New story in current issue of Cowboy Jamboree Magazine

My short story "The Burning Torch in Yonder Turret Stands" is the new issue of Cowboy Jamboree Magazine Issue 4.2 "Grotesque to Art".

Visit and give the entire issue a read.  Scroll down to find the option to download the issue as a PDF.

Many thanks as always to Adam Van Winkle, my brother from another mother.

Order DYSPHORIA @ Amazon, please and thank you. And learn more @ Cowboy Jamboree Press.

Here's the link to where you can find out more @ Cowboy Jamboree Press:

MORE INFO @ CJ PRESS

Here's the link to where you can order @ Amazon

ORDER @ AMAZON

Add DYSPHORIA @ Goodreads, please and thank you

 

   

     
   
 
 
 

Satantango by László Krasznahorkai
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I loved the ending of this and I'm tempted to pop it up to four stars but I didn't have that sensation of being drawn back to it for more reading. I kind of wanted to finish it and get to the next book. Three it is. But damn that ending.


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Old Dead Things

I'm spending the day reading about the trilobite. I mean really really reading about it. I'm writing a section of The Orchard Is Full of Sound over the next few days that deals heavily in trilobite history.

The section, one of three labeled Fictive Perspectives, will follow the last trilobite's final journey to its forever resting place. Paralleled will be Breece's first trip in the woods to search for one of the trilobite fossils, focusing on his idea of connections with the past and how "old dead things" provide his ideas of those connections.

It's a risk, which, for me, means it's officially worth trying. I'm tempted to say more about the section but I think I may have already said too much. But then it's just us talking, so I think it'll be okay.

Hello you five or six readers. We're going to sort this thing out.

Not a lot of people dropping by to read my posts here. It makes me feel strange to continue writing posts. Not bad or not hurt, etc. Just strange.

I remember when I started Bent Country about a decade ago things were about the same. I often addressed my one follower by name. It felt intimate and interactive. I'm back to that, so maybe it's not really strange as much as it is surreal.

That being said, to the five or six of you who have dropped by for the last several posts, you're in for a ride, my friends. Well not really. I'll probably be posting the same kinds of things about writing and from time to time stuff about space like white dwarf stars and how we don't have a black dwarf star yet because it's takes longer for one to form than the universe has been a thing.

Oh, and expect abrupt stops without warning because I don't always have a witty or informative or literary way to end posts here. I just stop writing so

Got me some ARC action for my new novel DYSPHORIA. It’ll be dropping on April 30 from Cowboy Jamboree Press.

FRIDAY BLACK Goodreads rating, review

Friday Black by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This would have been a five-star rating if Saunders as an influence wasn't so obvious. Still, good stories, but you couldn't put Saunders name on the cover and I might not have noticed anything was up. It'll be good to see what he does once he sheds those grad school habits and author-love.


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Cool quote from BLACK FRIDAY by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah

There's a lot to love about Black Friday. But I will say that it's really easy to see the influence of George Saunders on Adjei-Brenyah's stories. It'll be interesting to see where he goes once that influence wears off. In the meantime, I really liked this insightful moment from the book:

"I think having had money, and then having lost it, and had it again, and lost it some more, some older people kind of just say, Screw it, I’m going to smile."

From cited to included. My story "Aversion" selected for Best Small Fictions 2019

My story “Aversion,” which was published last year at Unbroken, was chosen for Best Small Fictions 2019. Here’s a list of all those included.

I've got a new story at the fantastic Anti-Heroin Chic

I'm late to this one, but I had a story published March 1 at the always interesting Anti-Heroin Chic. The story's called "Here Are Your Heroines" and it was a fun one despite the seriousness of the subject matter. As always, I'm incredibly grateful to James Diaz for accepting this piece. Follow the link below to read the story.

HERE ARE YOUR HEROINES

Susan Choi is interesting.

Here's an article about her latest book True Exercise in Vulture:

Susan Choi on Her Mind-Bending #MeToo Novel

Wrap reveal for DYSPHORIA, due out April 30 from Cowboy Jamboree Press