Remember by Myfanwy Collins A road of dirt and stone led past a dusty-drived, red house on the right. On the left, a barbed fence wrapped carelessly around a brawny tree that pointed to a field of mown hay. A doe stopped in her tracks as she passed over the road, saw me, snorted and moved on through a hole in the fence. (That … Read More

Pigs, by Kathleen McCall

Pigs is a must read. Here’s just a bit to tempt you: I’ve been conversing, as a new pig owner, with a friend who has many of them and has had them for years. They know that they’re the bottom of the food chain, she tells me. They don’t bite much and they’re not well-clawed and they haven’t a rabbit’s strong kicking legs. They’re … Read More Pigs, by Kathleen McCall

While I can’t imagine Siddhartha on my PDA (well, I don’t actually own a PDA but whatever), I’m sure someone would enjoy it. If that person is you, you might want to check out manybooks.net–a site which contains more than 10,000 free ebooks (free, I’m assuming, because they are past copyright). It’s a nice, easy to use site which also features ebooks in many … Read More

World’s smallest baby ready to go home–first of all I love things that are labeled “the world’s” or “first ever” because the FACT is we cannot know for a FACT that this is the world’s smallest baby. But damn, she is one small baby and I hope she’s going to be okay: A baby who weighed less than a can of soda when she … Read More

Infestation by me at Moondance

Helloooo… sorry for my continuous parade of self-promotion lately but the first of my quarterly columns is now live at Moondance. The ants came in droves. Not like a sea or a carpet as one might think, but more like a mass or a tumor. And what I didn’t know then was that if you squished them, more would come to their aid. When … Read More Infestation by me at Moondance

New Snow Monkey — available for order!

The Snow Monkey Fifth Anniversary Issue # 15 & 16 (which contains a piece by me called “Wooden Bowl”) is now available for order.

It just strikes me as odd that in offering an alternative OS to Windows, Linspire would pair up with Wal-Mart (from Fast Company): Wal-Mart has the power to squeeze profit-killing concessions from vendors.To survive in the face of its pricing demands, makers of everything from bras to bicycles to blue jeans have had to lay off employees and close U.S. plants in favor of … Read More

books on craft

On her blog, Carol Peters, writer and MFA student, has many recommendations for what sound like some excellent books on craft. Her latest rec is linked here: The Eleventh Hour.

Neighborhood Dogs by Myfanwy Collins The neighborhood dogs are merciless in the heat, barking, barking, barking like the caw, caw, caw of the crow that wakes you up each morning. The one on the corner has a bark like a smoker’s cough—cloying, endless, painful. You want it to stop. But the heat ticks on and dogs bark and everyone waits for the day to … Read More

Happy Winter Solstice (or happy summer solstice for those of you in the southern hemisphere)

That’s right. It’s the shortest day of the year–or is that the coldest day of the year? It was 2 degrees when I woke up and now it’s a balmy 7. Listen, try not to be depressed that the day is so short–as Allen reminds me, from here on in they get longer.

"The Long and Short of Story Awards"

Kevin Larimer essay in P&W, THE CONTESTER: The Long and Short of Story Awards, gives a down and dirty review of what’s been going on with short story awards lately.

poem for 12/20/04

Nearing Autobiography by Pattiann Rogers (note: carol just turned me on to Pattiann Rogers and I must say I am in love with her poetry. thanks, carol!)