Day 175 of Project 365: Underword
Today’s photo is a bit of a cheat, since it was taken a little after midnight, but I didn’t have the wherewithal to take a photo during Underword. So instead you have a self-portrait of me being so happy to be a part of such a great National Flash Fiction Day event, in the company of such accomplished writers and performers. For my part, I read “The Kettle and I”, which was a difficult story to read because of its stilted rhythm and ridiculously depressing ending. Next time I will choose a different type of piece. But I got lots of great feedback from friends new and old, so I am not sad about it one bit, and looking forward to participating in future events. At every reading I’ve ever done, there is a beautiful moment right after...
Read MoreExciting “Kettle” news!
I just found out that my flash fiction story “The Kettle and I” has been selected for inclusion in Bewildering Stories’ First Quarterly Review, 2012. I am also honoured to receive their Order of Merit for the most highly-rated flash fiction story in this review.
Read More“The Kettle and I” – a story by Halsted M. Bernard
I am pleased to announce the publication of my story “The Kettle and I” in Bewildering Stories, issue 471. Here is an excerpt: We enter the three-story Victorian and stand at the wooden counter. A thick pane of bulletproof glass separates us from the innkeeper. My not-mother holds her palm up to the glass and the innkeeper scans the chip inside. He shows her down a long hallway, waving me off to the waiting room. Dust films the windows and fogs the carpet. A pad bolted to the wall plays clips of smiling goodbyes read by actors in age makeup. If you enjoy it, please share it. Links to this story and more are now at the newly-redesigned halstedmbernard.com. This photo does double-duty today as story illustration and Project 365 submission. What a...
Read More“The Trooper” – a story by Adam Altman
My friend Adam told this amusing and true story recently for the Lifeline Theatre Storytelling Project in Chicago. An excerpt: Now, I was 14, and I’d smoked some pot, but I hadn’t really found it to be all that interesting. But I had friends that were into it, and I was suddenly filled with what I would later realize was the desire to be the “playmaker.” The guy who gets the assist. So that when I was hanging out with friends and someone asked, “Does anybody have any weed?” I could casually say, “Oh, uh, hey, I’ve got some.” And everybody would remember me as the guy who, that one time, had some pot. And I had money. And it was just burning a hole in my pocket. While you’re reading the rest of “The Trooper” on Adam’s...
Read MoreDay 107 of Project 365: New Journal
I would like to give a shout-out to The Paperie for their excellent customer service and speedy, free delivery. My new Rhodia dot-grid A6 notebook arrived today, and I am happy to announce that it is even lovelier than I anticipated. The paper is creamy 90g/m² Clairefontaine, and takes fountain pen ink perfectly. And The Paperie gave me a 10% discount! My dad sent a link the other day that contained a remarkable quote I wanted to share with you: Poetry does not, with its meanings and messages, defeat trauma; it does not argue it away with its countervailing sense of purpose. Nothing so simple: Poetry works on a deeper level. Because it mobilizes such a concentration of devices, such an intensification of language via rhythm, syntax, image and metaphor, reading...
Read More“The Sugarplum Favor” — a Christmas story by Tad Williams
I hope you are enjoying the holiday, Festivus, Winterval, or whatever you consider this period of time. I am spending it mostly unplugged, an important thing I do not do often enough, but I had to plug back in to share this with you. I have been an avid fan of Tad Williams since discovering his Otherland saga, a science-fiction series I regularly recommend while never being able to adequately describe it. So when Deborah Beale, Tad’s co-conspirator and wife, tweeted about a new short story of his available for bloggers to post, I was absolutely thrilled to volunteer. And through the magic of the Internet, here it is. Tad Williams’ new short story collection, A Stark And Wormy Knight, is available now, worldwide, as an ebook, $4.99 (or equivalent) for...
Read MoreTiger-eyed and Tinytown.
I rediscovered this wonderful literary community online called Fictionaut, and posted an older bit of flash fiction called “Tiger-eyed”. An excerpt: The tiger-eye beads around her neck would wink at me like a nervous uncle sharing a secret with a child. They roll on her sternum like marbles. At night, on her nightstand, they whisper my secret to the patchouli-scented room. How long have they known? Also, the first draft of my short story “Tinytown” is 28% complete. The new word-counting widget in the sidebar told me! Because I am encouraged by statistics, I hope to make that 100% by the end of the year. I would like to say that I found these bits of writerly motivation from within, but it’s all the slush-pile reading. There’s...
Read MoreCall Heather Christle at (413) 570-3077
Call Heather Christle at (413) 570-3077 Poems read aloud over the phone, by the poet! Via HTML Giant: On the occasion of the release of her second book of poems, The Trees The Trees, which just came out from Octopus, and is indeed mazelike, Heather Christle has secured a phone number that you can call her at, through which she will read to you a poem. This begins today and will continue through July 14th. This is such a magnificent idea. I cannot wait to...
Read MoreEvidently there is a gushing river of verbal creativity in the normal human mind
Evidently there is a gushing river of verbal creativity in the normal human mind, from which both artistic invention and lying are drawn. We are born storytellers, spinning narrative out of our experience and imagination, straining against the leash that keeps us tethered to reality. This is a wonderful thing; it is what gives us our ability to conceive of alternative futures and different worlds. And it helps us to understand our own lives through the entertaining stories of others. But it can lead us into trouble, particularly when we try to persuade others that our inventions are real. Most of the time, as our stories bubble up to consciousness, we exercise our cerebral censors, controlling which stories we tell, and to whom. Yet people lie for all sorts of...
Read MoreAuthor and publisher Carmen Callil has withdrawn from the judging panel of the Man Booker International prize
Author and publisher Carmen Callil has withdrawn from the judging panel of the Man Booker International prize over its decision to honour Philip Roth with the £60,000 award. Dismissing the Pulitzer prize-winning author, Callil said that ‘he goes on and on and on about the same subject in almost every single book. It’s as though he’s sitting on your face and you can’t breathe’.Judge withdraws over Philip Roth’s Booker win | Books | guardian.co.uk
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The cam was last on Friday, May 4.
Hello What
I am Halsted, a/k/a cygnoir, and I do stuff with words.
My favourite things to do with words are keeping this diary, writing stories, and organising information.
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