"super stanley" has arrived

I'm really touched by all the attention that my lyric essay "Haunting Houses" has gotten, on twitter, facebook, and the two essay sites where I posted it. I loved publishing it in NEW OHIO REVIEW, which is a beautiful print magazine, but there's no doubt that online publication reaches more readers. I'm pleased they decided to post their back issues.

Now for something that couldn't be more different.

“Anyone who believes they’ve got a superpower is delusional, am I right? How’d you like me to levitate right now?” I became fond of my fictional character “Super Stanley” in my tiny new micro in NUNUM, despite our brief acquaintanceship. The Canadian zine NUNUM is a short flip book in sort of crazy order (yes my bio comes way before “Super Stanley”) with great art. A fun treat for spring.

First five days of Kathy Fish's Fast Flash class have yielded five flash and really I like most of them enough to consider revising them further. It's a new process for me, to write quickly, post without worrying about perfecting what I've written, and wait to revise later. I've never believed in Anne Lamott's idea of just getting a "shitty first draft" on the page (or rather I never believed it fit the way I write), but this week, it's working. It is, of course, strange to get only positive feedback (Kathy Fish's pedagogical principle), but that's freeing in a generative workshop where you want to try new things without the burden of criticism (or self-criticism).