If you tend to hop around from project to project, or take interest in a variety of topics, or generate a ton of disparate ideas, or write in different genres and voices and styles, and wonder if you’re an oddball, well…
OK, maybe you’re an oddball. But maybe you’re also a creative type who can’t stick to one thing.
That’s not a bad thing, as author David Epstein (whose book Range: Why Generalists Triumph in a Specialized World ought to be on every writer’s reading list) points out in this 20-minute video. In fact, he writes, “your scattered interests might be your biggest creative advantage.” Take, for example, two British musicians who came of age in the late 1960s: David Bowie and Peter Frampton. As Epstein explains in the video, Frampton found his lane quickly as a guitar prodigy while Bowie was all over the place. Both achieved success, but one’s path was narrower than the other’s.
‘He stacks nine or ten of the cookies pyramid style on his plate, then turns, the tugboat reversing course, and steers toward his table…’
I’m hyped to have a short story out today in the legendary online literary publication Burial Magazine. Please give “Senõr Newton” a read!
Here’s what Burial editor Z.H. Gill (who previously was featured in a Friday Five on this site) has to say about the story:
new in burial: @andrewcareaga has been writing these vignettes about restaurants…they make me feel some kind of way. i’ve spent about a quarter of my life in buffets, so i felt this one was a natural fit in the mag. so come meet ‘señor newton’—you won’t soon forget him. read 👇!
I wrote this declaration and posted it on the Fourth of July. I thought it might be worth sharing again as we in the USA approach our country’s 250th anniversary.
‘I’m interested in what happens when people find themselves at a crossroads and have to make difficult choices’
Michael Downing
BREAKING: Bad Intentions is now available for pre-order. Be the first on your block to purchase it! A portion of proceeds will support Philadelphia-based nonprofit Philabundance.
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When I found out last December that Literary Garagewas looking for crime stories for an anthology of crime stories inspired by the legendary musical master Warren Zevon, my heart sank like a stone. Because, even though I’m a longtime Zevon fan, I assumed poor, poor pitiful me would have no chance in landing a spot in that book, since I hadn’t written any sort of crime/noir fiction since a Perry Mason story I wrote, probably on a Big Chief tablet, in third grade. Even so, I gave it a shot, and now, as I’ve mentioned here before, my Zevon-inspired crime story is one of fifteen to make it into this anthology.
Through this process, I’ve gotten to know more about the guy put in charge of selecting the stories for this anthology (called Bad Intentions), Michael Downing. Originally from New Jersey (land of Springsteen, as Michael will proudly tell you) and now living in Georgia, Michael is an accomplished writer himself. His latest book, Saints of the Asphalt, published last year, is available online and at select bookstores. (Here’s an excerpt.) Over the past twenty years Michael has written plays, published several books, and has had short stories published in numerous literary publications. His work has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize three times, and his fiction appears in several anthologies, including Under the Thumb: Stories of Police Oppression (ed. S.A. Cosby), On Fire and Under Water: A Climate Change Anthology (ed. Curtis Ippolito), and Six Sentences Volumes II & III (ed. Rob McEvily).
A literacy advocate, Michael also is the founder and former creative director of StoryTellers, a community-based literacy organization in Asbury Park, New Jersey, and Rome, Georgia, dedicated to helping underserved teens and young adults develop confidence through creative writing and self-expression.
He now lives northeast of Atlanta with his wife Helen, but remains unmistakably New Jersey—attitude, edginess, and Springsteen songs (just not Bon Jovi). Read on to learn about his writing, his work with Bad Intentions, his literary advocacy, and his thoughts about the music of Warren Zevon.
Proceeds from this Warren Zevon-inspired collection of crime stories will support Philadelphia-based nonprofit Philabundance.
Apologies to readers tired of my flogging this short story collection Bad Intentions: A Crime Fiction Anthology Based on the Music of Warren Zevon, but I’ve got breaking news to share. This collection is now available for pre-order on Kindle for a mere $2.99. That’s less than 20 cents per story in this gem. (There are 15 stories in all, including one by yours truly.) You need to get in on this deal right away. For those who prefer reading an actual physical book, a link for the paperback version should be available soon. I’ll update this post once that goes live.
The book will be available July 7.
From the publisher:
Bad decisions have a way of sticking around.
Fifteen stories of crime, consequence, and everything that comes after.
Inspired by the music and darkly human worldview of Warren Zevon, Bad Intentions is a crime fiction anthology about bad choices, worse outcomes, and the people left to live with the wreckage.
These aren’t stories about perfect plans or clever escapes. They’re about what happens after.
When the lie collapses.
When the body turns up.
When redemption comes too late.
When someone convinces themselves they had no other choice.
From back roads to barrooms, motels to city streets, Bad Intentions brings together fifteen distinct voices in crime fiction—stories filled with desperation, violence, dark humor, regret, and the kind of consequence that lingers long after the final page.
No heroes. No perfect crimes. No easy endings.
A portion/all proceeds from the anthology benefit Philabundance, supporting hunger relief efforts throughout the Delaware Valley.
So go pre-order Bad Intentions and return here tomorrow for my Friday Five interview with the anthology editor, Michael Downing, to learn more about this story collection and Michael’s own writing.
