Five
Things We’re Glad Are False
1. We were
afraid we’d have a lot of trouble finding experienced
writers, editors, and/or creative writing teachers who’d be
willing to help us expand our pool of prize judges so our
magazine would benefit from an even broader range of
experiences and personal tastes. False! We found several
people willing to help, and their opinions and reflections
on our ten “finalist” stories were invaluable.
2. I was afraid my most recent fiction coach would be
unwilling to donate one of his stories to our cause. False!
Mark Konkel, who’s worked with me for twelve weeks now (and
helped my fiction immensely), was happy to be a guest
writer and gave us a story called “Save One.” (Mark is
one of several trainers from www.allwriters.org/services.asp.
If you’re serious about writing but, like me, you don’t
want to enter a full-time MFA program, I think three or
four months under their guidance could be the next best
thing. They offer intense, long-term, one-on-one coaching.)
3. We were afraid a combination of illnesses and other
personal crises were going to derail this issue’s
publication. False! OTP is a major priority in our lives,
and we’ve just proven that even when the going gets tough,
we can find a way. (It helps that we were smart enough to
limit OTP to three issues a year...)
4. We were afraid we’d never get our super-experimental
“guest writer training program” to produce results. After
we failed with other candidates, we found a man with some
great stories to tell, but who needed guidance in telling
them effectively. He worked with us for more than nine
months to (1) learn better overall fiction writing skills,
and (2) shape up a story he originally submitted for a
previous contest. That’s why “Changeling” by Richard
Blasi doesn’t fit the “Revelation” premise. It fits the
old “Disguise” premise from issue #3. We may, or may
not, go to such efforts again. Depends on what you think
of the results and the idea in general, so let us know.
5. Finally, on a personal note, Bethany and I are glad to
find out we were wrong when we figured America would never
elect anyone President who didn’t look and sound just like
all the other Presidents. Three believable candidates for
the job, and only one of them was a white man. And the
white man didn’t win. I haven’t been this pleased about
being wrong since I was convinced I’d never see the New
England Patriots win a SuperBowl.
On the other hand, there were times when I was not
at
all happy about
being wrong, and Erika Moen illustrated them
for you just
to humiliate me.
So for the first time ever, we have eight stories for you
to read, in addition to the cartoons. Check out our
offerings and let us know what you think at
Feedback@OnThePremises.com.
Keep writing and keep reading,
Tarl Roger Kudrick
co-publisher of On The
Premises magazine