MEDITATIONS ON THE MOTHER TONGUE short story collection forthcoming from C&R Press

I am ecstatic to report that, with thanks to editors John Gosslee and Andrew Sullivan, my short story collection MEDITATIONS ON THE MOTHER TONGUE will be released in 2017 by C&R Press. I’m honored to be part of this family–C&R has released some wonderful work and they are already showing a passion and commitment to my own work that I could not be more grateful for. I owe a deep thanks to everyone out there who helped to make this possible.

In related news, it seems I will be in New York City next month for the Brooklyn Book Festival. There will be more readings to come, I’m sure. Will keep everyone updated.

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Gargoyle #61 and Other Updates

I’ve made my selection for my week of guest editorship at Smokelong Quarterly. It wasn’t easy; there were a number of really great pieces. Even pieces I could see myself loving very deeply, had they not had a fatal flaw or two that said to me they weren’t quite ready for submission. The selection I made was everything I look for in a piece of flash, was elegantly executed, closed in a way that resonated back through the rest of the piece. I’ll be excited to see it up.

In other news, a short story I’ve waited nearly a year to see released has come in Gargoyle #61, along with many other great writers and friends. This was one of most dear pieces to me, one of the first times I wrote candidly about racial shame. There’s a strange and fairly universal phenomena in being a visible minority, since you live your whole life being compared against the dominant culture, and that’s a deeply-seated sense of shame for being born the way you are. Everyone grows out of it at a different rate, but that shame can manifest into guilt, into rage, into self-hatred. I wrote a character that experiences all of this well into adulthood, and has to come to terms with his own racial identity. Plus, there are squid and lots of linguistic playfulness. The result is titled “The Message of My Skin.” Order a copy, if you feel so inclined.

I’d also like to an extend a very heartfelt thanks to editor Richard Peabody, who recently let me know that my story was one of Gargoyle‘s Pushcart Prize nominations. I’m incredibly honored, not only to be included in Gargoyle’s rich history in American independent literature, but to have my work represent it for the Pushcart. I can hardly believe it, really.

Lastly, a recent piece of mine has been picked up by another indie press I’m rather fond of. More on that later. 🙂

One More Forthcoming and Another Article at the Good Men Project

My second installment of writing about vigilantism at the Good Men Project is a lot more real, taking a close examination of what it means to be an American and whether taking the law into your own hands (and sometimes defying the government itself) can be an act of patriotism. Thanks to Noah Brand for working with me on this and to my friend (who knows who she is) for being the first set of eyes on it.

In other news, I recently had a story recently accepted to the next issue of Sententia: The Journal, many thanks to editor Paula Bomer for taking the chance on this piece. And thanks to my co-worker, who is now a good friend, for not being creeped out when a relative stranger told her that he used her likeness for a character in a story. This particular piece is inspired by an item on my Bucket List (Item 56 — Have a conversation with a bonobo or gorilla in American Sign Language). This has been a story I’ve struggled with repeatedly, so I am very very grateful for this acceptance.

Forthcoming in Gargoyle Magazine!

I’m ecstatic to announce that I’ve just had a story accepted to Gargoyle Magazine. Like my piece in Big Lucks, this will run in 2014, so it’s a ways out, but all the same I am honoured to have my work appear in such a fabulous publication with such a deep local history. The story, titled “The Message of My Skin,” is one of the more honest pieces I’ve written. It takes place in the neighbourhood that I grew up in–coincidentally the neighbourhood Gargoyle is based out of and which I more or less still live in–and discusses Vietnamese crime in the Washington, DC area. I am humbled.

So the year 2013 is somewhat lacking, though I have done much revision in the past seven months. I think this thing will go in waves of creativity and then re-working, so I’m going to not let myself become too anxious about my dried up well of creative energy right now. I’m happy to know that I’ve secured some publications in 2014 and that they are two very different stories. Compared to my earlier published work, I think that my range is growing and my voice is becoming clearer. Very happy for that.

Until next time.

The Autumn Stories

This fall, as I’m preparing for the first residency at Queens, I’m lucky enough to see two of my stories published. First, “Asylum” appears in Connotation Press which you can find by clicking the link. This was my first real attempt at “literary fiction,” so I’m glad that it can find an audience. The story involves a groundskeeper in an elephant sanctuary.

Next is “The Golden Turtle God” which appears in the Fall 2012 issue of The Kartika Review. You can read it online at the link, or even buy it in print! I have to say it’s a little surreal to see my name and my words in print. A beautiful feeling, really. Hopefully, there’s a lot more of that to come.

Also, I love the gorgeous cover art. 🙂

The downside is that, with three publications, a good chunk of the work I’ve prepared for my Queens residency can be shelved (at least until later). I really only have enough work for this first semester, which means the writing process is going to be hell soon.

End of Summer News

I am happy to announce that my short story “Asylum” will be published in Connotation Press in mid-November! I’m honoured to sit beside some great and prolific writers like Sara Lippmann and Kristine Ong Muslim. And there is a deep gratitude for Meg Tuite for working with me on this story and for agreeing to publish it. “Asylum” has been a long favourite of mine and the version that will run at Connotation Press is the best yet.

I’ll also be participating at 826DC’s monthly reading series — the lowercase — at Big Bear Cafe in DC on September 5th. Pretty exciting, as this will be my first reading!

The end of September brings Fall for the Book at GMU (and some other locations around the DC Metro area). I’m really excited to see and hear from Karen Russell, who kicks the event off. I have been a fan for some time now and she is certainly masterful at what she does. And I’m a pretty big Neil Gaiman fan, so that will be an amazing experience!

I am working through the edits to a new story and have the shells of others in the works. I’m also continuing work on my novel-in-progress (over 40,000 words now!) and just hoping to have a thick portfolio ready for when the residency and semester at Queens starts up.

On the athletic front, I’m preparing for the USAPL Virginia State Championships in October.

Overall, I’m really excited for the autumn to start. I have a few months of devoted work and some pretty exciting stuff ahead of me. Every day, I feel a little bit more like I deserve the lofty self-proclaimed identity of “writer.”