To go or not to go?

A literary magazine I’ve recently been published in is holding a launch party in about two weeks and invited me to come and read! The only thing is that they’re in Calgary, which isn’t super far from Vancouver but airfare is about $300 round trip, which is more expensive than I thought. Plus the late notice and having to find somewhere to stay… but on the other hand, it’d probably be a fun experience, and I’d be able to charm everyone with my traumatic sex story, so there’s that. If I’m going to go, I should book my tickets soon.

Thoughts?

New poetry out!

Do I fancy myself to be a poet? No, and especially not after having received rejection after rejection from literary magazines and publications. But the good folks at The Outrider Review thought otherwise! In the second issue of their second volume, you’ll find two poems from yours truly: “Prodigal Boy” and “Cave”, two poems I’ve had kicking around for quite a few years. I’m thrilled that they’ve both finally found a home. (I’m also thrilled that someone actually likes my somewhat straightforward poetry)

You can order either a print or digital copy (or both!) here. And as always, if anyone reads my poetry and has thoughts, I am very receptive to them. Please leave a comment! I’m dying to know!

It’s finally here!

I should have a picture of it, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet, so you’ll all just have to believe me. The latest copy of Ricepaper is out now, featuring a personal essay I wrote titled “Cold War”! Yay! Now the world will finally know how awful sexual racism is. Grr argh.

But in the meantime, yay!

Just tell me you hate it

Why take so long to let me know you don’t want to publish my writing or my book? I wish writers didn’t have to wait 4-6 months for a response especially since by month 4 I already know the answer is no. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to watch porn.

And back to normal

The day after I get an acceptance from a literary publication, I get another rejection which I expected. Back to normal indeed. Or back to jadedness?

Another rejection

People really don’t seem to like my personal essays. Maybe I’m just writing them wrong or their not very good, I don’t know. It’s a bit of a downer especially because the rejection was from a queer literary mag based in BC, and this is the third rejection I’ve gotten from them (or is it four?). Gah. Really frustrating.

Simultaneous submissions scare me

I’m so used to playing by the rules and obeying authority that doing anything against them, even if it is the right thing, is scary. Andreas Schroeder, my fantastic instructor while I was in the Creative Writing Program at UBC, told me to send my work to multiple places, even if they advise writers not to.

“Fuck ’em,” he said brazenly. “They’ve been saying that for so long without a care for us writers who have to wait months to hear back — and it’s mostly a no — so fuck ’em. It’s only now that we’re starting to get a bit more control back. Just tell them your piece isn’t available anymore and they’ll get the hint.”

Despite his advice, I’ve never sent out a piece to multiple lit mags. Until today. After watching The Square and seeing people revolting against the status quo, the regime that oppressed them, it made me feel a little better about what I was doing. Though of course I could very well be rejected by both these publications and all this trouble and fear wouldn’t matter anyway. I realized that despite all the submissions I’ve had this year, I haven’t had a single acceptance. Yet? I hope.

On submission-fire

Incidentally spent part of today revising another creative non-fiction piece that I will try to send off tomorrow. I realized that by the 15th of the month, I will have written, edited, and submitted three pieces to different outlets in the last two weeks. I think that’s a record. Makes me feel super pumped!