also in it for the Huge! Money!, of course... But for the most, I simply hope that I am one day skilled enough to give as good as I've gotten, and love as much as I've been loved.El Quixotehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05338189520900603017noreply@blogger.com1