Category: updates

Fifty Shades of Orange

Joseph Dante2 Comments

There are probably just a few weeks out of the entire year when the weather in Florida is perfect. When the humidity is no longer oppressive, when the heat has cooled, when the storm clouds have gone. This is one of those weeks. You can be sure that we have all the windows open.

They already have Christmas ads everywhere, but we’ve been celebrating Halloween to the fullest anyway. I have been consuming everything pumpkin: cookies, pancakes, juice, cider, cake. Pie is only for Thanksgiving, of course.

My sister decorated our pumpkins:

We’ve already had a neighborhood party. I made cups of dirt, a Halloween treat I loved when I was little. I’d almost forgotten about them, but I was reminded when thumbing through one of our neighbors’ holiday cookbooks. There are decorations everywhere around the house, both inside and out. Cobwebs and severed hands hanging, orange lights, skulls, masks. Everyone dressed up except me because I couldn’t really come up with anything this year. I probably should think of something. The real Halloween is tomorrow.

I’ve been writing lots of things in lots of places: in my physical journal, in my online journal, in letters and emails to friends I miss a lot. I haven’t written as much fiction in the meantime, but I am still sending things out. I am trying to make it my duty to always be sending  things out. Why should I wait anyway?

I wrote about finding community through writing over at ReadLearnWrite. Writing is mostly lonely, but there are places where it doesn’t have to be. Not always.

Paper Storm

Joseph Dante1 Comment

I’m not a hoarder. I like to keep my surroundings relatively spacious or skeletal, depending on how you see things. I’m even thinking about trading or giving away most of my books. The ones that I feel like I can part with, that is. I don’t need very much.

One thing I do tend to collect is paper. Stacks, towers. Folders and drawers bursting full. Filled with old stories that have been written on by other students, receipts and bank statements from years ago, postcards from my high school peers that I’ve lost contact with completely, notes from in between (or during) classes, letters from pen pals on the opposite side of the world, torn envelopes from my late cousin when he was in a correctional facility, cards from my various graduations and parties.

Mom hoards things for the holidays. One of my favorites is Halloween. When I was little, I won costume contests a lot because my mom would put my outfits together herself. She was clever, but I didn’t make it easy. I would always choose characters from video games that no one recognized, like Kung Lao and Geno. The rim of Lao’s hat was tin foil.

Usually my dad turns our garage into a haunted house and trick-or-treaters come and take a look. But this year, he is trying to throw a party. My mom finds this hilarious. I’m in charge of making a brew of pumpkin juice and cups of dirt (crumbled Oreo + pudding) with gummy worms. We’ll see how this all works out.

My mom is much more traditional than I am. She treats the holidays very seriously and she believes in them like a part of a heritage. Paper is becoming an old medium of expression. Paper is the oldest thing I cling to. It is ancient and even mythical, much like the stories behind these particular times of the year. Computers are convenient, and I do use them a lot, but I still like to have the stacks around. I don’t think I’ll ever be any other kind of hoarder.

One of my poems is going to be published in the first issue of Foxing Quarterly. This is my first poem ever that is going to be in a print publication. Excitement from everywhere, although another thing to collect and keep. I promise I will get rid of some books soon.

Thinking of old friends and all the chaos from the paper clutter, I made a mix called “Passing Notes.” It’s funny and sad and serious and not too serious all at once:

Passing Notes from josephdante on 8tracks Radio.

Shutting Down, Opening Up

Joseph Dante4 Comments

Recently, I’ve had a few things of mine published: “Soft Power,” in One Forty Fiction (Twitter-sized stories) and “Playing Female,” in Monkeybicycle. I hope you enjoy them.

It’s also been around a year or so since this blog’s inception, so I decided to give it a makeover (if you hadn’t noticed it already). I updated my writing and reading sections too. The literary magazine I read for, Hobart, also got a really beautiful upgrade. They’re trying to update the site with more regular literary goodness.

I’ve been writing a lot more regularly now too, due in part to the genius that is 750words. It motivates you to write at least 750 words (oh really, now?) a day. It’s been pretty successful, I would say, even though sometimes I don’t get to 750 words exactly. You should really check it out, especially if you’re someone who spends a lot of time on the internet like I do.

Lately I’ve also noticed that a few literary magazines I really liked have come to a close: Dark Sky, kill author, and American Short Fiction (although someone else may possibly take over). Sad day. If you know of any good ones that are just starting, please let me know. Help to fill the void.

The other day, my sister and I went to an art show at Studio 18, where we saw a few local artists talk. There was an artist my sister really liked, Jacklyn Laflamme, who does a lot of psychedelic creatures and big teeth. There was also this community project that we were a part of, where we were given little squares to paint.

My sister had two squares on that wall and I had one. I am not an artist by any means, but it was fun to see. There was wine. My sister said she felt like Dr. Niles Crane. I agreed.

Word Dealing

Joseph Dante2 Comments

It’s been a while, but fortunately, I’ve done a few things during this blog hiatus.

Recently, my short piece, “Word Dealer,” was published in the second issue of Paper and the Sea. My amazing friend Angela provided the cover art and some writing as well. It all came out gorgeous. You can read it in its entirety online, or you can purchase a print copy of the issue to have it on your shelf.

I also wrote a guest post about gender and publishing for ReadLearnWrite. Nothing new for some, but it may come as a surprise to others. I’ve written about it before elsewhere, and I think it deserves a mention every now and again.

About two months ago, I’d fallen really ill, and in the meantime, I watched a lot of DVDs in bed. One of these was Kiki’s Delivery Service, one of my all-time favorite children’s movies. Becoming fairly restless after being stuck under the covers for so long, I wrote a feverish essay about it and sent it over to Bright Wall, Dark Room. They ended up publishing it recently, and you can read it if you’d like.

I’ve been getting more into 8tracks as well (writing with some background noise), and made another mix tape. It features female vocalists (what else?) and electronic music.

Go listen:

Estrogen-Infused Android from josephdante on 8tracks.

Writing Spaces

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I’ve mentioned the basic premise of my new writing project here and there, but let’s recap: I’ve wanted to create some kind of blog dedicated to writers and where they write. I wanted to do this because I feel like writing can get lonely sometimes, and it would be nice to have a place to share and connect our lonely corners. Ideally, I’d really like to see places and voices from all over. Well, I’m happy to say Writing Spaces is now all set up and open to submissions. If you think you might be interested, you can submit your space.

We’ve already had our first submission from Angela, which you can read on the blog. If you aren’t acquainted with her already, you’re missing out on some great writing.

See you soon. Until then, don’t die from a heat stroke.