I wrote an essay called "Public Safety," which can be read in
@rgay
's The Audacity here:
I've been through so much to get to this point, please check it out if you have the time.
I think I can announce I won a thing now!
So many thanks to the SmokeLong editors for selecting my piece “Convergence” as the winner of the SmokeLong Summer CNF Competition. Look out for it in an upcoming issue soon!
Hypothetically speaking, if
@megpillow
and I were to host a writer’s retreat sometime in the future where you ride luxury train cars built in the 1950s & 60s while being pulled by a real steam locomotive, would people do it?
If you’ve ever needed a reminder about how playfully volatile the writing life can be: I recently received 2 literary magazine rejections while being interviewed by the BBC for my new book
This is such a surreal moment for me — so many people to thank. My debut memoir FRIENDLY FIRE is forthcoming from
@HarperCollins
/
@HarperHorizon
with
@AustinTRoss
editing. This book was written in my bones. I can’t wait for you to read it.
7 years ago today, my best friend shot me in the head through two walls in our on-campus apartment, one month before college graduation. Now this year, I have a book coming out. A good day to reflect. Glad to be here.
Big news! So hyped to announce that I have officially signed with Darhansoff & Verrill literary agency. I could not be more excited and can’t wait to share more soon. Please enjoy this fancy picture of me in my backyard pretending to be serious.
I am overwhelmed and amazed by the response to my essay “Public Safety.” Being able to change a reader’s state of mind, let alone move them or bring them to tears, is the ultimate reward for a writer. My mom and I are deeply touched by the compassion from all of you ❤️
The world's biggest thank you goes to
@rgay
for selecting my essay to feature. As a longtime student and fan of her work, this opportunity means the world.
COVER REVEAL for my debut FRIENDLY FIRE: A FRACTURED MEMOIR!!! 🔥
I’m ecstatic to share this artwork with you all. So much subtle storytelling in the details.
Available at your favorite indie (or wherever books are sold) September 10, 2024. PREORDER links below
Hey everyone! I am delighted to share my new story “Dirt” in the world-famous
@JellyfishReview
. This piece is something I’m really proud of and (to me) shows a new direction that my writing is going. I hope you’ll read it!
Wrote a complete banger of a poem yesterday. Submitted it. Read it again this morning, thought, Yes, Still a banger! Rejection email came in 5 minutes later 🙃
And an extra special thank you goes to
@megpillow
who edited the piece. Her insightfulness and care elevated the work immensely. Truly a professional and a dream to work with.
I am so excited for this. Tomorrow, in the
@brevitymag
blog, an interview with my agent, Michele Mortimer, on what made my memoir query stand out in the slush pile.
I hope those in the query trenches find it useful. Michele is so smart and funny and rad—you will all love her!
I was overjoyed when Amber Sparks (
@ambernoelle
) agreed to blurb Friendly Fire. When I first started taking this writing thing seriously, it was her fiction I was taught in workshop.
Full circle, & a tremendous honor, here is what she had to say about my debut memoir🔥 (1/4)
When someone on this bird app graciously compared my essay “Public Safety” to Stephen King’s body of work, I never imagined that 4 months later Stephen King and I would be represented by the same lit agency. But here we are!!!
I’ve held 250 pages of text in my head for the better part of 4 years. Soon, they will be out in the world.
You can scope out the latest excerpt in Newsweek. If you dig it, you know what to do. I appreciate all of you!!
Got a killer flash acceptance for a future/dystopian story I workshopped in a
@SmokeLong
Summer! That’s not my typical bag, so I’m very excited about this one.
Cheers to my first-ever year-end publications thread! I was lucky enough to publish 11 pieces and work with some remarkable people. Huge thanks to everyone who read and shared me -- your support changed my life. On to the pubs 🧵
Wow—honored to be among so many of my favs. Thanks to
@MauriceRuffin
for selecting “Quick Math” and
@MISTERBULLBULL
for publishing it in the first place! Go check out these killer stories
The
@Wigleaf
Top 50 2024 & the Longlist are up! Thank you to our Guest Selecting Editor
@MauriceRuffin
& to our Readers & Associate Series Editors! Let’s celebrate writers, readers, & journals—all for very short fictions. All for the love: ! ❤️🌻✨
I started submitting to
@SmokeLong
relatively soon after my brain injury and it’s insane to see (and track on submittable!) how far I’ve come since then. Just so grateful
I think I can announce I won a thing now!
So many thanks to the SmokeLong editors for selecting my piece “Convergence” as the winner of the SmokeLong Summer CNF Competition. Look out for it in an upcoming issue soon!
If you’ve ever wondered why the subtitle of my book is “A Fractured Memoir,” you’re in luck! I wrote an essay for
@WritersDigest
spilling all the deets. Check it out below
I have some fresh, extra vulnerable nonfiction out there today from
@PitheadChapel
titled "Supreme Reign Over Things That Hurt," on disability and trauma. Please check it out!
🔥Happy Friendly Fire Day!!🔥
Look at these amazing book cover cookies HarperCollins sent me 😍
I hope you love the book, everybody. Thanks for being here.
In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve been pretty busy the past 2 weeks!
Thought I’d hit some highlights in a nice, pleasant Saturday recap. That way if you’re bored (or just plain interested!), you can catch up on all things Friendly Fire (1/6)
My
@SmokeLong
story and interview are LIVE!! Absolutely in love with the paired artwork. Read them, the whole issue, and this quarter’s extremely important letter from the editor. So honored to be a part of this
Your boy has got fiction (!) coming out from
@rejectionlit
in two weeks. I write short stories about as often as people see Halley’s Comet so I hope you humor me and check it out!
Me and Friendly Fire will be featured on the BBC World Service broadcast station tomorrow and later serialized in their pod “Lives Less Ordinary”
Such a dope experience. Really grateful to get my story out to a global audience!
I was lucky enough to publish 8 pieces this year (and get a book deal, but that’s another post!) so here’s a little year-end recap and noms eligibility
Been receiving multiple emails from those who have connected to my invisible disabilities piece in the SF Chronicle—people just pouring their hearts out to me regarding their own injuries & experiences. Really moved by the response!
Positively delighted to say my dreamy sci-fi mystery flash loop where I mix in elements of my real brain injury will be published this winter by
@CraftLiterary
! Off to finish up this doozy of an author's note 😉
My next short story drops in October! Appropriately, it has ghosts. But it also has a complicated father-son relationship that could be considered one of my new favorite dirty words ✨autofiction✨
My submission has officially been slain by the great literary crusade of
@TBQuarterly
. But fear not. For it was a benevolent death. One that will surely lead to glory and absolution in the hereafter
This review is a work of art all on its own. It's such a joy to see how
@amygcb
for
@SmokeLong
converses with the text with precision, care, insight. I feel very lucky to have someone talk about my words in this way. A must read
It’s been a busy week full of interviews and videos and Q&A—a lot more to come! (Some secrets, too!)
I’d love to see Friendly Fire out in the wild, so feel free to tag me in photos with your copy. Thanks for all the support and for making the last few days so incredible 🔥
I had a new story come out this week over at Monkeybicycle. It's very short, so, you know, it has that going for it. But I also think it's pretty good! Give it a read if you have a sec this fine Sunday. Link (unironically) below haha
Such a kind and thoughtful blurb from an equally as kind and thoughtful writer. I adored
@JamesTateHill
’s memoir, Blind Man’s Bluff, and am so thrilled he had this to say about Friendly Fire:
No doubt the love and support that poured in from “Public Safety” played a huge role in this coming to fruition. I can’t thank
@rgay
and The Audacity enough for the opportunity to showcase my work as an emerging writer.
This is such a surreal moment for me — so many people to thank. My debut memoir FRIENDLY FIRE is forthcoming from
@HarperCollins
/
@HarperHorizon
with
@AustinTRoss
editing. This book was written in my bones. I can’t wait for you to read it.
"Lying on my back in the family room, I have my feet on the grille of our gas fireplace. I test myself to see how long I can rest my feet on the glass part where it’s hot. I’ve seen mom try it."
Today we have
@PaulWrites7
coming in hot
@ambernoelle
I did comms and marketing for an engineering firm and even on my worst day I was like, "at least I have health insurance!" lol. I do kinda miss that blanket
@lapis_lazuli11
My experience/opinion: platforms only matter for practical nonfiction. Like--How To Assess Your Heart Disease Risk by Dr. So and So. Memoirs are basically novels in terms of marketing. My agent was way more pleased with my published excerpts than my following of 1,000 at the time
Which lit mags would you send a story to about a guy who finds his father's body parts scattered around his house and then tries to communicate to them via white noise machine? There may or may not be a psychic, too. And competitive pottery-making. Happy Valentine's Day, BTW! ❤️
Pretty jazzed up to say I hit my annual poetry quota (1 poem) with an acceptance from Pleiades! Another year I don't have to correct my dad when he tells his friends I'm a poet.