See that? It’s a sight to delight an editor’s heart. Timothy and I contracted with Cleis Press to do a second anthology as our follow-up to Fool For Love. What you’re seeing is the first seven stories that have come in from some gifted writers. I can’t wait to dig into them…and yeah, that’s a red pen. But I’m pretty sure none of these writers will mind the editorial devotion that Tim and I give their stories. We are very hands-on (Timmy and Jim call that “control freaks”), but it’s all to work with the writers to make their stories the best they can be.
I don’t know how many stories we’ll end up with, or how many we’ll accept for Foolish Hearts: New Gay Fiction. One of the hardest parts of this process, as we discovered with our first anthology, is having to decline stories that for any number of reasons don’t fit in the collection. It’s made harder because we’re both writers and know well what “no” feels like. Fortunately most of our submissions come from either seasoned writers or writers who realize that “no” only means “not right now, for this,” but doesn’t carry any judgment against talent or dire predictions about the future of a writer’s work or success.
Anyway, the only thing more fun than being an editor and working with writers is being a writer working with writers. I mean, maybe you can’t see that…
…in this 2000 photo of Timmy either consoling Tim or healing him after a writing session. But it’s true!
Trust me, TJB fans who still email, message, and tweet us, I miss working with these guys as much as you miss having a new book to read. Just remember: There’s always hope.
That’s when I shaved my head and looked like shit. Good times.
I’ll never forget shrieking at you when you jumped in the car. Never mind that I was sure I’d just run over a pedestrian somewhere in Manhattan.
You could never look like shit, including here. Do you ever age?
I like the way you think, Timothy fan!!
Ditto!
I finally got a bookshelf for my office, and just unpacked our first box of books a couple of days ago. Guess what was in that box? Fool for Love! One day I hope to meet you and have it signed (along with both Coventry books). I’m going to do my best to get to Ottawa and have ‘Nathan sign his contribution, too. Really looking forward to the followup anthology!
Thanks! Of course, you can always mail them to me for signing, but meeting would be more fun. =)
Hmmmmmmmm…… ~oh, just pondering…~
I’ll sign anything but a body part or a check. 😉
My first thought when you speak of a follow up anthology is:
“FIFTEEN DOLLARS!!!!” 😉
HA HA! Please don’t tell him that I accidentally deleted that note from my phone. I was SO annoyed with myself, because if the opportunity came, I was going to take a photo of it and send it to him.
However, I DO have you as a witness. Hmmm….
Whew!
Don’t premature “Whew!”
You’re right. “Whew” could be the sequel to “Fifteen Dollars.”
ROFL.
The US government should be thankful you don’t have a federal job, Lisa. You forget NOTHING.
🙂
If she did work for the government, she’d probably be able to hook me up with a connection who could retrieve that note from my phone.
“Fifteen Dollars” – the story of a New York writer who drinks to forget, and a Midwest nurse who counts the bottles.
I like this story. It’s like Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner. Only no one’s an artist. And the characters aren’t married.
It’s nothing like Jackson Pollock and Lee Krasner. They are just in my brain because I’m reading her biography.
Never mind.