Use the form on the right to contact Jac.
123 Street Avenue, City Town, 99999
(123) 555-6789
email@address.com
You can set your address, phone number, email and site description in the settings tab.
Link to read me page with more information.
Filtering by Category: Uncategorized
Come hang out at Quickies. Duh.
Here is the awesome line-up:
Dave Reidy Fred Sasaki Scott Stealey Jac Jemc Steve Tartaglione and a Secret reader!
Even I don't know who this Secret Reader is. Harriet the Spy knows, I think, but she wouldn't give it up even with the tickle torture I inflicted on her.
QUICKIES! Tuesday, June 9 7:30pm The Innertown Pub Chicago
Bombay Gin doesn't want the batch of poems I sent them. 6 months later, no one else has either. I was really hoping they'd take these, just to make my Dad proud. I thought he'd like the name of this journal, what with all of the "special waters" I've fetched for him at family gatherings.
AGNI doesn't want the poems I sent them. I have determined that it is completely unpredictable what poems people will like. I had convinced myself that this batch of poems were some of the best I'd every written, and they've been rejected at least a half-dozen times now. Admittedly, AGNI might not be the best audience for my work, but I did think these poems erred on the more traditional side.
I have a confession to make. I have been slacking: with writing, submitting and posting on this blog. I've been reading a whole bunch, but I need to get my act together. Maybe now that I said it out loud, I will actually make good on my intentions of fixing my practices up.
Whew. That felt good. Back to work.
Boxcar Poetry Review said they were sorry to say no this time, but that I should keep trying. I think this part was personalized as it was in parentheses and appeared before some text that seemed like a form letter.
I think, as well as living in a seaside town, I would also like to live in a boxcar for a little while. I know it's probably not as great as it sounds, but I think the appeal is somehow similar to how jealous I was of the daughter on My Two Dads, mostly because you had to open a garage door to get into their apartment. I thought that was too cool.
Usually I don't post when things are accepted. I usually only post when things are rejected or actually published. I am making an exception, because yesterday morning Dan Wickett from Dzanc called me at 8:30 to say they wanted to publish my novel in 2012.
I said, "Oh my god," 110 times.
I was half asleep, but at one point I thought he was saying that they knew 2 years was a long way away so if I wanted to publish it with someone else, I could. I was confused and said, "Why would I want to publish it with someone else? I like you guys." But then he repeated what he said and what he really said was that if I had another manuscript I didn't need to give them first crack at it. Ohhhhh. I get it. I said "Thank you" a bunch and then Dan said he was sorry that I wouldn't be able to put the rejection on my blog, and I assured him that disappointment could be dealt with. Instead I am cheating and writing about an acceptance! Ha!
Then we hung up and I proceeded to pee myself 111 times in concurrence. Then I went to the dentist to have a broken filling replaced. My dental hygienist said I could be the next Nora Roberts. I cheerily said, "Maybe!" because you have to pick and choose who you have these discussions with.
When she and the dentist asked what my novel was about, and I told them it was a about a man whose wife is missing and he doesn't know why, but he doesn't really try to figure out why, they said, "Like Drew Peterson?" and I said, with their fingers all in my mouth, "Ummmmm, sure."
Then I bought my parents a microwave for their anniversary and returned some library books.
Then I came home and made myself a sandwich and watched an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Then I ate ice cream. Then I passed out from the excitement for a little while. Then I woke up and called my grandmas. One of my grandmas said they would probably add this credit to my "file on the computer," by which I'm pretty sure she meant it might come up if you google me. I said, "Probably!"
Then I ate dinner with Mary and Bob Ross and Mrs. Bobo.
Then we went to the Hideout for The Dollar Store and everyone cracked my shit up. Whoa. That was an amazing reading. Mary read a story about a Teddy Bear #1 who loved getting a colonic and then the teddy bear did a cartwheel and I died of happiness. Also! We got to stand outside for a little while before we admitted it was too cold to be standing outside.
Then I went home and talked to my roommate for a while, before I passed out again.
That's how the day my book got accepted for publication went. Yes. Good one.
The Dollar Store is a mixture of comedy and literary readings where everything is inspired by junk bought at a dollar store. It's been featured on National Public Radio and in major newspapers such as the Chicago Sun-Times and Tribune. The show has sold out it's Chicago home for 3 years running, and has successfully toured to St.Louis and New York. More information can be found here: dollarstoreshow.com. This summer we're embarking on the biggest Dollar Store Tour yet!
This tour will include the following authors, (at various times). The books, reading series, and presses they represent are in parentheses. Amelia Gray (AM/PM , Featherproof Books, 5 Things Austin reading series), Caroline Picard (Green Lantern Press, The Parlor reading series), Zach Dodson (boring boring boring, Featherproof Books, The Show 'n Tell series), Mary Hamilton, and Lindsay Hunter (QUICKIES! reading series), Jac Jemc (The Rejection Collection ), Blake Butler (Scorch Atlas, Featherproof, EVER, Calamari, Lamination Colony), Patrick Somerville (Trouble, Vintage, The Cradle, Little, Brown), and of course Jonathan Messinger (Hiding Out , Featherproof Books, The Dollar Store reading series). Stop peeing your pants! I know! Here are the cities we plan to be in when:
Chicago Launch Party, Thu, July 2nd Nashville, Fri, July 3rd Austin, Sun, July 5th Houston, Mon, July 6th New Orleans, Tue, July 7th Atlanta, Thu, July 9th Washington DC (Maybe Baltimore?), Sat, July 11th New York City, Sun, July, 12th Brooklyn, Mon, July, 13th Boston, Tue, July, 14th Albany, Wed, July, 15th Detroit, Thu, July, 16th
Come out and play! Yesssssssssss!
I had several poems rejected at Keyhole, but they're an odd little batch that someone would have to be really into to take. The kindly Peter said he'd be happy to read more work, so I switched and sent him a story.
Peter, I will see you in Nashville this summer, so if you don't want it to be awkward, I'd carefully consider this story I sent you. Ha. Kidding, kidding.
What I'm not kidding about is how awesome this tour is gonna be. Check out the post above to figure out what I'm talking about, if this is somehow not yet on your radar.
I've got a new little poem up at Everyday Genius. Check it out here. Publishing Genius is knocking my socks off again and again.
I received a rejection in the mail from the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. For some reason, I am quite convinced that it must be the happiest place on earth. 7 months seems like some sort of golden amount of time to me. I could take that time off from my regular life without too many repercussions. I could get to know the other artists, without getting too annoyed with them yet. I could live in a different city and comfortably be away from family and friends for about that long. I could fulfill my dream of one day living in a seaside town and befriending a fisherman.
Alas, this is not to be for the upcoming year. Congrats to the lucky utopians who'll get to live my Mystic-Pizza-type dream residency life.
Phoebe didn't care for my story about a reformed stripper. They let me know with a lavender strip of paper which lacked any proper nouns which evidenced a real human being on either end. It took them 7 months to muster the courage to say even this much.