Review: The American Bystander issue 13

Anyone sick of literary fiction? It's powerful stuff when done well, but sometimes I wish the world would lighten up a little. (Literary fiction can be funny too, but it seldom is.) So, this week is dedicated to something funny. Finally. Just as with any other form of art, humor is highly subjective. A humor …

Review: Tahoma Literary Review issue 17

After last week's ranting interlude, we now return you to the regularly scheduled review. Because, you see, the fact that Tahoma Literary Review advertises to the wrong people doesn't mean they don't publish enjoyable fiction. Issue 17 of Tahoma Literary Review costs $3.99, and it feels like maybe at that price they could pay their …

The backward economics of writing

This started out as a review of an issue of Tahoma Literary Review, but then … You want to know what bothers me about this business? Open up the homepage of Tahoma Literary Review. Go on, I dare you. Now, untrain your eye from skipping banners long enough to notice the small banner across the …

Review: Clarkesworld issue 163

Did you miss me last week? Of course you didn't, but that's okay. I've been religious in my weekly blogging until last week, but I might shift back to a biweekly schedule. I just don't have nearly enough successes to report, and I don't read a new magazine every week. In fact, recently, I've been …

Review: The Binge-Watching Cure

Bill Adler and Sarah Doebereiner's The Binge-Watching Cure is a clever premise well executed. The idea is that readers sometimes get seduced away from reading by the volume of choices available on television, Netflix, Prime, whatever, which they will watch for hours on end. This kind of mass consuming instant gratification makes getting back into …

Mr. Cuddlekins’ Fortune

As writers, we're taught to avoid every cliché, always to use fresh language and images, yet I find myself wanting to write, "It's the moment you've all been waiting for!" My seventh acceptance was published yesterday in The Periodical, Forlorn, Volume I, Issue VI: Mythos Reborn. Get this: the latest issue is available for just …

Review: Departure Mirror issue 1

Rumor has it, Departure Mirror is already defunct after publishing three issues, though I see no direct indication of this on their Web site. Defunct or not, there's no reason not to review something you could still potentially read, so here it goes. At $0.00, the price for Departure Mirror (any issue) is hard to …

Seventh acceptance

Late last Friday, long after I had written my blog, it arrived directly in my spam folder: my seventh acceptance. It still wasn't The New Yorker calling, but I'll take The Periodical, Forlorn for now. The call for submissions for the issue my story was accepted for is no longer up, so I can only …

Review: New England Review issue 41.1

Since I'm now clocking in at 2.5 months without an acceptance (but one nice rejection this week, boy howdy), you will be treated to another edifying review. New England Review is one of the better-paid markets for authors out there, which is reflected in the $10 price tag for a single back issue. Just tell …

Review: NonBinary Review issue 19

I'm slumming it today. I will be reviewing a magazine that had exactly one piece I enjoyed, and a poem at that. This is not solely motivated by sloth. I have been arguing with myself for weeks not to write this, because I really wanted to, but considered it cheap. But the poem is a …