MARCUS SLEASE FICTION
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The Woodward Review
Excerpt from my unpublished novella, The Dreamlife of Honey, just published over here at The Woodward Review at Wayne State University in Detroit. Happy Days! Read more.
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OPENING TO DREAMLIFE OF HONEY
After devouring everything Édouard Levé, Thomas Bernhard, Clarice Lispector, Lydia Davis, Annie Ernaux, Rachel Cusk, David Markson, & Jon Fosse, I found a way to move forward with my second… Read more.
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PUPPY LAUNCH!
Jolly good journeys with trio of surreal-absurd readings last night with launch of my book Puppy. Also Rhubarb by Tom Jenks and Vik Shirley’s Grotesquerie for the Apocalypse. Thank you… Read more.
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Mr Peabody
Here is Thursday’s microfiction. A little romantic story. It’s called “Mr Peabody.” From Hermit Kingdom. My book in progress. Read more.
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GHOST CITY PRESS
I have a new prose poem of Hungry Ghosts over at Ghost City Press. There is also a white monkey (Biała Małpa). It’s from my manuscript in progress entitled Hermit… Read more.
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MEET THE POET
A recording of my reading and discussion from The Green Monk and Hermit Kingdom (my manuscript in progress), along with the fabulous poet Colin Herd, is now up with Home… Read more.
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HOME STAGE LIVE READING
On Wednesday June 9th, I am reading with the fabulous Colin Herd for Home Stage in the U.K. The event will be streamed live via Youtube. I’ll be reading animal… Read more.
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Mercurius Magazine
I am super happy to have an excerpt from my novel Never Mind the Beasts in Mercurius Magazine (out of Barcelona and the world). The excerpt is from the immigration… Read more.
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Down the Shankill
Before moving to Spain, I visited my birth country. Portadown, N. Ireland and then Belfast, to see my biological father. He was a gardener. His wife died. I got an… Read more.
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Doom Drone
In 2016, when I lived in London, I went on many journeys. I was trying to align my mind with my body. Lunch room tongue assessments. Spine alignment. A doom… Read more.
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CHUMS
“It was The Great Purge of the 90s. “Religion faced the greatest threat from three groups: feminists, homosexuals and intellectuals,” said Boyd K. Packer, a General Authority, in a speech… Read more.
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Post Punk
Terrific review of Never Mind the Beasts in Idler magazine by Robert Greer. “Stylewise it would appeal to fans of both abrupt American Lydia Davis and Soviet absurdist Daniil Kharms… Read more.
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Squirrels and Ooglers
Have you squirreled away yr nuts? Are you a hidden oogler? Winter is upon us. Here is a short reading. Read more.
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Travels from Never Mind the Beasts (Part One)
When I lived in London, I visited Poland twice a year with my partner. The Polish mountains in the summer. The Manhattan Estate in Katowice for Christmas. For a few… Read more.
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Pink Gums
When I lived in the Docklands of East London, next to Commercial Road, it was a battle to keep my gums pink. Here is a short reading, from my novel… Read more.
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The Future is in the Wind
When I lived in East London, we walked along the canal near Christmas and ate the Christmas cake. I thought about my family, especially my brother Aaron, gone now 8… Read more.
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How are your Jollies?
From North Las Vegas to a dentist in Turkey, to the house of 100 beers in Northern Poland, there are many travels. Dear Mercury, patron saint of thieves, these are… Read more.
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The Art of Everyone
” I take the train to Barcelona. The train enters a tunnel. A baby coughs very lightly, an older man clears his throat. The tunnel, that’s where we all go,… Read more.
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MOON HERMIT
Back in the day, when the days were longer, and then shorter, much like today but faster, I began to write poetry under cover of full moon during my Mormon… Read more.
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LOVE IS TO SPOON AS ROCK IS TO CHIP
After Turkey, and a stint of dog walking in Italy, he moves to London, falls in love, lands a gig as an adjunct professor at an American style university in… Read more.
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The Best is yet to come
I’ve baked the memories, stirred the sugar bombs, opened the hatch, de-wormed the cat, the best is yet to come. Read more.
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What are you growing into?
I stole boxing gloves from K-Mart, it is not in the story. I masturbated to MiGs, it is not in the story. I scraped the edges of my sundae with… Read more.
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THEY USED TO CALL ME CHISEL FACE
They used to call me chisel face. Happy to have an excerpt from my novel in progress, The Dreamlife of Honey, in new body issue of Lighthouse magazine from Norwich. Read more.
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SOUTH KOREA 2006
Doraji doraji doraji! I walk over the pass where balloon flowers bloom. Hey-ya, hey! An ya hey say yo! I walk over the pass where balloon flowers bloom. Hey-ha hey!… Read more.
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NOMADIC SURREALIST TRILOGY
I have finished the second novel of my nomadic surrealist trilogy. The first, Never Mind the Beasts, has the wide lens. The next two the zoom. First person genderless. I… Read more.
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THE DOCKLANDS
Don Whiskers and Pineapple live in the Docklands, East London, in a council flat. They visit the river for ancient histories. They take the Mega Bus in the Mega City… Read more.
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BORA
While working in Trieste as a dog walker, and trying to become a writer, he imagines James Joyce, middle class or higher, like almost all artists and writers. He does… Read more.
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YOUNG LOVE
He took a long time to do it, or at least a long time for some. After the mission, at age 20, he went back to N.Ireland and England, tried… Read more.
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THE TRIAL
After returning home early from the mission, I had my first sexual experience, it was called docking. I took off my secret garments and attended the trial, in a big… Read more.
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THE HOLY MISSION
My debut novel, Never Mind the Beasts, has many movements, from many lifetimes and many countries. When I lived in North America, I lived in many states, both physically and… Read more.
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COFFEE HALL
Worzel Gummidge is on the telly. The father has a new calling in the new church to convert more converts, and also a job in London, driving a train in… Read more.
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NEVER MIND THE BEASTS OPENING
Never Mind the Beasts, an experimental working class novel, begins in Portadown, N. Ireland, with my biological father, The Troubles, in one way or another, and then the move to… Read more.
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Class consciousness
There is so much of it, and from an early age it was all about the work, working hard to climb a ladder, and we are all climbing ladders, of… Read more.
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VITAMINS AND MINERALS
Art can help us see and hear and smell and taste and touch with a more attentive mind. And there is so much to explore. Art can help us have… Read more.
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HOT OFF THE PRESS
Super grateful. My debut novel, Never Mind the Beasts, 10 years in the making from many countries, is now available for ordering. You can choose Blackwell’s or Amazon. Waterstone’s, Foyles,… Read more.
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MILTON KEYNES 2
Here is an another excerpt from Part One of my novel, Never Mind the Beasts, coming this month (May 2020) from Dostoyevsky Wannabe. Religious conversion, E.T., a used Chopper, the… Read more.
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MILTON KEYNES 1
Field Day, the magic of bathtubs & Milton Keynes roundabouts, a pet gerbil, Copperfield Middle School lunch room, a popped football, peer pressures, Bletchley swimming pool, hot chocolate from a… Read more.
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Quarantine Report from spain, days 16-32
The days are moving quickly, and also slowly, it is hard to remember where we started. I am watching the news less and less, and trying to stay healthy in… Read more.
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WHAT IS YOUR NAME?
Your surname is supposed to tell you all about your lineage and heritage and prestige. Authors, who want to be prestige, have prestige surnames, some even use initials for their… Read more.
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COVER FOR NEVER MIND THE BEASTS
Feeling joy, excitement, gratefulness. Proofs finalized. My novel, Never Mind the Beasts, over 10 years in the making, coming out this month from Dostoyevsky Wannabe. The cover. A 1 dollar… Read more.
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READING FROM NEVER MIND THE BEASTS PART ONE
The first part of Never Mind the Beasts begins in Portadown, N. Ireland, in 1974, during the height of The Troubles, and then moves to Milton Keynes, England in 1980s.… Read more.
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Mutation
Two more days till the Stay at Home Fringe Lit Fest, out of Glasgow, and everywhere, and I am thinking about what to read at the Dostoyevsky Wannabe event, from… Read more.
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Stay at Home Glasgow Fringe Festival
A week from today, on May 8th, 6PM UK time, I am reading from my first novel, Never Mind the Beasts, coming this month from Dostoyevsky Wannabe. Along with some… Read more.
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Bath Magg
I am super happy to a travelogue from the third novel of my trilogy in progress, The Dreamlife of Honey, in the new issue of Bath Magg. Read more.
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Zion
In my final year of high school, I moved to a small town in Utah, it was much different than Vegas. Here is a microfiction about small town America, in… Read more.
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A PORTRAIT OF THE ARTIST AS A YOUNG MAN
Battlestar Galactica is partly Mormon. Sci-fi is a big part of Mormon. Do you know the planet Kolob? When we immigrated to America, and my family converted to Mormonism, I… Read more.
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Fruit Flies
What did you do in biology? Frogs? Baby pigs? Did you colour the muscles. Identify bones? We had a special project with fruit flies. We had to make them mate.… Read more.
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Lockdown in Spain: Days 10 through 15 – life in quarantine in a foreign country
My microfictions, a daily record of the lockdown in Spain, days 10-15, just published on The Growler. Read more.
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WHAT IS A BATHTUB?
When I lived in Milton Keynes, before immigrating to the States, I wanted to take a bath with my 8 year old girlfriend. It was very exciting: the bathtub. What… Read more.
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LOCKDOWN IN SPAIN (DAYS 1-9)
What is lockdown like where you are? I am writing a third person autofiction of my experiences under lockdown down here in Spain. Days one through nine are published over… Read more.
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DESTROYER AND PRESERVER
John Prine died yesterday, and I keep listening to “Hello in There.” I’ve been thinking also of a microfiction, from my novel Never Mind the Beasts, forthcoming from Dostoyevsky Wannabe next… Read more.
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WET N’WILD
In Vegas there was a water park. An exciting adventure, for the whole family. I was hitting puberty and my accent had changed, from Northern Irish to working class British… Read more.
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The Strip
When we immigrated to America, first it was Vallejo, a trailer park, and then later Las Vegas, where I attended middle school and high school. My mum kept saying the… Read more.
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SKULL
When the virus came to Spain, it gathered momentum quickly. The fear. Death is hanging over us, always, but it is here even closer, disrupting our usual distractions. Fear and… Read more.
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SQUIRRELS
Spain is in strict lock down, stricter than Italy, no exercise outside, only outside for groceries, pharmacy. But still the numbers are spiking. Following the trend of Italy, soon the… Read more.
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ONE SENTENCE STORIES
Nice mix of one sentence stories over at Monkeybicycle. Happy to have my microfiction, “Merry-go-round,” in the mix. It is from my novel in progress, The Dreamlife of Honey. The… Read more.
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ROME
Here is microfiction, a kind of postcard, or vignette, from Rome, from my novel Never Mind the Beasts, forthcoming from Dostoyevsky Wannabe in May 2020. Read more.
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COLONY
You need the good ones, and not too much of the bad ones, but sometimes in killing the bad ones, you also kill the good ones. You need enough of… Read more.
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RABBIT HAT
It is hard to find a good hat. Back then, more than now, I was searching for a good hat. Although a good hat is always a good hat. Here… Read more.
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920
Shame. Too much or too little. I have it too much. Before leaving London for Madrid, I was gifted a free massage, via Groupon, in the fancy part of London,… Read more.
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HUNK
Did you know the hunks? I was never a hunk, but I learned to love the word. Hunk. It feels chunky. I love chunky. I like my chocolate chunky, and… Read more.
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MEAT HELPER
When we immigrated to America, in the 1980s, we started off in a trailer park, in Vallejo, California. We sat on a sofa and watched the telly. There were so… Read more.
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JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR
In the 1980s I lived in Coffee Hall, in Milton Keynes. Near coffee Hall, there was Bean Hill. The underpass between Beanhill and Coffee Hall was painted with a Wizard… Read more.
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WANKER
The crowd is dangerous, and also liberating, but mostly dangerous. A mob. When you’re younger: peer pressure. When I lived in Milton Keynes, Coffee Hall housing estate, there was a… Read more.
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A BUG IN THE HOUSE
When I moved to Madrid, in the summer of 2016, I learned Spanish expressions. One of them was “a bug in the house.” It was also my first year with… Read more.
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AMERICAN HORROR STORY
American Horror Story broke new ground. It is horror, with a timely message. It also plays with genre. Interesting television. When I was living in Madrid, we streamed it on… Read more.
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God is Watching You
Here is a small excerpt, from my novel in Microfiction, Never Mind the Beasts, forthcoming in May 2020 from Dostoyevsky Wannabe. This one takes place in Milton Keynes, England, after… Read more.
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HOWLING DOGS & CRINKLED WHISPERS
The first place we landed, upon immigrating to America, was Vallejo California, a trailer park. I had a funny accent. Part working class British and part Northern Irish. No one… Read more.
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Survival of the Fittest
Long ago, in another lifetime, I lived in Milton Keynes, England, on a government housing estate called Coffee Hall. Long ago, in another lifetime, I was knocked down by a… Read more.
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Blackbox Manifold 23
Happy to have some of my nomadic surrealist prose poems in issue 23 of Blackbox Manifold. These prose poems/microfictions are from The Dreamlife of Honey, the third book of my… Read more.
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HAMMER AND PIGGY
Here is a story from Milton Keynes, England, in 1982, Coffee Hall Housing Estate. It is close to Christmas and after Guy Fawkes. Everything is shiny, especially the new 20P… Read more.
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Nomination for Best Microfiction 2020
I’m honored to announce that my story “Jitters” has been nominated for inclusion in Best Microfiction, 2020. The Best Microfiction anthology series considers stories of only 400 words or fewer.… Read more.
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All American
Newly married, working as telemarketers and cleaners, the midnight beam, in Utah, pulled them to a used car lot. This is their story. From Never Mind the Beasts, the first… Read more.
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Miniature Gorilla
I don’t like to sell. Perhaps you are a seller. I am not a good seller. Long ago, at Matrixx Marketing I was a seller, but I am no longer… Read more.
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Little Shop of Horrors
The Little Shop of Horrors, a classic from America, about an accidental mass murderer, feeding humans to a plant, from my novel in progress, The Dreamlife of Honey. Read more.
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The Time of the Doves
Barcelona is burning. Brexit keeps going and going. Hong Kong is rioting. Syria and Turkey. And most importantly the human extinction project. There is so much happening. Here is a… Read more.
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Flora and Fauna
My prose poem, “Flora and Fauna,” part of my nomadic surrealist novel The Dreamlife of Honey, the third in a trilogy, still in progress, just published at OPEN: Journal of… Read more.
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Plaster Cocktail
Super happy to have an excerpt from my forthcoming novel Never Mind the Beasts (formerly The Autobiography of Don Whiskers) in the new issue of Plaster Cocktail: Invisible Monsters. Thanks… Read more.
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Stranger Things
This is a very brief excerpt from the opening of my new hybrid novel in progress: Squid on the Barbie. What is relationship between your environment and happiness? Influenced by… Read more.
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Invisible Monsters
I have a flash fiction invisible monster in new issue of Plastic Cocktail. Plastic Cocktail is in Bushwick. Bushwick is in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is in New York City. Someday maybe… Read more.
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PEACHES (first take)
From my new novel in progress for the summer. It’s called The Dreamlife of Honey. Here is the current description: From the over-stimulation and financial stresses of London to a… Read more.
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Hermit Kingdom (the first 8 pages)
(Art: Hieronymus Bosch. From Garden of Earthly Delights. Read more.
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A MASK OF RUBBER BANDS
From book of stories in progress. This one is called “A Mask of Rubber Bands.” Read more.
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DEEP SPACE ADVENTURES
A small excerpt from my novel in progress, Never Mind the Beasts. This is the early 80’s, on a government housing estate in Milton Keynes, England. Don Whiskers is baptised… Read more.
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from “The Lover’s Nest”
A excerpt from my second novel in progress, Hermit Kingdom. This section is called “The Lover’s Nest.” Polish sailor pubs. Rustic jazz clubs. Vibrating Pineal glands. Self-branding, love and companionship,… Read more.
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Maryland Trip
From my 1st novel in progress, Never Mind the Beasts. This excerpt from the section “Howling Dogs and Crinkled Whispers.” Read more.
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Jitters
“A part wants to break away from the other part. The part that wants to break away claims a different culture. How many cultures make the whole. Who are the… Read more.
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Dream Pop
Some excerpts from my novel Never Mind the Beasts (formally The Autobiography of Don Whiskers) in the new issue of Dream Pop. “In Milton Keynes, during the conversion, they watch… Read more.
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Storm Shoes
The faces in the holes were egg shaped. Read more.
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Workers of the World
An excerpt from my novel in progress, Hermit Kingdom, is up today at Queen Mob’s Teahouse. Hermit Kingdom is interconnecting flash fictions, prose poetry, hybrids. International Worker’s Day 2018, Pineapple… Read more.
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The Hacking Powders
An excerpt from my novel manuscript, The Autobiography of Don Whiskers, is over at #thesideshow. Partly based on experiences in Katowice, Poland, Cercedilla (Spain), Madrid (Spain), and Palermo (Sicily). It is… Read more.
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Adjacent Pineapple
Super happy to have an excerpt from Hermit Kingdom (formally The Autobiography of Don Whiskers) in Adjacent Pineapple. Book 2 begins in Spain (Madrid) and the move to Barcelona. This… Read more.
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THE TIGERS
After my brother Aaron died I went on a road trip with my brothers and sisters. We traveled from Utah to the ocean of California. Along the way we stopped… Read more.
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THE POWER OF HERMITS
Do you want the magic back in your life? Me too. Also people. It is so noisy out there. Meaning in here. How about some peace. We are all competing… Read more.
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A RABBIT HAT ADVENTURE IN LONDON
Just before leaving London/Tower Hamlets to live in Madrid, I met up with my good friend and fellow artist Stephen Emmerson. We walked across Waterloo Bridge and wandered into… Read more.
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MR WHISKERS WITHOUT THE PICNIC BASKET
The only award I ever won, and didn’t even enter, was for a poem called “Mr Whiskers and the Picnic Basket.” It was published in Hayden’s Ferry Review as a… Read more.
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ON FATHERS
“My step father grew up in Warrington, he joined the British Army. A way out. Northern Ireland. He married my mother. In Bletchley, we went to the swimming pool. Hot… Read more.
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THE HOUSE OF ZABKA
Excerpt from my novel in progress The Autobiography of Don Whiskers A hybrid novel (in the form of an immigrant memoir, prose poetry, and interlocking surreal flash fictions). Some… Read more.
Never Mind the Beasts 