n'importe quoi

[abbzug]

Has it really been more than two months since I last posted? Even I am surprised. Or not surprised. Things, life, have certainly gotten in the way of the words - and everything else - this semester. More so than any other term I can remember in the recent past. These things and life are not much different in the literal sense (same teaching load,

Comments

[eve_prime]

You are just way too busy! But at least everything is moving forward, in one way or another. I wonder if you can find a publisher for the anthology of your entire thesis? It would make a great book!

[abbzug]

Sheryl keeps telling me that's what I should work on now, finishing it as a collection; I would have to add probably at least 5 more pieces to do so. I actually have plenty of ideas, could theoretically do that. But I'm just not sure I want to. After the last few months of revisiting and revising those pieces, it just doesn't really feel as compelling to me as it did 10+ years ago when I first wrote the pieces. But really, I need to get through this move before I can even think about anything!

After having looked through that Creative Nonfiction issue I got, I am ever more convinced there is absolutely no way they're going to take that mouse essay. They are publishing so few long feature pieces now and what they do publish is just far more *journalistic* than my writing (that's the difference in vision I was talking about). So I shall keep looking, see if I can find someplace else to submit!

[eve_prime]

It's great to have ideas, and probably with this impending move, nothing is going to feel compelling, so I agree with your decision to reserve judgment for now. I think it would be great to be able to share that whole collection with the rest of the world and to have a Real Book out there, and it might be a whole lot easier to muster up the energy to expand this existing collection than to build up a new one.

I am certain the mice will find a home. Certain. Think big - Harper's?

[abbzug]

Funny, each semester when I scare students with my Very Depressing Essay on the State of US Publishing, that's one thing that I talk about in my accompanying lecture notes: about having realistic expectations when submitting. And Harper's is one of the journals I suggest that students avoid in favor of smaller literary journals, till much later in their careers :-)

Once the move is over and I can breathe again, we'll see where I am!