SLQ issue 20

Issue 20 of SmokeLong Quarterly, guest edited by Claudia Smith, is now live.

Issue Twenty (March 15, 2008): The Cockroach by David Barringer «» Trestle by Matt Briggs «» Worried & Wondering by Aaron Burch «» Dead Dog Rising by Kate Hill Cantrill «» Tinder by Chanel Earl «» Scrape by Utahna Faith «» Arlo's Big Head by Stefanie Freele «» Wei-Ch'i by Vanessa Gebbie «» Last Fall by Katherine Grosjean «» David Dreams of Australopithecines by Savannah Schroll Guz «» The Last Stop by Jenny Halper «» Blue by Stephanie Harrison «» Cadet by Tiff Holland «» Slam by Liesl Jobson «» Beret by Darlin' Neal «» Camp by Elizabeth Oliver «» We by Patricia Parkinson «» Seconds Are Ticking By by Nik Perring «» Brother by Sue Powers «» Carol by Sophie Rosenblum «» Elizabeth Bishop by Glenn Shaheen «» Favorites by Gail Siegel «» Blank by Michelle Tandoc-Pichereau «» Medicinal by Girija Tropp «» Interviews: David Barringer «» Matt Briggs «» Aaron Burch «» Kate Hill Cantrill «» Chanel Earl «» Utahna Faith «» Stefanie Freele «» Vanessa Gebbie «» Katherine Grosjean «» Savannah Schroll Guz «» Jenny Halper «» Stephanie Harrison «» Tiff Holland «» Liesl Jobson «» Darlin' Neal «» Elizabeth Oliver «» Patricia Parkinson «» Nik Perring «» Sue Powers «» Sophie Rosenblum «» Glenn Shaheen «» Gail Siegel «» Claudia Smith «» Michelle Tandoc-Pichereau «» Girija Tropp «» Cover Art "Male Figure" by Marty D. Ison «» Letter From the Editor

writing news

Although almost all of my blogging lately has been over at SmokeLong News, I actually do have some personal writing news to share, which seems better suited for posting here.

First off, a microfiction I wrote last month, "Nothing," has been solicted by Per Contra, and will appear in their Spring issue, which goes live some time in March. Yay! It had been a while since I'd written anything new, and longer still since I'd delved into the whole getting published deal. Per Contra is a great venue, so I'm really pleased.

Also, my flash Spike. Resonance., originally published in FRiGG, has been accepted to be published in a new anthology entitled "Freak Lightning," edited by Pamelyn Casto and Lawrence Greenberg. Not sure of the publication dates yet, but I'll post more when I know more. I've never really pursued getting into anthologies before, so this is pretty exciting.

And, later this month, I'll be traveling back to Chicago to speak to students at my alma mater, Fremd High School, about writing and editing as part of their annual Writers Week. I'm hugely looking forward to this. Weeding through my published work for stories appropriate to read at a high school is proving somewhat of a challenge, but I think I've got it covered. Can't wait!

Finally (and I probably will blog about this at SLQ News once I have the final schedule), I'll be presenting at Pecha Kucha again in about a week and a half. The theme is love, which is a challenge, since most of the stuff we publish in SLQ isn't really about love in the usual Valentine's Day sense. Had a blast when I did this in December, and really looking forward to doing it again. Looks like a stellar lineup this time, too. Woo!

snowy weekend

Since I'm doing all the kind of blogging I used to do here over on SmokeLong News now, I might as well use this blog as more of the personal space most bloggers do. Just had a crazy snowy weekend that was virtually perfect: it snowed like mad for two days and then melted before the week began, so my commute wasn't impacted in the least. Got to have snowball fights with the kids and they built (and destroyed) snowmen. Also swung by the office to show them where I work now, and my boss happened to be in and snapped a pic, which y'all can see here. Sunday, spent the day with Ellen, Kate, the boys, and my mom and her husband Jim, who are in town for a week to meet his first grandchild, who is now a few months old (son of his son—although Jim has two kids who both live in Seattle, I've never really thought of 'em as stepsiblings per se, since Mom and Jim married after I was already out of the house). Had a good time with them, and will be having dinner with them and Ellen again tonight.

Top Ten Page Views for October

Except for the juggernaut of "Pornography" and another strong showing by John Leary, the top ten is comprised entirely of flashes from the September 15 issue. And for the second month in a row, the five fat men are gone, but Landon retains a spot with "Starfish."

1. (2) When the Toasts Stopped Being Funny by Steve Almond (9/15/07)
2. (1) Pornography by Steve Almond (6/15/05)
3. (3) Raymond Carver by Dan Chaon (9/15/07)
4. (7) Ten Very Short Stories by John Leary (3/15/07)
5. (8) Ethnic Lego Girls Carry Spears by Heidi W. Durrow (9/15/07)
6. (5) Mole Man by Stuart Dybek (9/15/07)
7. (6) Nailed by Robert J. Bradley (9/15/07)
8. (NR) Party by Emily Fridlund (9/15/07)
9. (9) The Sound of Success by Terry DeHart (9/15/07)
10. (10) Starfish by Jeff Landon (9/15/07)

Incidentally, I'm also blogging this information at SmokeLong News now. We had a News section there a couple years ago, but it was infrequently used. We re-launched it last week, with SLQ staffers Kelly Spitzer, Thomas White, and me, joined by uber-lit bloggers Myfanwy Collins, Katrina Denza, and Matt Bell. I think it's averaging about two new posts a day, and the info folks are getting posted there is as terrific as you would expect from having read the individuals' blogs previously. The news covers more than just SLQ--we're seeking to get flash news of any kind out there, so hopefully, it'll be a great resource for writers of flash. You definitely owe it to yourself to check it out. Here's a little tease of it:

Get this widget!

Applications open for 2008 Fish Fellowship

Applications are open now for the 2008 Fish Fellowship. There is no application fee, and the prize is $500 for a one-year "residency" as a writer for SmokeLong. The full announcement and details for entry are at http://smokelong.com/features/102407.asp.

Top Ten Page Views for September

And, once again, I'm incredibly late in posting stats for last month. Almond moves not only back into the top spot, but into the #2 spot as well. The man's a powerhouse. And if y'all haven't checked out his latest yet, (Not That You Asked) is worth the cover price for the piece on Vonnegut alone.

1. (2) Pornography by Steve Almond (6/15/05)
2. (NR) When the Toasts Stopped Being Funny by Steve Almond (9/15/07)
3. (NR) Raymond Carver by Dan Chaon (9/15/07)
4. (1) 8x10 by Elizabeth Ellen (12/15/06)
5. (NR) Mole Man by Stuart Dybek (9/15/07)
6. (NR) Nailed by Robert J. Bradley (9/15/07)
7. (NR) Ten Very Short Stories by John Leary (3/15/07)
8. (NR) Ethnic Lego Girls Carry Spears by Heidi W. Durrow (9/15/07)
9. (NR) The Sound of Success by Terry DeHart (9/15/07)
10. (NR) Starfish by Jeff Landon (9/15/07)

On a personal note, my tardiness is largely due to having been hitting the bricks to find a new gig after my contract at Microsoft ended. And I'm really excited to have accepted a position at the largest architectural firm in Seattle. Very, very cool place, and I can't wait to get to work there.

stats for issue 17

Here are the stats for issue seventeen:

Issue Seventeen (live from 6/15/07-9/14/07) 6/15-6/30: 42659 page views 7/1-7/31: 75894 page views 8/1-8/31: 56439 page views 9/1-9/14: 20169 page views Total Issue 17: 195161 page views

Bleah. We dropped back below 200,000 page views for the quarter, and fell off by 9.67%. This appears to be a summer trend. Last summer's issue saw a 17% drop in page views, and the fall issue then jumped by over 20%. Hopefully, we'll see a similar jump for the issue just published.

Top Ten Page Views for August

Posting this REALLY late this time around, and only doing stories this time, because I've been (and continue to be) absolutely slammed at work. Only one story not rated in July cracked the top ten this time around, but boy did the top ten move itself around a lot. Welcome, Elizabeth Ellen, to numero uno.

1. (4) 8x10 by Elizabeth Ellen (12/15/06)
2. (1) Pornography by Steve Almond (6/15/05)
3. (6) Oblivious by Gary Cadwallader (6/15/07)
4. (2) Heaven by the Highwayside by Mike Amato (3/15/07)
5. (8) First Night by Ric Jahna (6/15/07)
6. (7) One Purple Finch by Kathy Fish (6/15/07)
7. (9) The Wedge in Between by Debbie Ann Eis (6/15/07)
8. (5) Renoir Responds to Aline Charigot's Charges of Painting Her Ugly by Daniel Bailey (6/15/07)
9. (NR) Cymothoa Exigua by Christopher Battle (6/15/07)
10. (3) Five Fat Men in a Hot Tub by Jeff Landon (9/15/05)

And, to appease Don once again, some personal news: in the building I'm working in now, they do a lot of shipping, and there's a massive scale just outside my door. When we were checking out the building a couple months ago, many of us walked across it. I weighed in at 195. Since cutting Coke almost entirely out of my diet due to kidney stones, I've noticed that my stomach looks flatter (not flat, mind you, but not so Buddha-like). Sure enough, I just walked across the scale and it came up 185. Yay, me!

SLQ Issue 18 is live!

Guest edited by Mary Miller, it's a beauty.

Issue Eighteen (September 15, 2007): When the Toasts Stopped Being Funny by Steve Almond «» Nailed by Robert J. Bradley «» Raymond Carver by Dan Chaon «» The Sound of Success by Terry DeHart «» Ethnic Lego Girls Carry Spears by Heidi W. Durrow «» Mole Man by Stuart Dybek «» Party by Emily Fridlund «» From Halliville To Grice's Town by Jason Jackson «» Starfish by Jeff Landon «» Insomnia of an Elderly French Designer by Sean Lovelace «» Display by Davin Malasarn «» Little Bones by Kuzhali Manickavel «» Stigmata by Susan O'Neill «» Inroads by Dominic Preziosi «» Bachon by Teri Davis Rouvelas «» Voc Rehab Vignettes by Jessica Schantz «» Neighbors by Curtis Smith «» Caging the Thing by Beth Thomas «» Interviews: Steve Almond «» Robert J. Bradley «» Randall Brown «» Dan Chaon «» Terry DeHart «» Heidi W. Durrow «» Stuart Dybek «» Emily Fridlund «» Jason Jackson «» Jeff Landon «» Sean Lovelace «» Davin Malasarn «» Kuzhali Manickavel «» Mary Miller «» Susan O'Neill «» Dominic Preziosi «» Teri Davis Rouvelas «» Jessica Schantz «» Curtis Smith «» Beth Thomas «» Cover Art "Repression of an Open Mind" by Marty D. Ison «» Letter From the Editor

Top Ten Page Views for July

Not a ton of shakin' up this time. The powerhouses of Almond, Amato, and Landon keep it up.

Stories
1. (1) Pornography by Steve Almond (6/15/05)
2. (2) Heaven by the Highwayside by Mike Amato (3/15/07)
3. (6) Five Fat Men in a Hot Tub by Jeff Landon (9/15/05)
4. (NR) 8x10 by Elizabeth Ellen (12/15/06)
5. (NR) Renoir Responds to Aline Charigot's Charges of Painting Her Ugly by Daniel Bailey (6/15/07)
6. (7) Oblivious by Gary Cadwallader (6/15/07)
7. (8) One Purple Finch by Kathy Fish (6/15/07)
8. (10) First Night by Ric Jahna (6/15/07)
9. (9) The Wedge in Between by Debbie Ann Eis (6/15/07)
10. (5) The Attraction of Asphalt by Stefani Nellen (6/15/07)

Interviews
1. (1) Mike Amato (3/15/07)
2. (8) Stuart Dybek (6/15/05)
3. (2) Tod Goldberg (3/15/07)
4. (6) Ric Jahna (6/15/07)
5. (NR) Brian Reynolds (8/15/04)
6. (NR) Steve Almond (6/15/05)
7. (NR) Stephanie Johnson (6/15/07)
8. (4) Maggie Shearon (6/15/05)
9. (NR) Tavia Stewart (6/15/07)
10. (NR) Sarah Leavitt (3/15/06)

And, since Don kvetched about not enough personal stuff on the blog, here's a pic of me celebrating my 41st birthday last month at a barbecue with friends from SurvivorBlows. (Fortunately, this pic is after the hot tub, or it could serve as an illustration for Jeff Landon's piece.)