Paul Rousseau @PaulWrites7 Twitter profile

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 months

Starred Review in Publishers Weekly!?!?Screaming, crying, throwing up.

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 months

After 45 submissions, finally got a "YES" from a dream publication

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

4 years

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.

Public Safety by Paul Rousseau

Emerging Writers Series

audacity.substack.com

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 months

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!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

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?

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 month

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

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

Just a causal acceptance from Pithead Chapel nothing to see here 👀👀👀

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 years

I got a book deal!!!!!!!!!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

5 months

My mom just asked if she could blurb my book 😭 she’s awesome

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 years

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.

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

7 months

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.

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

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.

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

Ok, new record. 3 stories accepted tonight. The writing gods are making up for that poem snafu a couple days ago, and I’m very thankful

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

Double poem acceptance from @havehadhavehad after MANY tries. Finally cracking some skulls. And boy, do I know a thing or two about cracked skulls!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

4 years

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 ❤️

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

4 months

First time on the @Wigleaf Top 50! Pretty damn grateful.

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

4 years

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.

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

7 months

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

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

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!

Dirt by Paul Rousseau

Dirt My son, Chase, really surprised me yesterday. He said his hair is like the roots of a tree. I assume he means brown and scraggly since, due to the multi-million-dollar case I’m on involving a …

jellyfishreview.wordpress.com

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 month

Can’t believe I’m about to have a piece in the illustrious SmokeLong Quarterly. Definitely a dream come true

SmokeLong Slaughterly

@SmokeLong

1 month

It's cover reveal time! Issue 85 of SmokeLong Quarterly goes live on Monday September 16. Art is political.

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 months

TOMORROW. I can hardly believe it. Both that 7 years later, I’m still alive. And that 7 years later, I have a book to show for it

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

5 months

@DaneMooreNBA 2 divorcing parents trying to show they love the kid more by showering them with gifts

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

5 months

Super excited that my story “The Replacement” from @CraftLiterary was selected for Best Small Fictions 2024!

Alternating Current Press

@altcurrent

5 months

The selections for the 2024 Best Small Fictions anthology have been announced! Congrats to these great authors & pieces!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 months

My book comes out in 4 weeks!!!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

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 🙃

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

4 years

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.

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

I didn’t think it would happen, but I actually got nominated for a Pushcart!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

19 days

Getting married today! Dressed like it’s my game 7 in the finals baby

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 month

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!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 months

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)

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

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!!!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 months

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!!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

7 months

damn cool thing to wake up to—a shoutout in Roxane Gay’s The Audacity!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 years

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.

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

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 🧵

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

11 months

Just got word that a story of mine was nominated for a BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 months

Oh, why hello there

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

4 months

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

shome dasgupta

@laughingyeti

4 months

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: ! ❤️🌻✨

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 months

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

Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 months

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!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 month

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

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 years

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!

Supreme Reign Over Things That Hurt

Paul Rousseau Everyone comes over for dinner and is complaining about something. I’m stuck on the couch with a blanket over my face, watching my family converse through a gap in the stitching. My…

pitheadchapel.com

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

9 months

Here’s my full #AWP24 book haul! Tasty morsels from @autofocuslit , @MalarkeyBooks , @MoonCityPress , @pleiadesmag , @fairytalereview , and @Little__Engines

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 years

Hey @JimPeteHoops and @Grady 😎

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 months

I made Write or Die’s “35 books we can’t wait to read in September” list!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 month

🔥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.

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

5 months

Here it is, everybody. My mom’s blurb of Friendly Fire: A Fractured Memoir

Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

5 months

My mom just asked if she could blurb my book 😭 she’s awesome

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

7 months

It’s real!

Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

7 months

ARCs of Friendly Fire officially hit the doorstep! 🔥🔥🔥

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 month

With all the links, this will most likely get buried in algorithmic hell, but to those who see it, I salute you 🫡

Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 month

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)

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

4 years

@DevanSandiford @rgay Just looking for representation at this point! Hope to have the full story out in the near future.

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 month

My book has officially been out for 1 week!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

9 months

Got a prose poem (!!!) accepted by the wonderful people over at @lostballoonmag . A sweet little pre-AWP treat

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

12 days

A little preview of our ridiculously cool wedding photos

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 year

My strangest story to date that also happened to make my mom cry just got accepted by New Delta Review. Can’t wait for y’all to read it next issue

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

12 days

Haunted mansion wedding I mean c’mon

Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

12 days

A little preview of our ridiculously cool wedding photos

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

8 months

Got the sweetest acceptance from @JamesTateHill over at @monkeybicycle for my favorite story that I wrote during @SmokeLong Summer 23'. Look out for it very soon👀

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

Big week ahead of me. Time to make this official #NewProfilePic

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 month

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

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

4 years

Woke up to my first-ever poetry acceptance! I have officially hit the trifecta 🙌🏼

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

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!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

11 months

So thankful to CRAFT for the nomination. This is insanely cool. A perfect Sunday to read all these rad stories

CRAFT

@CraftLiterary

11 months

It's nominations season! Today we're excited to share our nominations for Best Small Fictions 2024! Congratulations to @ThePtessadactyl , @n897x1975 , @Paulwrites7 , @amymgrotacious , and @megpokrass ! Learn more:

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 months

Me and friendly fire are going to be in this weekend’s Sunday paper

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 month

Was told today by an interviewer that Friendly Fire was the best book they’ve read in the past 5 years. Check out what all the fuss is about!!

Friendly Fire: A Fractured Memoir a book by Paul Rousseau

"A powerful, gut-wrenching tale of pain, suffering, and recovery." --KIRKUS REVIEWS"Unique and haunting.... A mesmerizing and unforgettable meditation on a stranger-than-fiction tragedy." --PUBLISH...

bookshop.org

Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 month

My book has officially been out for 1 week!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

10 days

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!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

5 months

About to see @rgay in St. Paul!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 months

So proud to have an excerpt of my upcoming memoir featured in @Newsweek today. "Mark Was My Best Friend. He Shot Me in the Head"

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

4 years

Braided essay about my brain surgery and very odd occupational therapy experience just got accepted by a dream lit mag 🔥

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

Officially on an "Our Clients" page. So many feelings today!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

11 months

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

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

6 months

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!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 years

Thrilled to have a piece in the latest issue of Pithead Chapel!

Pithead Chapel

@PitheadChapel

2 years

Our May issue is live! [Fiction] @siamakvossoughi @kcrosby313 @amykw @BlairBenjamin93 [Nonfiction] @salaylay_c @loriyeg @PaulWrites7 @ChezMouse [Prose Poetry] @nyitraireka1 Ann Pedone [Cover] Emanuela Iorga

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 months

My family made me a fan page on FB 😭

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 years

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 😉

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

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✨

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 months

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

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 months

Two and a half weeks till pub day! Give this a look and if you like what you see, pick yourself up a copy.

Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 months

So proud to have an excerpt of my upcoming memoir featured in @Newsweek today. "Mark Was My Best Friend. He Shot Me in the Head"

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

7 months

Seeing my book next to @StephenKing ’s in the little rotating gallery thing on our literary agency’s website 🥹

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

4 months

The first batch of big reviews for Friendly Fire has arrived! “Powerful” “mesmerizing” “unforgettable” and “haunting” are really speaking my language.

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 month

Fit check for my launch event. Tried to match my cover 🤠

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 months

Just realized this could be interpreted like, 3 different ways. It’s 45 to the same venue before an acceptance!

Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 months

After 45 submissions, finally got a "YES" from a dream publication

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

6 months

Hey everybody--got my first-ever prose poem out today called "Batting .500" from the awesome people over at @lostballoonmag . I hope you check it out!

Batting .500 by Paul Rousseau

at 17, I superimpose where things used to be, bunking down in what remains of my near-empty childhood bedroom colored ankle-vein blue, just days before dad gives me and mom the boot to rent the pla…

lost-balloon.com

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 months

I think I might try to break submittable this Sunday, not gonna lie

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 months

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

A Review of Paul Rousseau's Friendly Fire: A Fractured Memoir - SmokeLong Quarterly

Reviewed by Amy Cipolla Barnes Paul Rousseau’s debut memoir, Friendly Fire, feels like a shot across the memoir bow. Told in fractures, there’s no meandering exposition, just an unflinching, rapid-...

www.smokelong.com

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

7 months

The cover for my debut memoir, Friendly Fire, in all its skulled-out glory.

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 months

Today is like writer Christmas

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 month

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 🔥

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

7 months

My pitch was accepted???

Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

7 months

I’m pitching an essay???

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 years

Got a killer acceptance from @EllipsisZine . Look out for my new story “A Totally Happy Coincidence” late Feb!

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

7 months

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

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

4 months

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:

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

7 months

Making tacos tonight with the official Taco Bell Crunchy Taco Kit. A token of luck or a harbinger of a rejection to come? Only @TBQuarterly knows

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 years

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.

Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 years

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.

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

4 years

Good morning! I’ve got a new short short up at @xraylitmag ! It plays with fire, if you’re in to that sort of thing 🔥🥵🔥

X-R-A-Y

@xraylitmag

4 years

"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

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

3 months

Leaking some thanks before pub date— @Wigleaf , @hippocampusmag , @megpillow , @PitheadChapel 💙

Austin Ross

@AustinTRoss

3 months

My copies finally arrived today, and they are beautiful. (And I spy some familiar names in the acknowledgments 👀)

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

7 months

ARCs of Friendly Fire officially hit the doorstep! 🔥🔥🔥

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

2 years

@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

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

6 months

Not too bad eh

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

7 months

@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

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

4 years

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! ❤️

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Paul Rousseau

@PaulWrites7

1 year

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.

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