There's a Bear in the House

A black bear from Passages North!

Bear Hug!

Cover artist, Jennifer Burton

Inside the issue - Passages North, Issue 34, Winter 2013 - are discovered madonnas and missing horses, digging girls and dirty girls, abrupt movements, dog stars, burglars, group homes, rumbas, dress codes, drive thrus, and one pink Jesus.  Some of the stories won prizes, thanks to judges like Roxane Gay and Caitlin Horrocks. 

In Traci Brimhall's Just Desserts Short-Short Fiction Prize story, "After the Flood the Captain of the Hamadryas Discovers a Madonna," there are mangoes, macaws, morphos, and "a godawful abundance of wonder."  Exquisite, powerful, poetic.

I'm quite proud of the Waasmode Prize-winning story, "We Are Here Because of a Horse," and even prouder of the daughter who once took on a yearling and threw inspiration my way.  Three cheers for daughters, horses, judges, and exceptional editors like Tim Johnston, Jennifer A. Howard, and everyone at Passages North!

What I've Been Meaning to Say

There's so much I've been meaning to write, say, sing, dance that I've become overwhelmed and haven't written anything. Instead of veering away once again, I'll forgive myself and report less eloquently than I'd wished and simply list what I've been meaning to write, say, sing. Dancing will just have to stay in the kitchen, where it belongs.

• Perigee Moon 2012 - afternoon shadows at midnight
• Kennedy Space Center - a kid's dream realized 40 years later
• Falcon 9 Rocket - how space exploration has evolved
• Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close - "the Sixth Borough"
• Holding one's tongue - think of how thoughtful that is
• How amazing silence can be - proverbial pin dropping
• Not holding one's tongue - dangerous
• How some words are louder than others - fireflies vs. fireworks
• Drinking Blanton's bourbon - sipping, really
• Baseball! - the boy's final high school season
• The beach - fishermen at 6 am, sharing bait with a wounded heron
• Reading hundreds of manuscripts - exaggerating
• Longing to read the story collections and novels on my shelves, and then reading more manuscripts - not exaggerating - Megan Mayhew Bergman, Caitlin Horrocks, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Lori Ostlund, Myfanwy Collins, Claire Keegan, Nell Freudenberger, and Shannon Cain are just some of the authors whose books are waiting
• Spending far too much time on unimportant things - Facebook
• Proofing galleys - and compromising on edits
• Discovering "En Couleurs" - les chansons de Feufollet!
• Writing, not writing enough - the novel
• Thinking too much - the novel
• Submitting stories - not the novel
• Coming up with a plan - at the end of each day for the next
• Heading into days of graduations and goodbyes - how to cry while laughing
• Summertime - the weather and the song

And that list is long enough.

The 2012 Waasmode Short Fiction Prize & Why I'm Even More in Love with Caitlin Horrocks

2012 Waasmode Short Fiction Prize

Caitlin Horrocks' stories have always punched me in just the right way. So that after reading "The Sleep" or "Sun City" or even "Zolaria" and especially "This Is Not Your City," I feel amazed and exhausted and alive and also a little bit in love with Caitlin Horrocks and her words. And so, when I entered a story - in the usual titled-with-no-author identification format given to most contests - in the Passages North short fiction contest, which announced CH as judge, I hoped she might find something in my words, too - if my story even made it passed the first readers.

This week I had my first phone call ever from a literary magazine. Yes, that's right. From Tim Johnston, the managing editor at Passages North. He was quite calm, and meanwhile I tried to stay calm, as he told me that my story, "We Are Here Because of a Horse," had been chosen by Caitlin Horrocks as the winner of the 2012 Waasmode Short Fiction Prize. I'm still surprised and ecstatic and occasionally mumble, "nah, that wasn't me," even though I know I should shout, "yes, that's me and that's my story!" That's my story about a girl and a boy and a horse, about drums and Tulsa and dreams. And then I can't help myself and I celebrate by jumping up and down and scaring the dog, because my stories are finally getting a chance to be read.

And that's why I'm even more in love with Caitlin Horrocks and this thing that she and I both do.  This thing called writing.

"We Are Here Because of a Horse" was published in Passages North, Issue 34, Winter 2013.

(Photo Credit: sheeshoo at Flickr - the chrome horse at the Natural History Museum in Fair Park in Dallas).