SmokeLong Quarterly

You teach writing at Missouri State University, where you’re also the Editor-in-Chief of Moon City Review. How do your roles as teacher and editor influence or inform your own writing?

More than anything, teaching and editing keep me focused on writing—it keeps writing in my brain, keeps it at the tip of my tongue, keeps it within reach of my hands. When I’m teaching, or even editing, I’m thinking about writing, thinking about things like What would I have done here? What does this make me want to do with my work? I know I’ve heard a lot of other writers say this, but I actually get a lot more writing done during the semester than when I’m on the winter holiday or summer breaks. I’m just at my desk all the time, my laptop open, my story files—or blank files—at my fingertips. I’m much more likely to open a file and write a page or do a quick revision in that model than the time-off model when I might be traveling or hiking or when I’m at a ballgame. It’s the real gift, I think, of having the privilege of teaching writing or working at a press: Writing all around me.

If you could recommend only one book that you read this year, what would it be and why?

I want to be a homer here and pick a Moon City Press book, Amanda Marbais’ Claiming a Body. She’s a writer I’ve enjoyed reading for a long time and it’s been a great honor to publish her book, teach it to my students, and work with it professionally. I really love her humor, her characters, and her view of the world.

If I’m not going to be a homer, I’d pick Ron Austin’s Avery Colt Is a Snake, A Thief, A Liar. That collection just kept surprising me, story after story, which is hard to sustain throughout a collection.

What are you working on now?

I’m finishing up a book of dad stories I started during my sabbatical this past spring. Most of the book is done, but like with any book project I’ve started and completed, there’s those 4-5 stories that I really want in the book that are giving me trouble. I probably have enough pages for the book to be done now, but without those 4-5 stories, I’ll always feel like I’ve failed if I don’t get them in. So, I have to finish those before I can say that book is done and ready to be circulated.

I occasionally eye the file of my unfinished novel when scrolling down through my Writing folder, looking for something else. We nod at each other and then part ways once again.

 What kind of story would you love to find in our queue this week?

I hope to find the greatest story 1000 words or under ever written. Anything else would be unacceptable.