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Welcome to finding the literature!
It’s been six months since I posted one of these, which feels impossible—this means my son is actually older than 6 months. It’s even more impossible to think I read any Substack short stories this past summer, but I did!
Anyways, with my recent unemployment, I haven’t had much time for discovering and reading new Substack fiction the last month or so. It turns out looking for a full time job is more of a full time job than I’ve had since I got on Substack, and it’s left me miserable. I’m spending less and less time on here, which is good in many ways, but also makes me feel like what I have built is slipping away at a crucial time in my life when I need the direction and work more than ever.
Therefore, I’m resolved to spend more time on Substack; but only in the right ways.
I would then like to note here:
This will most likely be the last finding the literature.
This does NOT mean, however, that I will no longer be reading and re-stacking short stories and discovering new fiction. If anything, it means I will be doing it more. The problem is, the more I re-stack, the more belong in this newsletter, and it simply takes too much time to do this round-up when I need to be applying to jobs, playing with my kid, and working on my own writing.
The reason I started doing these roundups was to get eyes on these authors from subscribers who receive my newsletter but perhaps aren’t on Notes to see the re-stacks. With my current life circumstances as they are, it’s just another thing to do that I don’t think accomplishes so much—if I could add more insight to the re-stacks when I do them and give as much context as I do here, the engagements and eyes on those are pretty equivalent to these posts, especially since Notes has gotten way more popular since I started these posts. That’s where real discovery happens.
I’ve also become confused with the odd space this series occupies between recommendation engine, quid pro quo, literary journal, etc. I am not an authority. I do not have any clout other than what was accidentally afforded to me through my subscriber base. I do not consider myself a “community leader.” I am not credentialed. I don’t expect anyone here to read me just because I read them. I eventually settled on the tag line “spotlighting Substack fiction”, but I’m not sure that’s quite right either.
Ultimately, as I’ve said many times, finding the literature was about one thing: if you want to post fiction on Substack, you have to read it too, and this was my proof I had done so.
Keeping it on Notes is the best way for me to do so going forward.
Without further ado—here’s the FINAL vol. 13—
John Madrid has a nice little collection of short stories going on. I liked this one because I like day-in-the-life of someplace I’ve never been—you always learn something. I think, overall, if you are going to make the choice to write and post literary fiction on Substack, you can’t find many better examples than John.
Nice graphics, a nice about page. He has an interconnected series of short stories called The Knowledge about a cab driver in London and the various passengers in and out of the cab. I think this sort of thing is ideal for Substack—nonlinear, all work on their own without the context of the others, but have enough to get you interested in searching around for other parts of the greater story. I imagine this gives him great freedom to write the stories as they come to him, which I admire.
And folks, just do like John and name the blog itself after you. Just…your name. Best thing to do. Wish I did it.
I guess maybe there is a theme throughout all of finding the literature: I like realism. I like grounded, contemporary fiction, maybe even what could be under that umbrella of K-Mart realism. I like when ‘the romantic’ is reduced to Chik-Fil-A in a parking lot. I like pop culture references. I like the banal and mundane rendered grandiose.
Maybe I am just a Raymond Carver child. Maybe I appreciate naming brands and pop culture.
Whatever it is, mk uncle does it well.
I posted again about Gary Stevens because a thing that will sometimes happen when I re-stack a story is it will get far more attention, and when that doesn’t happen it kind of disappoints me. This is vainglorious on my part, but also—some stuff really does deserve it and I really like both of these stories.
In my time on Substack it’s been genuinely hard sometimes to tell what praise for my fiction is real and what is not, and thereby deducing my level as a writer. Fortunately, as I’ve gained popularity, it’s become easier to tell who is genuine, who is looking for something from me, who is making fun of me, who is being critically fair but harsh, and who is a troll.
But one of the strongest signals for my own quality is the quality of the writers who speak for my writing when they don’t have to. Who see something in my writing with a critical eye I can trust. They say if someone admonishes you on here, go to their page and check the quality of their own writing to know whether to take it to heart.
When someone praises you, do the same.
Reading Deanna Wilk, a longtime subscriber, makes me feel better about my writing than I have in a while.
This Marko at the Square story is better than anything I’ve done, certainly.
When a story starts with a content warning for mascot abuse, you know it’s going to be good. The story is about a girl with cancer, a Make-A-Wish kid who ends up beating the shit out of the Phillies Fanatic, so how can it not be? It’s also about those friends you make in middle school, the ones you end up never talking to again. About doing stupid, emo stuff you don’t understand. When all of your feelings are so big and overwhelming relative to your life experience. I really liked it.
He also posted what I predicted to be one of the biggest Substack Notes ever. Not sure how close it came, but it’s certainly one of the most popular Notes I’ve ever seen. Could have been made in a lab to be Substack-Coded but I have no doubt it’s real.
I only wish more people subscribed to him off the back of this awesome note.
I think actually I have spotlighted Scott MacLeod before, but I couldn’t get through this World Cup summer without reading a soccer story. A beloved local player died recently and my Sunday league had a moment of silence for him, so it was interesting to see how Scott imagined this team losing a player would deal with the departure.
Why Ted Lasso is mentioned here is because the story is done with equal heart and humor, what I aspire to in all my own work. Wrapping back the delayed victory to the delay of game in the end…perfection.
Eventually I’ll get into writing my own soccer stories. There’s one big idea in the ole brain tank I’ll trot out someday.
P.S. While I generally love Bill Lawrence and think Ted Lasso is a good show (especially the first season), it has to be one of the most overrated shows of all time.
I read this story before the current-ish autofiction discourse aroused by the new Cusk novel. It begs the question: can autofiction be written outside of first person? Of course, many will leap to call me an idiot for even daring to ask, many others for even suggesting it can’t be. I think it can be obviously, and done here by Cedar Jones to great effect.
One thing I’ve found with posting fiction on Substack is that your first-person narrations will almost always be construed to be roman-a-clef, even if it isn’t. But third-person will always put you safely in the fiction, made-up space, and I think third person posting stories that stick on Substack is one of the most challenging things there is, and Cedar pulled it off here.
This story made me remember the almost silly fear of bullies one could feel at that age; like they really could kill you. Could they, though? I’m sure it’s happened. Maybe the fear is justified.
Cedar has a way of writing outdoor environments I admire and I’m not great with. Probably due to more practice with and exposure to poetry than I have—and perhaps the outdoors at large. I feel the same about Brandon Westlake. Drawing connections between writers here is one of my favorite things and I always get hints of Brandon in Cedar’s work, so I hope they know of each other.
Cedar recently said he’s leaving Substack and I think that’s a shame so you should all subscribe and read his stories.
Perhaps I was a bit flippant in this note but I’ve long held that we are missing certain stories on modern masculinity from contemporary literature, and Substack Fiction or elsewhere needs to be stepping into that void to get men reading again.
This summer I read this collection of stories from Bad Clown Books and Trey Hinkle and the quality in here—including from many Substack fiction writers, even some who have been in this very newsletter—is really staggering.
It is not out of place on the most literary of shelves. I’d challenge anyone to find a story in here that wouldn’t get into any lit mag of standing. Sourcing talent from Substack is a sure-fire way for indie publishers to stock their roster.
And if we keep getting quality like this, I reckon more men will be reading.
By the way, Fiction is Culture is at it again, this time for the Broad Ripple neighborhood in Indianapolis affected by flash flooding, with Thomas Clark Schecter doing his usual organizing, leading the way to the creation of a volume of Substack flash-fiction to benefit the community.
Building bridges is the theme, and I’m looking forward to throwing my money at this e-book, and in turn, the community.
So that’s a wrap! I’ll leave you with this:
Subscribe please, I am unemployed and every subscription gives me the illusion my life is somehow moving forward toward something. I promise to post more fiction and other stuff soon.
Ah, thank you Clancy, I appreciate the mention. Though, saying I top you is going a bit too far ;) You are the reason that I’m even posting fiction, seeing quality work on here makes us all try to do better and makes for a solid fiction community.
Thank you, Clancy! Greatly appreciated. Means a lot coming from you, one of the best writers on Substack