nighttime: the birth of a story

callaloo desk

i am so very pleased that my short story “nighttime” has found a home at torch, a wonderful online journal featuring african american women writers. this story was one of the first stories i wrote (or one of the first that i would consider a story). in my 08 i made a resolution to submit to at least 12 publications. i dug up this story and put it into the literary lotto.

i wrote it at my very first writers workshop, callaloo in 2004. the photo above is my desk at callaloo.  i actually blogged about my experience there and the evolution of that story here: this gift , writing in the dark, & writing in the dark, pt 2 .

enjoy!

Torch :: Jamey Hatley.

dark rain by mat johnson

above is a preview image from the graphic novel dark rain by another one of my wonderful teachers mat johnson. the novel takes place during hurricane katrina, so it will be of special interest to those of us in the gulf coast region. mat writes in a variety of genres including fiction, non-fiction, comics and graphic fiction. he was also named the first usa james baldwin fellow by the united states artists foundation. mat is the book whisperer. he forced me to diagram my novel on the board during a workshop at callaloo. i complained all the way through the process. mat pointed at a huge gap on the board and said, “there’s your story”. damn he was right.