May delivered. Last month I found out that my book Roller Girls Love Bobby Knight won The Deerbird Novella Prize, and will be released next year by Artistically Declined. By the time I get home (I’m on vacation as I write this) I should have my contract waiting for me. While I can’t recommend binge writing, it worked for me this time.

Work on my short story collection has stalled at the moment. My editor sent a message three weeks or so ago stating that she wouldn’t be able to work on the book until she finished her classes. I hope to get back to editing it soon since Foxhead Books is set to release it in December, and we need to have all the edits in by September. I’m sure we’ll  get the work done in time though.

As for Bad Kids from Good Schools, it’s still out and got some new edits recently. I’m also kicking around the idea of turning it into a YA novel since a friend suggested I do so after a recent reading. I’m close to the voices, and that always make the writing a little easier.

This past month I finished two book reviews for Necessary Fiction, but haven’t had a chance to do much creative work lately due to other concerns. June through August are relatively clear as of now, and I hope to finish one of the following projects in that time: my novel dedicated to the early 90s, two more novellas to pair with Roller Girls Love Bobby Knight so that they make a novel in novellas or three parts, or the YA version of Bad Kids from Good Schools. Along the way I have three or four flash pieces and one long essay to get finished before the fall. It’s good to have work though. The slow time, the worst time, is when you don’t have the words.

Thrilled to announce that my novella Roller Girls Love Bobby Knight has won the 2013 Deerbird Novella Prize. It will be released in 2014 by Artistically Declined Press. Can’t wait to work with them.

“April is the cruelest month/Lilacs of the dead land, mixing/Memory and desire, stirring/Dull roots with spring rain.”- The Wasteland, T.S. Elliot

It’s cliche’ to start a post about April with this quote, but it’s late and it seemed fitting given the long slog of grading, email answering, and semester wrapping that April brings for English professors like myself. If you do find the above lines overly familiar then let me share with you that fact that T.S. Elliot was an occultist, and an early contemporary of Aleister Crowley who left him only when he felt that Elliot and his group were not sufficiently dedicated to the practice of the black arts. There. Maybe you learned something new.

During the last month my own writing, as that of most of my friends’, has taken a backseat to work. But now I’ve finished all my grading, and the letters have been entered into a computer system. It’s time to get back to the page, but first it’s important to reflect. An unexamined life, blah, blah, blah.

One of the final assignments I have most all my students do in my creative writing classes is a reflective essay on their work during the past four months. It’s more for them than for myself. It forces them to consider where they began, what they learned, where they struggled and how they dealt with those challenges, and asks that they consider where they want to go from here. I’ve been thinking about what I’ve done in the classroom the last four months as well, and I hope that in a small way I’ve helped them find their tribe.

Fiction writing, or any artistic endeavor, doesn’t exist in a vaccuum regardless of what Anais Nin would have you believe. We all get by with a little help from our friends. As writers we depend on others in the fight to help us edit our work, tell us about readings or publishing opportunities, and turn us on to books we haven’t read. When students come into my class they are singular creatures who want to write, but don’t know how to go about it exactly. Oftentimes they don’t know anyone else with the same drive, and think of authors as all famous wordsmiths completely removed from a world of grocery stores and gas stations. Nothing could be further from the truth. One of the earliest lessons, and a lesson we expand on throughout my class, is about finding your tribe. I tell students that 10,000 years ago everyone in the world lived in a tribe. You could tell who was one of your own because they had the same history, the same stories, and a common language. Throughout the class, through literary journals to social media, I worked hard to help my students find their tribe. They started listening to author podcasts like Other People, and joined book clubs. They followed or friended authors they liked, and struck up conversations. They learned the words for fiction from our textbook, and by the end of the semester they’d be inducted. They had a tribe, and weren’t alone in this fight that no one wins.

As a member of the tribe it’s now time for me to stripe my face with war paint, chip a stone into a spearhead, and head out to war with the words. Here’s were the battle lines are at the moment:

I’m nearly done with my first book review. As I said before, as writers we have to rep the works we love, spread the word, and help each other find readers. This is one way I’m contributing.

The edits are coming along for my short story collection. It will be released in December by Foxhead Books. The title is still under debate, but I’m happy with the way it’s moving along.

I’m waiting to hear back from the two novella contests I entered, and thinking about writing two more novellas in that world that are connected with the intent of putting them together in one book–a novel in novellas.

I miss writing short stories since I’ve mainly done longer works so far this year, so I hope to finish a few flash fiction pieces this coming month and send them out.

I have one novel done, that was accepted but I pulled it from publication, and have no idea where it will go from here. It might be the unpublished book we all seem to have.

I have another novel mapped out and two chapters done, but no idea where I want to take it. I like it though.

So that’s where I am now. A little tired from the semester, but I still have heart. I’m looking forward to warm weather, and getting the words down. The days are getting longer every week.

This Game of Thrones-ish winter continues and today, the first day of April, I walked to class while being pelted by snow flurries and drizzle. This did little to improve my mood. But by the end of the day the sun was shining, and promise of better days fell to the earth.

March was a busy month for me. First and foremost, I completed another entire book. Granted it was a novella (64 pages), but I can take heart that in the first three months of the year I’ve already written two new books, even if they are short form. I finished the book in two days (32 pages and around twelve hours at a time), and by the end of my typing spree I was happy with the finished product. It turned out to be a rockabilly novella about a teenage girl who finds herself surrounded by bad chicks and angry boys who teach her that life can be as honky tonk and hell yeah as one makes it. I entered it into two different contests by the month’s.

Writing the novella taught me two important things: First, contests motivate me more than writing prompts and they’re a good way to force myself to get to work. Secondly, I still haven’t been able to develop a writing routine, and am left to do what one friend referred to as ‘binge writing.’ I guess I’ve never been one for moderation.

My chapbook Bad Kids from Good Schools has been in the world for a month, and things are going slow. That’s to be expected since we’ve done no press outside of social media. Most small presses are composed of one or two people working late nights in their apartments trying to get things together, and the one advantage big publishers have over small presses above all others is experienced and effective marketing. I like the DIY ethic of small presses. Small press is punk rock. But to help get some readers for my chapbook I’ve submitted it for review at a few blogs that I like. We’ll see if any pick it up. In the meantime I have to do more to get the word out.

In a world as small as literary fiction, it’s important that everyone lends a hand. I’m more conscious of this every day. I buy small press books, and literary fiction from big publishers as well. I promote writers and works I like on social media, and to my students. This month since I sent my chapbook out for review, I also agreed to write a review of another book awaiting a reviewer on the website. I look forward to doing it, and hope that it helps the author move more books in the end.

The editing for my short story collection is coming along, and I’m currently in the process of addressing editorial remarks on the second story of the sixteen in the collection. The publication date hasn’t been set, but this only gives myself and my editor more time to go over each sentence before the book makes its way out into the world. I know when the time comes we’ll all be proud of the work we’ve done.

April is here, and the temperature is rising. The trees are struggling to bud, and birds are starting to call out in the morning. I look forward to see what the coming months bring, and am eager to get back to the page.

This month there were a lot of developments.

First, and probably most important, I decided to pull my novel from its publisher due to changes the publisher was forced to make. After eight months we hadn’t begun the editing process because of internal shake ups with the publisher, and no publication date had been set. The publisher had originally intended to publish the book both in print and as an ebook, but notified me that since their financial outlook and staffing had changed they would only be able to release it via Kingle Direct Publishing. They were gracious in notifying me of this, and offering me the chance to pull the book. Though I appreciated their interest, I’d worked on the novel for seven years and wanted to see it in print. I decided it was best to try and find a home for it elsewhere.

This month Bad Kids from Good Schools  was released and is now available from the publisher and Amazon. I’m proud of the job Winged City Press did with the micro-novel in stories, and am glad it’s found its way to readers.

There have also been significant changes with my short story collection which is forthcoming late this year from Foxhead Books. The collection was originally titled The Geography of Love, but after all the changes my editor and I have made that title no longer seemed to fit. With this in mind, I’ve changed the title back to  See How Much I Love You which was its original title. At this point I’ve just begun the editing process, and am awaiting a publication date from the press. I did receive word that Ryan W. Bradley has agreed to do the cover art for my collection, and I couldn’t be happier. He’s done amazing covers for authors such as Ben Tanzer and Roxane Gay in the past, and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with.

This month I’m concentrating on finishing my novella Roller Girls Love Bobby Knight, and I hope to get it done in time to submit to two contests. The deadline is getting close though, and I have a lot of work to do. Hopefully I’ll finish it in time. If I do that will leave me April and most all of the summer to complete my new novel.

For now I’m happy with the way things are developing. I have time, and the words. That’s all any writer can ask for.

My micro-novel in stories Bad Kids from Good Schools is now available from Amazon. Check it out!

I’m thrilled to announce that Ryan W. Bradley has agreed to do the cover art for my forthcoming collection from Foxhead Books. You can see examples of his work here. Can’t wait to see what he comes up with!

I’m serving as the fiction editor for Winged City Press, and from now until June 1st the press is conducting two chapbook contests: fiction, and poetry. You can submit your work here. Send us your killers!

Bad Kids from Good Schools is out now, but the publisher is waiting until it is on Amazon to make the official announcement. You can get your print or digital copy early by clicking here.