Charlie Kondek Writes

Before I explain what I mean, a little background. I've been a writer all my literate life. I'm 51 now, and for the last 20 years, I have not been writing as consistently as I could, because I've been so distracted by a rewarding but often turbulent career in PR and advertising and caring for a beloved, profoundly autistic child with a high degree of needs. During that time, I was still writing and, blessedly, having pieces published in Kendo World magazine, but I was not practicing writing as I think it can or should be: writing consistently with some kind of daily or weekly regularity, and submitting stories, my focus, to online and print publications. That's what I am getting back to and the past two years have been fruitful, disciplined and productive. I have in large part my employer to thank for that , and I do so every day. It's been somewhat surprising for me to realize how much of your intellectual and emotional energy can be absorbed by your job. But that...

I am writing so that I will remember the work of two writers I'd like to keep an eye on, and also to tell my readers, all three of them, about these writers. I read both at The Forge , a place where I'd like to publish. More on that later. Let me just acknowledge that every story I have read at The Forge I have really liked, which is not something I can say about every pub, Tyler McAndrew lives and teaches at the University of Pittsburgh. His story, "Lake Shore Limited," is pitch perfect, excellent written and expertly cadenced. After following him and praising him on Twitter, I read another of his at Electric Literature (another pub I will have to keep an eye on), "My Prisoner." Again, excellent. I note McAndrew is a poet as well and it no doubt contributes to the quality of his work.  John Mauk is from Ohio, lives in my home state of Michigan (although up north somewhere) has a PhD (!), and has written textbooks as well as the wonderful story " Dr...

There's an excellent blog post at Six Questions about this publication and its creator, Danny Hankner. I've just become a Story Unlikely reader and would like to submit there. What I particularly like about what Hankner is doing is his recognition of the social or political trends that can impede a work's path to publication. There's plenty of room for that kind of publishing, of course, but Hankner is carving out a different place that I'm drawn to. This seems, to me, really unique also: SQF: What one question on this topic do you wish I'd asked that I didn't? And how would you answer it? DH; “Why is Story Unlikely ’s byline, “real people, real places, real stories (and plenty of fiction, too).”

Although we publish all styles and genres, we feel there’s a real absence in the market for true stories – call it narrative nonfiction, memoir, etc.  There’s something special about stories that really happened; not only have we felt this connection, but the big...