“Above” (NEW STORY(S) OH COOL)

The Towers

Oh hey, my iPod took a decent picture for once!

After breaking back into a pattern of regular updates this January, I must confess it’s been a time since my last e-contribution. Two weeks, in internet-years… that’s what, a decade? But no matter! New material is here, and well as new news. A brief diversion before the “main course”:

–The latest issue of the University of Washington‘s premiere speculative fiction journal AU is revving up for their seventh volume, “Chronos,” where time (travel) stories are the name of the game! Fittingly/fortunately enough, the deadline traveled into the future a full seven days last week, allowing me much-needed time to put the finishing touches on my submission, “Until,” last night. It’s a (hopefully) thought-provoking piece adapted from a lighthearted word-doodle I produced for “Write Away!” a year ago, and it also has this opening line:

“One day, I woke up, and it was the future. Not just for me, though. For everybody.”

The rest is a little rough in spots, though, so I’m going to hold off on posting any further samples until I hear whether it’s been accepted or not–and if so, what the editing team has to offer!

———-

So yes, back to business: I’ve shared work from my poetry class, but not prose! That’d be ENGL 384 on “literary portraiture,” in which we read the works of authors with a distinct style and then try to imitate their style in a piece of our own. The below story was initially my shot at imitating the tone and texture of Mary Gaitskill’s “The Other Place,” though I kicked it up a notch with illustrations (as inspired by the experimental elements of Carole Maso’s The Art Lover and W.G. Sebald’s The Emigrants) for a more recent “longer short fiction piece,” along with overall revision. Enjoy!

Above

February 12, 2013
Categories: Stories, Uncategorized . Tags: , , , , . Author: Trevor . Comments: Leave a comment

AU Around the Bend!

Well, it’s that time of quarter/year again! The snow had better be coming soon… but in the meantime, the seventh issue of the University of Washington’s preeminent speculative fiction journal AU, themed “Homeland,” is raring to be released this Thursday. For those in or adjacent to the UW campus, stop by Smith 115 on December 6th from 6-8pm and partake in not only a variety of delectable comestibles (read: popcorn and probably some animal cookies), but readings of prose and poetry from Seattle’s student sci-fi fantasy finest! I’ll be delivering a sample of my newest story, “In Finiti.” Some manner of interactive game will also be put on, to test your knowledge of renowned “homeland” stories past… in any case, don’t forget that issues will be available later at Bulldog News on the Ave, or in the basement of Padelford Hall!

Meanwhile, Love&Darkness is oh-so close to undergoing the printing process. Some pretty pennies had to be parted with to get this longer, snazzier volume out the door, but once these formatting snafus get dealt with, its time shall come!

December 4, 2012
Categories: Love&Darkness, Others' Books . Tags: , , , . Author: Trevor . Comments: Leave a comment

Of AU, Full Drafts, and Promotion(!)

Hey, three things, each of which is immediately pertinent to the next:

First, my newest story, “In Finiti,” has recently been accepted for publication in the seventh issue (“Homeland”) of the UW’s spec-fiction literary journal AU! What with the editor team overhaul this year, I was worried my style might not strike a chord with the new management, but it seems those concerns were unfounded. A little editing, and it’ll be set to hit print within a month!

Also, since an expanded cut of “In Finiti” will be included in Love&Darkness as well, that means–yes, you guessed it (you did guess it, right? I know I didn’t give out very many hints)! The rough draft of L&D is finally… er, finalized, meaning that after some finishing-up on the foreward and “inspirations” section, I’ll be giving a compiled document of its full contents to trusted friends and relatives to run over for formatting, grammatical, and/or egregious plot-based discrepancies before the initial printing run. Meanwhile, it’s time to move on to something just as vital: promotion and marketing! I’ll be working on some new and improved posters, stickers, and pocket fliers to put up around Seattle soon, along with their respective high-res images on the site so you can do the same (if, y’know… you want to).

And on a final note, in the interest of raising marginal awareness for Distortions as well, I hereby announce what is in absolutely no way whatsoever an effort to boost confidence in the imaginative power of my own work by announcing the unofficial Notes and Sketches fan art contest! From now until December 1st, send in or link to a picture of something you drew, built, or otherwise personally manufactured based on something from Distortions, AU, this site, or anywhere else my stuff has shown up (I think I wrote a limerick on the back of a handicapped bathroom door at Disney World once, but it’s probably gone by now), and based on largely arbitrary standards, I’ll give whoever makes the coolest one a free copy of both Distortions and Love&Darkness! (when it comes out, I will send it to you. You won’t even have to pay for shipping!) The runner-up will just get a free L&D, but since you probably already have Distortions, that’s not a bad deal either!

November 11, 2012
Categories: Books, Love&Darkness, Love&Darkness, Uncategorized . Tags: , , . Author: Trevor . Comments: Leave a comment

1) This 2) That 3) The Other

It’s been… what, a month and a half? Yeah, that sounds about right. Anyway, some significant events are upcoming!

1) The next issue of UW’s “AU” journal — Volume VI, “Oneiros” (Dreams) — will be having its launch party at the UW Bookstore on May 24th at 6pm! I will… actually not be attending this time, unfortunately, because the induction ceremony for the Tau Sigma honor society got bumped forward an hour. Still, the compilation will be available for purchase from the usual locations thereafter (the English advising office in Padelford, Bulldog News on the Ave, and — in all likelihood — my grandmother), containing my poem “But Crazier Things Have Happened”, among other fine pieces.

2) Immediately after the above event (7pm), I’ll be at the Jacob Lawrence Art Gallery on campus for the debut party of another regular journal, “Bricolage”, for which my poem “Fyrewrit” was graciously accepted. It won’t have the fancy fonts that I pride my PDFs on, but I’ll be reading it aloud and… in the general vicinity of copies of the journal, I suppose.

3) On a tentative afternoon in early June, myself and a group of other burgeoning authors will descend on Chehalis, Washington for a book signing at Book & Brush. I will, of course, have my crate of Distortions in tow, as well as answers to whatever questions you may have about Love&Darkness, and anything else that preparing for gradute school is preventing me from writing. The particulars are underway, but there should be a formal update at chronline.com or its papery predecessor within a week or two. So check it out!

May 18, 2012
Categories: Others' Books, Poems . Tags: , , , , . Author: Trevor . Comments: Leave a comment