For a few years in the mid-2000s—and off and on since—I wrote comics, zines, and, on rare occasions, illustrated them. Somewhere in that period, I was introduced to The Journal of MODOK Studies and immediately fell in love with its unique mix of reverence and absurdity, especially at a time when you weren’t really supposed to take … Continue reading A MODOK Origin Story
You can read last year’s here. Best Book You’ve Read So Far in 2025 For fiction, I’d have to go with Antkind. Wonderfully weird and full of surprises—stop-motion filmmaking, one of my favorite interests, is just one of the many splinters lodged in its surreal, obsessive heart. If you’re not already a fan of Kaufman’s … Continue reading The Mid-Year Book Freakout 2025
TJ Beitelman is a writer, editor, and teacher in Birmingham, Alabama. Since this interview he has published several books including This is the Story of His Life, which you can read a sample of if you follow the link. Beitelman writes poetry, prose, and hybrids of both. This interview was originally published at Eunoia Solstice … Continue reading From the Eunoia Archives: An interview with writer TJ Beitelman
We’ve had great weather here, so when the kids get home we’ve been going to the park. I miss when the geese would waddle around us. Now there’s just screeching trees, but at least the insects and the heat haven’t taken over…yet. Mostly it’s just Spider-Man jumps and running around the playground. My oldest likes … Continue reading The Week That Was, or Red Planet Aligned
The week began with some semi-restful snow days. I don’t believe anyone in our home was permanently damaged, though a few tears were shed and more than a few markers bled. The almost-four-year-old sang while we were discussing dinner plans. Her song began, “Tiki masala / I need a dolla.” Not bad. I wrote about … Continue reading The Week That Was, or You got some Duncan Idaho on my Gurney Halleck.
Underground Railroad Colson Whitehead 2016 I liked this book, but I didn’t love it like most friends have. I’m not trying to be contrarian and say I’m above the hubbub it’s received. A few things go into this. One is that I genuinely like Whitehead’s writing. His philosophical zombie novel Zone One was a blast … Continue reading Recently Read: February
In order to hone my fiction chops, I decided to join The Five Hundred, a site that presents a prompt every month with the outcome being some form of flash fiction between 400-600 words. Next week, I’ll have a ghazal (based on a “bonus” 100 word prompt) and flash fiction piece called, “In the Cup … Continue reading you’re never too old to apprentice and 7+ pieces of audio inspiration
Stephen McClurg 