Some Other Kind of Writing

Hey folks. I thought I’d just throw an update out here since it has been some time since I’ve posted.

First of all, the deadline for Shotgun Honey’s anthology is approaching fast. Get your stories in soon! (full guidelines are below for your review). On our webpage, you will also have an opportunity to vote for our anthology’s title. Keep an eye out for that. It will undoubtably be close since we received so many fine submissions.

For those of you who teach, you might be interested in this text I have an article in. It’s called Quick Hits for Teaching with Technology: Successful Strategies by Award-Winning Teachers. There are a lot of fine scholars who offer some insights and tips on creatively using tech in class to engage students. For ten bucks, it’s a steal.

Another project I’m wrapping up is a free teacher’s resource manual for evolutionary biologists (grades 9-14). A colleague, Dr. Randall Hayes, and I received a Beacon grant to develop a manual that would help biologists explain and explore evolutionary theory to non science majors. Our thinking was fiction may give students a way into the science that a standard textbook couldn’t.

We decided on Origins put out by Hadley Rille Books. It features stories by some of our favorite sci-fi writers (Mike Resnick, Jenny Blackford, Camille Alexa, Max Habilis, Z.S. Adani, Lezli Robyn, Gerri Leen) and does a great job of “walking through” human evolutionary development. As the editor of Origins, Eric Reynolds has been extremely gracious and helpful as the manual has moved through the process and taken shape.

This project has been a massive undertaking with over ten thousand words on just my part concerning the fiction (synopsis, analysis, discussion questions, possible writing assignments, etc.). Randall dives in next with his connections to biology by breaking down each story and exploring ways in which students might engage the science within the fiction.

What we are particularly excited about is that due to the grant, we are able to offer it free to any teacher who wants to implement it in his/her class. We hope to have a pilot project this Fall, a larger cohort  this Spring, and its final version for public consumption by Summer 2012. Dr. Hayes has a blog and podcast where you can find wonderful interviews, and his musings on fiction, poetry,
science, and the connections therein. Definitely worth checking out. If you’re interested in creative writing and science. As a side note, I highly recommend Alice Fulton’s Fractal Poetics: Adaptation and Complexity.

Most recently Dr. Hayes and I received another grant entitled: Reforming a Large Undergraduate Non-majors Biology Course (Part 1 of Infusing Evolution Through an Entire College Biology Curriculum). While this will be a ton of work, I think Dr. Hayes’ innovative idea will lead to some exciting results in teaching biology and writing. Fingers crossed.

Lastly, I’ve got a copy of The Journal of Teaching Writing (from Indiana University-Purdue Press) which has my article “Significant Learning: Effectively Using Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs in a Critical Writing Class” in it. While their webpage isn’t updated yet (I’ll let you know when it is), this paper is one I’m particularly proud of as it brings together my passion for teaching and for noir. Better yet, my students seem to love it (the exercise, not the paper which I’m sure they would find completely boring).

As promised: Shotgun Honey Submission Guidelines

Format: .doc, docx or .rtf file in a standard short story format as described on William Shunn’s website.
Length: 1000 to 5000 words. 3000 would be the sweet spot.
Submission: Send your submission toanthology@shotgunhoney.net with [Anthology] in the subject. Attachments only. Single submissions only.
Deadline: August 1st, 2012. We recommend sooner.

Payment: $10.00 upon publication, 1 print copy of Shotgun Honey Presents… and our eternal gratitude.
Rights: 1 year first print.
Release: Target October 2, 2012.

No queries. Please follow the guidelines if you want your story read.

Heads Up

I found some good reading on the intertubes and thought I’d give some well-deserved shout outs:

Cindy Rosmus’ story, Homesick, is over at newfleshmagazine. Aaannd they have a free e-book.

PulpMetalMagazine hosts one of Richard Godwin’s stories. Well worth it.

You like comics? Well, there’s this guy, Walt Kneeland, that does these reviews at his blog and at cxpulp that you might be interested in.

Did you hear Poetic Justice Press is making an e-book and it’s going coming out in August? Well, now you did.

Sabrina Ogden over at They Call Me Kate has some good news.

Val Nieman’s Blood Clay from Press 53 is out.

And now for some self promotion:

May 4th you’ll get a chance to see my story “Kids Are Mean” at Shotgun Honey. If you didn’t take  look at the site from my Facebook or Twitter posts yet, then maybe you should catch up — great stuff from a new mag.

“To Honor and Obey” will appear in Yellow Mama in issue # 26 (June 15). Yes, that Yellow Mama. Some wild, wild stories in this issue. Still working through them, but good stuff so far.

One of my zombie stories is coming out at Title Goes Here in July — it’s a mouthful.

And another zombie story that gives a whole new take on bible camps is coming out in the anthology CHIVALRY IS DEAD by May/December Press. Look for it right around father’s day. By the way, you should check out their other books. A lot of great horror in them there pages.

Pulp Empire #7 is due out in November and, yep, it sports one of my stories. If you follow me on Twitter, maybe you’ve checked them out already.

“I See Black Light” will be in a future issue of one of the premier crime/noir mags out there: Beat to a Pulp — rock on.

And the legendary Mysterydog accepted a killer story for a future issue of Darkest Before Dawn. Pub date forthcoming. This is one story that the character just won’t leave me alone, so I think I’ll have to go back to him and let him do more things in a few more stories.

Lookie Lookie

Richard Godwin, author of Apostle Rising, invited me over to his place then hurt my brain — see what we talked about here.

Look what the devil brought in, a hardboiled, noir, crime flash fiction site with the sweetest name evah: Shotgun Honey. Daniel B. O’Shea is the first up and he does not disappoint.

I can’t wait to see this issue of Mystery Scene, Spring Issue #119  (out late April). There is a review of Needle Magazine coming out and here’s a taste:

“Issue #3 of Needle magazine has been out for a while now. I’ve read several of the stories, all of them lowdown and gritty, especially Anthony Neil Smith’s “Minnesodom.” You might need a bath after reading that one.”

So you like Needle? Go vote for it in Spinetingler Awards.

On a different note, I learned something recently: I hate nerves. Yes, nerves. Not all nerves are bad. If a person finally get up the nerve to ask someone out, or a person afraid of heights gets up the nerve to climb up stairs, that’s great. Pinched nerves, on the other hand, completely and utterly suck.

I went to chiropractor on Friday, best one I’ve ever been to, and they figured out why I had serious pain in neck and arm and, more importantly, why my hand was turning purple. Seriously. Purple. Barney Purple.

Long story short is I have neck muscles that are pulling everything out of whack. This pinches the nerve and constricts the “clump” of blood vessels in my chest/shoulder area making my hand change colors.

So we will try that dreaded “E” word (exercise) and drugs and hope surgery isn’t needed. Sigh.