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Story “Superstars of Today” in The MacGuffin

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My short story, “Superstars of Today,” about an incompetent journalist undermining his brutal boss, was published this month in the Spring 2024 (Vol. XXXIX, No. 3) edition of The MacGuffin, a literary magazine from Schoolcraft College in Michigan that’s been around since 1984. The piece was initially written in 2016, but I reread it earlier this year and decided to do a major rewrite.

In the case of this story, the setting is key to the narrative, and I needed a tough, legitimate location and a period setting that made sense. My intention was to lampoon those top-tier glossies and underline the devalued status of staff writers. They are the beating heart of publications but are forever fighting for recognition. New York City was the obvious place, and the 1980s felt like the ideal period. In fact, I can’t imagine it taking place anywhere else.

I didn’t experience NYC until much later, but the research side of things is always fun. My story became long, rowdy, and provocative, but fortunately, the judicious Managing Editor at The MacGuffin was happy to include it.

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Story “Ruinous Acting” in Pennsylvania Literary Journal

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My latest short story, “Ruinous Acting,” about an actor’s ill-fated compliment to his costar, was published today in the Pennsylvania Literary Journal. I have a nasty habit of writing stories very quickly and then spending many years (more than a decade in many cases) revising them until I can’t bear to look at them again. Once they’re published, I’m done with them, but the process is exhausting.

Sometimes, it takes weeks or months to hear back from editors. This story received an acceptance precisely five minutes after I submitted it. I think it may be the fastest yet. I’m glad PLJ deemed it worthy of inclusion, as I’ve read quality pieces in the magazine in the past and felt that this was the right venue for the story.

For the record, “Ruinous Acting” is a self-contained short story explicitly written for literary journals. However, at some point, expect some of these characters to emerge, playing small parts in future manuscripts.

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Story “Old Tennis” in BULL: Men’s Fiction

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My short story, “Old Tennis,” about a reunion between two aging, amateur tennis players, was published in BULL: Men’s Fiction this week. I guess you might say of this work that it’s a long in the tooth tale that’s been reoutfitted and newly served. Primarily because I wrote it in 2006, as part of a much longer work, and have been revisiting it and making extensive revisions ever since.

Sometimes, it’s frustratingly hard to let go of a story, even if you are content with how it reads and have a suitable publication in mind. Perhaps the one positive aspect about holding onto it for so long is that it has almost doubled in length over the years. And, doubtless, it’s in much better shape now than if I had presented it to BULL in 2013, which was my original intention.

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