P & J Sandwiches at Red Fez

What a month. I got a cold or allergies or whatever the hell you want to call them and it knocked me down for a week. I get better and start my routine all over again and BAM!!!! my Achilles tendon strains and I'm hobbled. I got a chance to read quite a bit more, but.... Then, I'm helping someone I know resolve a problem with their computer hardware and I screw up my own computer. I've removed the hard drive that has my website on it, KentLJohnson, and I can't update the site until I reinstall it. I'm scared because when I screwed it up, I was without computer for about five hours while I tried to fix it. NOoooooo. In better news, two things this month, I submitted to National Public Radio's, Three Minute Fiction contest. I never did flash fiction before, and, we'll see. They will start judging soon. Also, got my story, P & J Sandwiches, published at Red Fez. Enjoy.

Where in the hell does the time go?

It's seems like forever since I've been on here, and maybe it has. I've been busy. Moved from my rented apartment to a rented room...yes the economy just keeps getting better. Haven't had time to write hardly at all with the exception of The Weekenders Magazine, Issue 8, where my story, Times Are Different, was recently published. It's been a slow day at the shop so I finished editing one of my Novel Writers Group's novel called Following the Sun, by Dana Artis. Excellent book and a quick read. She's got the writing and her worlds down to a T. I've also read a few books since I last was on here including Bud Smith's book, Or Somthing Like That, Dennis Lehane's book, A Drink Before the War, Niel Gaiman's, American Gods, and a few more. That's it for now. Got a customer.

I screwed up Issue 6 The weekenders magazine

I forgot and it's all my fault. Been screwing around trying to get things done instead of promote one of my favorite publications, of which I am published in.

The Weekenders Magazine Issue 6

I'm really getting this out late, since Issue 7 is due out in just about a week. Enjoy the whole magazine or just check out what I wrote if you are a fan of mine.

The Weekenders Magazine Vol 5 is out

Guess who is published once again in The Weekenders Magazine, Volume 5?  Yes, that's right, I'm there with a Christmas tale of urban grist yet tenderness.

Many thanks again to +Ryan Swofford for putting the magazine together. Really good artwork in this issue also from Serge Gay Jr.

I might also mention that since the last time I updated on this blog, I have another story waiting to be published, Double Entendre, in a print anthology Love at First Bite, by Static Movement Publishing. When it gets in Print, I'll update.

Tonight I have a sit down session with a serious novel writers I belong to. They are going to critic as well as edit my book, Bear Justice. It is getting close to being polished enough to think about getting an agent soon.

I picked up my first novel, Mendel's Release, in the last few days and do you know what? Damn good story and the writing isn't bad. I wrote it in 2002 and it needs some polish, so I have another project on my plate. Mendel's Release is a humorous story with a lot of the elements of theme that Bear Justice has.

I've got a couple things submitted to publishers at the present time and are awaiting an up or down nod. Kind of like waiting for a Roman Emperor to let you live or have you executed, like in the movies. Gladiator comes to mind.

That's January's update.

New Published Stories

My piece Beat of the Alley, was published in the anthology Desolation Blues last month. The entire thing is a great read and shouldn't be missed. The stories are reminiscent of the Beat era of the '60's. The character in this piece is used in a number of short stories I try to do in Beat, but tend to end up more like a Dark Urban Fiction genre. I like the character, who as of yet remains unnamed after four stories. I think maybe it will be interesting to have an entire collection of stories all with the same character that doesn't have a name?

Here is another piece. You can read the entire zine, The Weekenders Magazine, Issue 4, right from this blog by using the flash tool below.  I have a piece, Reading Doughnut Danny, published in this online magazine. Special thanks to +Ryan Swofford for putting all the issues of this magazine together. I've been fortunate to be published in all the issues so far.

Open publication - Free publishing - More 4

My First Short Story Submission, Post 2

I looked for the story I sent to William Safire but haven't found it yet. I did find the draft typewritten letter to him, dated May 18, 1983. It's pretty funny. Note the hand correction. I typed it on onion skin paper because that was the easiest paper to make corrections back in the day. The blue line must have been from some moisture reaching the file that this letter was enclosed in, all the writing in the file had the blue line.

Also in that file was some damn good writing from a 22 year old kid. I might submit some of these for publication. I even wrote poetry back then, I forgot about that.

Letter to William Safir in XL size. If interested, use your browser magnifying tool to make it easier to read.

My First Short Story Submission Part 1

The year was 1983. I was a college graduate that jumped into Ronald Reagan's recession with both feet and got stuck in the mud.. I worked in a Turkey factory, making slightly above minimum wage. I worked a lot, partied a lot, and wrote short fiction and humorous letters to college friends that  had moved away. The era was before the word processor and the personal computer. I sat at my electric Brother Typewriter and banged out twice as many words as mistakes.

I lived in Turlock, California in a big old house built in 1915, with two female roommates, both artists. I read the San Francisco Chronicle on a daily basis but Sunday was my favorite edition because it had the Pink Sheet. Any event that was in Northern California and especially San Francisco was listed in between its bright pink pages. The events were not the only items of interest, but regular features such as At The Drive In, by Joe Bob Briggs and On Language by William Safire. William Safire's syndicated column looked at the origin of words and new lexicon being brewed up by politicians, business and popular culture.

I purchased a clothing item one day and noticed that it was made from 'Virgin Acrylic.'  Back in '83, there was no recycling of plastic. How do you get 'Virgin Acrylic?' Why would you list 'Virgin Acrylic' on a clothing item? Like a consumer would be fooled into thinking it was maybe Virgin Wool?  Anyway, I wrote a humorous tale of Virgin Acrylic and sent it off to Mr. Safire. Perhaps he would use it in his language column or maybe he would pass it along to someone that might know what to do with the story.

William Safire

My first rejection, but a nice rejection it was. This busy and well known man, speech writer to presidents, sent me a personal note back in his own handwriting, telling me it was interesting, but not his cup of tea.

I've still got the note somewhere and the story. Perhaps I'll post it on the blog if I can find it. (That's why I named this Part 1) I've submitted many stories recently and many have been accepted for publication, but I'll still remember the first and the man who took the time to give a kid a kind word.

The Pink section changed when the San Francisco Chronicle was sold by the founders family, the de Young's to Hearst Communications. I stopped reading the Chronicle not too long after that. The paper wasn't the same without columnist Herb Caen and the feel of the paper changed from being an Institution  to being just another Daily Rag. Not to say I don't check the on-line edition every once in a while, because San Francisco is a city like no other.