Friday, June 29, 2012

"The Warning"

Illustration by Vax Liu



This is a short interlude post, so that I can announce the publication of "The Warning" in r.vk.r.y, a journal on recovery. This is a short, short piece of fiction in which I attempt to communicate the echoing effect of trauma. I hope you enjoy it: http://www.rkvryquarterly.com/?p=147

Just added: Here is a short interview about the story--the hows and whys of writing it. http://www.rkvry.com/blog

Saturday, June 23, 2012

Can't cage a squirrel

So, it's the weekend again. I do enjoy my job to an extent because I love to read and consume such a unique variety of facts from the documents I edit. That said, my job is not difficult to leave at the door; sure, it lingers a few hours into Friday night. I usually don't begin to pay full attention to the writing and running, relaxing and, soon, biking (I'm finally getting back on the bike after a nasty spill when I was a kid) that counter an office job's effects on my body and mind. All that to say, it's Saturday, and I'm thrilled. I just finished recording one of my favorite stories to date, Getting There, which will show up in PANK sometime in August. (By the way, read the issue up there now: dynamite.) Recording a story is awakening, but I'll be damned if it didn't take me five tries to not stutter over this line: "When the peppy man at the rental agency popped her trunk, she felt remorse." There are tougher lines in the piece, but man, that one got me. And got me again.... as I said, five tries.

Other than the fact that reading aloud to my computer seems quite the task, what have I learned this week? Well, for one thing, squirrels can't be caged. (Thanks, CNN!) I learned that Nick Hornby's books are fun to read. I've learned about, and joined, Pinterest, which I don't entirely see the value of yet (I'm what you call a late adopter, not of the technology or service but of the mentality behind the technology or service). I kind of want to pin only really hideous things for a while. See how that goes. Oh, and I've learned that the longer I work in the corporate world, the more I love weekends. Kids and crowded stores and all. Happy Saturday!

This weekend, my goals include:  5,000 words of writing (not necessarily anything good, and this blog post doesn't count); win a game of Super Scrabble (which I've yet to play, but am thrilled about); relax (never happens in reality but always on the list); and most importantly, catch up on my reading. On my list/nightstand: Hornby (finishing HF), Julie Innis (fiction), and Joani Reese (poetry). Off to it.



Saturday, June 16, 2012

Image by Christopher Shanahan 

"Always a Story" is up at Fictionaut, if you want a quick read (this short essay appears in To Begin Again): http://www.fictionaut.com/stories/jen-knox/always-a-story--2  I'm going to visit my mother soon, so I posted in anticipation. There really is always a story.

Along with my novel, which is completed as a rough draft, but is still rather rough, I've been working on shorter stories as a sort of break. These are fun. I plan to do a whole series of stories (two down) that are inspired by various bug/insects (bugs are not insects, which I didn't know before I began researching the little guys). The one I'm writing today scorpion-inspired, and it's shaping up to be rather comical. These stories will be pretty insane. Well, that's the goal anyway. We'll see how it goes.

Monday, June 4, 2012

A quick letter to the real people behind the writers

...if you have time.

The amazing thing is that the days are going so quickly. I'm working in an office five days a week, 9 hours a day, and my daily routine is not exactly awe-inspiring. It's just okay. And yet, the weeks are flying and turning into quick months that I seem to knock back like shots (or like I used to knock back shots). I've been writing, too, but mainly I've been catching up on bills. Catching up, mind you, does not mean I'm getting caught up. I have my priorities, my family, my writing. In fact, I'm rather enjoying the dual reality of office life, writer by night. Teacher when a class comes up I can take on. It's all kind of fun. But I say all this to say that my routines--my day-to-day--have taken some getting used to. The time management thing has come to me slowly. But, this is what working writers must do. What I've always done as a student and must do as one who has graduated into the world. We writers. We must find the delight when and where we can. Night, weekends, ridiculously early in the mornings. And we do, and we keep going. So, to all my working writers out there, keep going. I am. 

I am.

Chapbook release

"As our children walked in circles, their children shook their heads and made their way toward another life; new ghosts remained. And w...