Cerro Pelado Blues in South Dakota Review

My long poem "Cerro Pelado Blues" is now out in the new South Dakota Review! Issue 54.2. Order the whole issue, or even subscribe, here.

Here's the first page/chorus (12 in all):

The Hunter Down The Road

Appeared in the Summer 2017 print issue of MIDWESTERN GOTHIC, which you can buy here.

The hunter down the road

I don't like him

the way he wears camouflage all year round

how he and his buddies target practice

on what was a quiet saturday afternoon

I don't like the gun rack in the back of his truck cab

as if violence were always an option

and I don't like the spotlight on the door

for hunting deer at night

he's certainly too overweight to actually go out in the the woods

and I don't think would ever go alone

and I don't like the way he hangs their bodies

in the front yard from a tree

gutted and red for everyone to see

tho who am I to want to hide death

and providing meat to one's family is a noble ritual

and deer better than processed hormone cow

and who else am I to turn to out here in the country

finding my dog hit by some car

bloodier than the deer hung in the yard almost

tho still alive if you can call it that

who else has the gun and willingness to use it

and who else will surprise me

as I've surprised him at his front door

by walking quietly with me holding his pistol

firing three shots just to make sure it's quick

with a steady hand and a nod to me

but no enjoyment I can see

who else can I say thank you to tonight

with the echoes in the trees

Ed Abbey

Today is Ed Abbey's birthday. He has been a huge influence on me. Reverence for wilderness, irreverence for everything else. Rage into humor. Books to read: The Monkey Wrench Gang. Desert Solitaire. The essay, "Down The River With Henry David Thoreau."

And Tell Me That You Love Me

New short story, "And Tell Me That You Love Me", now up at HST!

Note: The header at HST is NSFW. Nor, perhaps, is this story....

Query letter sample: The Comic Book Writer

Another query letter sample, this one for my novel The Comic Book Writer. A reflection follows. The first twenty pages can be found here.

Emerald City ComiCon in Seattle forces MARK, a semi-famous comic book writer with a career perhaps on the decline, to reevaluate his life while sharing the space with his ex-girlfriend CATHERINE, whose own career is peaking, and MARION, a young barista/poet. Over the four days and three nights, Mark navigates the comics world, while working through his life-long depression, and desire. Along the way, readers get an in-depth look at the pop culture phenomenon of comics, graphic novels, and cosplay.

The Comic Book Writer takes the premise of The Sportswriter by Richard Ford and puts it in the hipster sub-culture of comics, in the style of Jim Harrison, Roberto Bolaño, Denis Johnson, and Charles Bukowski.

The Comic Book Writer

Literary Fiction

Word Count: 78,773

Formal Bio:

John Yohe holds a MA in Written Communication from Eastern Michigan University and a MFA in Poetry Writing from The New School for Social Research. His essays on pop culture have appeared at WORD RIOT and SLOW TRAINS. He is a regular reviewer of books at ENTROPY, and graphic novels at COMICS BULLETIN. Links to published short fiction and poetry can be found at: www.johnyohe.com.

Informal Bio:

Born in Puerto Rico, John Yohe grew up in Michigan, and currently lives in Portland, Oregon. He has worked as a wildland firefighter, deckhand/oiler, runner/busboy, bike messenger, wilderness ranger, fire lookout, as well as a teacher of writing.  A complete list of his publications, and poetry, fiction and non-fiction writing samples, can be found at his website: www.johnyohe.com

I have three other novels in my psych ward, along with enough published short stories for a collection. And I've been writing many reviews, along with some essays. Also a couple books of poetry.

Thank you!

John Yohe

503.317.0851

www.johnyohe.com

Reflection:

Again, going with the strategy of jumping right into the action as an attention grabber. I still like the second paragraph, a re-framing of the summary. Instead of trying to decide whether to include a more formal or less formal bio, I decided to be different and do both. It's my fear of appearing too academic-y appearing, being written off as yet another MFAer, and trying on the other hand to show that I'm competent and have specialized experience. I have no idea if a lit agent would appreciate that or not. I didn't get any nibbles, so apparently not, but who knows.

I also couldn't resists including that last paragraph about having other works. I've seen this advised against, that lit agents just want to know about the one piece of writing. My thinking is, I'm trying to show them that this book isn't just a one-shot, that if they were to sign me up, that I'd have plenty of other writing to sell, and that I'd I'm showing that I'm a writer constantly working on more writing. Again, I have no idea if this is appreciated, or derided. 

Again, the first twenty pages can be found here. 

Other query samples can be found here, here and here.

The Chiron Review

New CHIRON REVIEW now out! Featuring a couple o' poems of mine! They were one of the first places to publish me, back in the 90s. I'm honored to be back!

Order the print version here:

http://www.chironreview.com/product/issue-112-113-summer-fall-2018/

 

 

House of the Cardamom Seed by Penelope Nambly-Schott

My review of Penelope Nambly-Schott's House of the Cardamom Seed now up at EMPTY MIRROR!