Tag: publication

Writing the Hard Thing

Michael Davis

If I could tell you the number of stories and novels I’ve begun writing and not finished, we’d be here too long.  But “not finished” doesn’t mean “discarded.”  It means what it says.  The difficulty comes when I’ve convinced myself that I’m one sort of writer (the consistent, cheerfully productive kind) as opposed the other,… Continue reading Writing the Hard Thing

FYI: New Story Forthcoming in Visitant Magazine

Michael Davis

A recent short short of mine, "You Are Somewhere Else," is forthcoming in Visitant and should be available online.  As usual, I will post the links when the story comes out. - M

True Confession

Michael Davis

First dig two graves. I think Confucius said that. But nobody started off by saying I wanted to stab my girlfriend and bury her in the backyard, but I was reading Confucius. So I dug two graves. Instead, they usually began with I really don’t remember. I’m not too clear on what happened. It was… Continue reading True Confession

On Productivity and Publishing

Michael Davis

I've written three books of fiction to date, all story collections; though, only one of them has been published.* This is not remarkable or typical in any sense, even if I do have the stereotypical writer's voice in my head telling me that I should be submitting to more book contests, etc. My submission schedule… Continue reading On Productivity and Publishing

Acts of Defiance

Michael Davis

I once took a creative writing workshop from Richard Ford, in which he spent a lot of energy inveighing against the epiphany in short fiction. This must have been in 1997 or 1998. Little did any of us suspect at the time that his vehemence was probably a reaction to a single bad review that… Continue reading Acts of Defiance

How to be Good

Michael Davis

It was the beginning of a time when it was almost as if the novel itself didn't matter anymore. Publishing a shiny booklike object was simply an excuse for parties and glamour and goodlooking authors reading finely honed minimalism to students who would listen rapt with slack­jawed admiration, thinking, I could do that, I could… Continue reading How to be Good

Weirdo: Visions of Future Past

Michael Davis

Cunning is what counts in this life, and even that you've got to use in the slyest way you can; I'm telling you straight: they're cunning, and I'm cunning. If only "them" and "us" had the same ideas we'd get on like a house on fire, but they don't see eye to eye with us,… Continue reading Weirdo: Visions of Future Past