Rejection 187

Copper Nickel wasn't into the story I sent them, but good news they've improved their response time, too: Less than two months.

Also, I looked back at the other two Copper Nickel rejections I've gotten and each of them has seemed somewhat anonymous, yet slightly varied.  I am wondering if they don't use a form or if they just change their form relatively often to keep things interesting.

Rejection 186

This might be a first: Two rejections from the same place in a row.

Cheers to Didi Menendez for asking me for more work and then shooting it down so quickly!

Congrats, on your turnaround! Gold star!

Rejection 185

Didi Menendez over at Oranges and Sardines just sent me a rejection saying:

"I have a small problem here.  I don't like poems centered. I can't get into them. If you have something else for me to read, send it over."

I guess when you've read as much poetry as Didi, you can start making crazy generalizations like that?

It cracked me up, because she was nice and said to send more work.  I felt like she was almost apologizing.  Maybe that's something she could get treatment for.  I'll be your sponsor, Didi.

Rejection 184

I was so excited to see that Spork is up and running again.  They were one of the first magazines that I got really excited about a few years back when I started looking for these sorts of things.

That said, they do not want my story.  Drew wrote a very nice little note though.  It's rather unpredictable what responses will irk and what ones will delight me.  This one fell on the side of delight.

The story I sent was sort of gothic/ 19th century/ verbose and Mr. Burke responded thus:

"You know, I struggled so hard through War of the Worlds, and The Time Machine, and all them other texts. I liked the stories and appreciated their place in literature and was grateful to them for the stepping stones they provided us, linguistically, doing those things so we could see how heavy handed and plodding and tiresome they were -- it can be charming to have a character who maybe relates a part of a story in that style, but to have an entire piece comprised wholly of it begets in me a fitfulness and black dismay that causes my normally steely resolve to crumble aft and rain piecemeal upon my divan.

You did a good job with the story. I'm just constitutionally indisposed, stylistically.

Thanks, but I'm saying no."

I love it.  He took on the dopy language I used in the piece.  This made me smile.  'Crumble aft...' ha.

Rejection 183

Upstreet does not want the story I sent them.  They have a very interesting way of phrasing their "we get too much work for this to be considered 'good'" sentence, I think:

"We have received a great deal of work by writers who will not be included in the final selection, but certainly deserve to have their voices heard in other publications..."

I will finish that thought: in other publications which aren't as discerning as we are.

New Issue Up at Knee Jerk

Hot off the internet web press thingy is a new issue of Knee Jerk. 'Stories' by David Shields, Roxane Gay, Simon A. Smith and moi.

'Reviews' by Jimmy Chen and Brandon Will.

I like their reviews: they are not of books but of things like dads and ghost cats.  I love books, but I would rather read a review of someone's bangs anyday.  Chances are those bangs will not be called riveting, inventive or interesting, and if they were it might actually keep my attention.

I give up. Already.

I'm in Vermont.  If you'll recall I told Mary I was gonna write 20 pages a day and she rolled her eyeballs.  She was right.  I wrote 11 pages today and I'm exhausted.  Let's shoot for 11 every day.  If I make it to 20 in a day I will let myself go buy that ugly sweater I like at the wool mill.

Also, last night it was 30 degrees here.  Maybe I should have looked at a weather forecast before I left.  I have one sweatshirt and 3 pairs of socks.

This has little to do with anything...

Jason Jordan (boss, friend, cohort in decomP crime) alerted me to this post at Railbirds.  It links to a poem I recommended for publication at decomP.  I liked the poem, but gave Jason full permission to veto it for being dirty dirty. Luckily, he did not use his veto power. hehe (shit eating grin)

Little White Poetry Journal 7 Available for Order!

Pretty new copies of the 7th issue of Little White Poetry Journal are finally available for order.  I had the pleasure of guest-editing.  Jen Patel did design.  Henry Chalise is missing.

Heart-stopping new poems from: Cinthia Ritchie, Devin King, Laura Goldstein, Patrick Leonard, Jason Bredle, Kathleen Rooney, Joseph Aguilar, John Madera, Christopher Higgs, Erin Teegarden, Nicolette Bond, Megan Thoma, diego baez & Shome Dasgupta.

I will write you a personal letter and include it in the package if you order one.  Maybe I will even draw you a picture of a monster who won't shut up. 

Doooooooo iiiiiiiiit.  I want to write you love notes. I'm waiting for you to ask.

New Poems at La Fovea

Boy oh boy.  Am I late?   I just discovered the genius and merry-making that is La Fovea, in which a bunch of awesome poets ask other poets to submit 2 poems and then those poets ask poets to submit poems, ad infinitum.  In other words: I was asked by Brant Goble who was asked by Sandra Simond. Our nerve isn't very long yet, but we are still young.

Basically, it's a rabbit hole of reading,  kind of like the novel 253 by Geoff Ryman which obsessed me for a hot minute in college.  If you've never wandered around there, it's worth it.