I'm Super, Thanks for Asking

When did super become the world’s most popular adverb? I've noticed this everywhere lately. It's the new "like, you know" in terms of popular linguistic idioms that bug me. It’s getting super irritating. Anyway...

A couple weeks ago, I posted about my disappointment in the botch job that was the latest issue of Sycamore Review, featuring my story, “Spawn of Doctor Macabre” (or “Spawn of Doctor Macbre, according to their Table of Contents. Always demand the galleys!). While they aren’t going to reprint the issue (sorry, you can’t buy it! Read it on my website instead), they sent out a corrected pdf to their subscribers. I’ve been reading it, and now I’m even more disappointed, because the contributions in there are super good (I know, I know). That story was a finalist for their Wabash Prize, but it was beaten out by John Englehardt’s “Flotsam” (winner) and Jasmine Sawer’s “At the Lung” (runner-up). And I’ve got to grudgingly admit, I was bested by better stories. The essays included have been fantastic, too. Jessica Wilbanks’ “Ghost Language” is a fascinating look at a pentecostal backslider’s experience with speaking in tongues that really resonated with a guy who grew up in the Bible Belt and remembers watching a 9-year-old kid on bus #5 spouting gibberish to prove his dedication to divinity. Even the poetry has struck a chord with me, and it’s rare for that particular literary pursuit to resonate with me. (If anyone has any recommendations for contemporary poetry I should be reading, I’d love to hear them). I read more lit mags than the average bear, and the writing in this one is top notch. It’s a goddamn shame you won’t be able to hold it in your hands.

Finally, it seems as though self-promotion is my biggest motivator to update my blog, and today is no exception. I’ll be reading at Write Club on Tuesday, May 19. It’s at the Hideout, and kicks off at 7pm. If you’ve never experienced Write Club, imagine the live lit equivalent of a rap battle (you saw 8 Mile, right?). Their tagline is “Literature as Bloodsport.” Writers go head-to-head in three bouts centered around a common theme. This edition celebrates Rock and Roll, and my topic is Lyrics (going up against Music). Pretty ironic that a guy named Trumpeter whose last band played instrumental electronic rock gets lyrics as a theme, but I’m game. This show is lots of fun, and I implore you to come check it out, and please, for the love of god, cheer like lunatics for me when it’s time to determine the winner.

I’m pretty sure this post has set a PR for most parentheses I’ve ever used in a single piece of writing. I hope never to break this record (because parentheses suck).

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Three Chords and the Truth

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Always Demand the Galleys