Cruising the Green of Second Avenue

Wild Child Publishing has issued the second volume of short stories in Cruising the Green of Second Avenue. The tales take up where Vol. I left off — bringing back Klein the Biker, Straight Charlie and Sammy the Madman while introducing new characters stumbling over life’s difficulties in the late 60s. Vol. II is an e-book published by Wild Child Publishing that you can download, save as a pdf (Adobe) file and print. Read both volumes and see that life isn't all that serious. Find it at Barnes & Noble, Amazon and other online book sellers.









Monday, February 27, 2012

Movin’ Right Along, but Never Fast Enough


An obsessed writer with grandson, tightwiring in Cambridge a few days ago.

I hate to be hyperkinetic, but then O. Henry used to knock out a short story every week against deadline. And Howard Garis, creator of Uncle Wiggily and copywriter for The Newark News, did a daily children’s tale. Somehow, I’ve felt compelled to write short genre fiction and get them the hell up, online or in print, for pay or for peanuts. Is there a psychological term for that? Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or something.

Doesn’t matter. “Another Way to View a River” was published Feb. 12 by Short-Story.Me (at http://www.short-story.me/crime-stories/408-another-way-to-view-a-river.html). I liked this character-driven crime piece. There’s a short time when you’re on a roll — hot car, slick girl and some money — before things start sliding downhill. Then you need to sit back and figure out what just happened.

A day later, “Nun on the Run” ran in Every Day Fiction (at http://www.everydayfiction.com/nun-on-the-run-by-walt-giersbach/comment-page-1/#comment-39493). A late-night cab ride can become an invitation to realize a fantasy. And where are the dividing lines between the living and the dead, the real and the pretext in New York City? Readers either laughed till the tears ran down their leg or else they hated it.

Upcoming is “What Charlie Left Out in His Letters Home,” accepted by Writer’s Haven Feb. 18. It’s tough adapting to New York City when there aren’t any ground rules for survival. And some things are best not included in the letters home. It’s a look into an urban legend…but I have friends who swear the incident really happened. I'll put a link up when the story goes live.

So, back to this OCD writing problem. I figuratively tripped over a humor piece I’d written and forgotten. “Bin Laden’s Journals” was published in The Short Humour Site on Feb. 4 (at http://www.short-humour.org.uk/3writersshowcase/binladensjournal.htm). See? It’s either write or bite my nails.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Way to go, Walt -- and well done on meeting your February Write1Sub1 goals!

Walt Giersbach said...

By the wat, "What Charlie Left Out in His Letters Home" is up at Writer's Haven, at http://www.original-writer.com/writershavenissue4page2. Go to the Current Issue, scrolll all the way down, and keep clicking Next to find it. (OWhew!)