It Never Gets Old

by Michael Seese

In late 2012, I wrote "A Lifetime Ago" for one of Janet Reid's 100-word contests. A few days later, I learned I won. Since it's 100 words, I think I can reprint it here.

The bonds we forged over a lifetime of summers...

Playing pirate with swords fashioned from Christmas wrapping paper rolls.

Seeking asylum from our sisters in your treehouse (accessible only by a really cool, real rope ratline fashioned by your dad).

Finding a family of possums, lodgers under my front porch.

Games of stickball in the street.

Discovering what the girls in our class would look like in a few years, courtesy of my big brother’s Playboy collection.

All of that came unraveling in one horrible second when you yelled, “Police! Put up your hands, Bobby!”

And I drew first.

A few months after that, I learned that Medusa's Laugh Press was looking for flash fiction for a micro book. (These are the same folks who printed my poem "The Daily Caffeine Stream" as part of a 3-D poetry book.) So I submitted "A Lifetime Ago." And it was accepted. It's taken a while, but the book is out.

Holding your book is your hands is like holding your baby. It never gets old.

A Small Victory...Literally

By Michael Seese

In a past post or two, I mentioned that my poem, "The Daily Caffeine Stream" had been accepted for the Medusa's Laugh Press "Overplay/Underdone" compilation. More recently, I posted a picture of the cover.

Back in April, I saw that the folks at Medusa were accepting submissions for another anthology, titled "Miniature Book MicroText Anthology." They sought "compelling short works for this anthology of microfiction, micro creative nonfiction and very short poems. This work will be produced as a limited edition miniature book."

I submitted a poem--which didn't make it--and a short story...

WHICH DID!

Specifically I sent them, "A Lifetime Ago," which I had entered into one of the Janet Reid 100-word contests, in early January. It was the winner.

No word yet on when "MicroText" will be published. But I'm sure you'll hear it from me.

Have you had any small victories? Click to tweet.

In My Hands, Part 1

By Michael Seese 

(I have no idea why the spacing came out so horribly.)

I meant to post this in late June. But my hand got a little messed up, as this NOT-FOR-THE-SQUEAMISH photo shows. Way back, I mentioned that my poem, "The Daily Caffeine Stream," had been accepted for the Overplay/Underdone compilation. The idea, per the folks at Medusa's Laugh Press, was to create "an anthology of poetry in the 3rd dimension." So that's what I (and my fellow poets) have done.

Here is the cover.
  



 
























Yes, I think it's real leather.

Here is my poem with a transparent covering page in place.

 

 

Then you lift that page to reveal:

 
 























Pretty nifty, huh?

I've read a few of the other poems. One I'm particularly looking forward to studying is by Elliott batTzedek, and titled, "The Rebbe's Synecdoche." It has two columns of words, which the reader connects with different colored strings.

Overplay/Underdone is not yet available on Amazon. But you can order it directly from the folks at Medusa's Laugh Press.

I think it's REAL leather. Click to tweet.

Overplay/Underdone

By Michael Seese

I just got back the proof for "The Daily Caffeine Stream" from the folks at Medusa's Laugh Press. This is for their Overplay/Underdone poetry anthology, which I read about way back in January. The folks at Medusa came up with a neat idea.  Per the website:

Overplay/Underdone: an anthology of poetry in the 3rd dimension. We seek poems conceived/constructed in tiers/layers, designed for printing on multiple overlaid transparent, semi-transparent and/or opaque sheets.

So, printed on a clear plastic sheet will be the full poem.

     The Daily Caffeine Stream

     Starting the daily caffeine stream,

     Held hostage by a little bean,

     Plucked while green then roasted brown.

     Damn it! Hurry! Come on! Drip down!

     Fill my pot! Then my cup!

     I need this little pick-me-up

     On days like today. Slo-mo tick-tock.

     What? It's only 9:00?

     Four meetings down and more to come.

     I'd better brew another one.

     Oh, Juan Valdez, what have you done?

     You're more than habit. You're religion.

And on a white page behind it will be select letters. 

     Starting the daily caffeine stream,

     Held hostage by a little bean,

     Plucked while green then roasted brown.    

     Damn it! Hurry! Come on! Drip down!

     Fill my pot! Then my cup!

     I need this little pick-me-up

     On days like today. Slo-mo tick-tock.

     Wait. What? It can’t be only 9:00.

     Four meetings down and more to come.

     I'd better brew another one. (Or two.)

     Oh, Juan Valdez, what have you done?

     You're more than habit. You're religion.

Can you see the picture? Does it look enough like a steaming cup of kawfee? I hope so.

I'll post the details when it's actually available.
 

Like I Was Saying...

by Michael Seese

I actually started this entry in February. In the middle of that month, I wrote a post which gushed with optimism. Good things were just around the corner. I knew it, because my gut told me. As it turned out, I did get a few small "wins," and one pretty good bit of news: my short story, "Worm Herding" was going to be published in the collection BUGS! by Pill Hill Press. If you watch this space, you know that the book is now available on Amazon. It's also a Goodreads giveaway until July 1.

Though I didn't get everything I said I "wanted" in that previous post -- in fact, I had more rejections than acceptances -- I remained optimistic. In fact, I said, quote:

I kept hoping that I would get more good news which I could share.

and

And, like before, I feel good about this coming week. More good stuff is on the way. I know it.

Well, wouldn't you know it...

On Friday of that week, I got home from work, checked my email and learned that my poem "The Daily Caffeine Stream" had been accepted by Medusa's Laugh Press. This actually seems like a cool project. They're publishing a collection of poetry called the Overplay/Underdone poetry anthology. In a nutshell, they're printing a book of multi-layered poems which become 3-D works of art. It's kind of hard to describe. Here is a link to their site, showing pictures. They expect it to be out in December.

But more good things were just around the corner, which is why I sat on this entry.

And I sat.

And sat.

And sat.

I'm still waiting for the "home run." But, tomorrow I plan to send out three queries with the new and improved Nightmares. So keep your fingers crossed.

And I've gotten a few rejections. For example, the folks at Pill Hill said "no" to my short story "Tinkerhell." Of course, I'm still shopping it.

But in addition to the Medusa victory, I feel it's time to report:

- My short story "Never Mind The Nonsense, Here’s The Sex Truncheons" has been accepted by May December Publications for their A Clockwork Orchard: Rivets & Rain compilation, and
- My short story "Night Of The Laughing Dead" has been accepted by The Apocryphile Press for their upcoming short horror fiction collection.

The point is, keep believing. Keep trying. Always keep trying. Good things are just around the corner.