Category: Uncategorized
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Greektown 1983 in A Detroit Anthology
My contribution to “A Detroit Anthology” is the short essay “Greektown 1983.” First paragraphs: Stella waited for me in Greektown. She scurried down Monroe Street in her army coat covered in patches, a dozen bright-colored barrettes in her matted grey hair, crooked face leading the way. She carried dozens of shopping bags filled with what…
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The Final Voyage in The Great Lakes Review
My contributions to the Great Lakes Review aren’t limited to this Bear County story, I also coordinate the online Narrative Map for the journal. First paragraphs: Captain Frank Bjorklund stared at the silver Samsonite emblem swimming on the black suitcase like a beacon in the dark and knew it was time to flee. Age and…
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Excerpts from L-Town Elegy in Wayne Literary Review
I contributed to the Wayne Literary Review from the memoir L-Town Elegy: First paragraphs: I offer this as memoir but with necessary adjustments and embellishments as memory is fluid, a living thing, until we die and take it with us. Mostly, however, it’s an elegy, which implies the author learns something about the mysteries of life…
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Jerry Darn Nation in the Chicago Reader
Here’s my contribution to the 2010 Chicago Reader Pure Fiction issue: First paragraphs: This is how my drinking binge begins. Not with booze—not yet—but in my girlfriend’s bed with another girl ten years younger than me. My tortured, pussy-juice-glazed face pops up above her muff and I look up the length of her body, past…
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The Bonecutters of Bear County in Kneejerk
The Bonecutters of Bear County in Knee-jerk First paragraphs: Todd Bonecutter began acting out his dreams, making them true. Last night, he dreamed about a video game machine filled with oil, the kind that lubes cars, makes them slick inside. Todd was nineteen and loved video games and hated to do it, but he took…
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Monkey Boy in Monkeybicycle
Here is a shorty short: Monkey Boy in Monkeybicycle: First paragraphs: They ride and ride through the woods, Monkey-Boy in the backseat investigating and comparing the downy hair on his arms with the plush brown seat cushions, believing he may really be an authentic monkey boy instead of a regular boy pretending to be monkey.…
John Counts On The Internet 