I sent out a few submissions last night for Slipping Through. The Missouri Review rejected it; I can never figure out what it is they want. Therefore, I immediately sent it to No Fixed Genre because, ironically, I knew it wasn't their genre and that they'd reject it. However, they often offer good feedback, and I wanted to find out what, if anything, was wrong with the story before I sent it out again. In my immediate rejection e-mail, the editor said, "This is an excellent story, very perceptive, and I'm sure that anyone who has lost a parent can relate to the narrator's struggle to redefine her relationship with her father after the loss of her mother. However NFG is looking for stories with a little more kick, "writing with attitude," and I felt that this piece was just a little too understated and quiet for our tastes. Thanks for the read. I'm sure you won't have any trouble placing this elsewhere." I hope he's right; I also feel it's a little understated and that a lot of journals (Missouri Review included) are looking for bright, hip, quirky-to-the-point-of-irrelevance vignettes. Is that what they're teaching in the writing programs these days? I think my disgust with that sort of edginess for the sake of edginess led me to create this online journal.

Now that I've raged against the new hip establishment writing, I tried my hand at a new hip establishment piece last night. It's more of an exercise for me than anything, a fun little nonsense story about a female kickboxing champ from East Missouri (everyone likes quirky white trash these days) called "Enter the Dragon." I'll put it up whenever it's finished; for now, here's Comfort Foods as promised.

Submissions have been drizzling in for the spring issue of JMWW. Thanks all! Remember, there are only two of us (and one doesn't even know it yet) working on this, so give us a little time to get back to you. Oh, and I thought I'd put a little writing exercise up for you (I sometimes give myself these just to keep my imagination sharp). Write a story about how this guy managed to not notice his brother was dead for 18 months in their shared trailer: Exercise. I'll publish the best one in my next blog.