Diary of a Mad Editor

Although the new issue of 13thWR was delayed several months because of my illness, I’m happy to report that it has now been published and is available online at it’s usual location.

It’s a pretty good issue, too — even if I am the editor. In fact, I think it’s one of the best ever.

In this issue you’ll find

Poetry by Sean Lause, Marvin Glasser , Lyn Lifshin, Reginald S.V. Paul,
James Jack, Susan H. Maurer, Simon Perchik, Carol Hamilton
Amy L. Sargent, Robert O’Neal, A.D. Winans,Reid Bush, David Lawrence , Joel Kuper, Alan Britt, John Grey

Fiction by Jeff Blechle, Aaron Hellem, Elizabeth Farren, James P.
Hanley,Cindy Rosmus, Wade Lipham, Alan Clinton

Essay “Trespasses,” a memoir piece by John C. Erianne

Book Reviews of Rant, A Cosmic Clown’s Science Fiction Religion,
Gutterballs, and New Jersey

check it out and enjoy @

http://www.13thwr.org

Some months ago, I received a submission from this guy in prison. All of the poems were handwritten. No return envelope. Normally, I’d just toss the poems without reply. However, because I get a lot of submissions and letters from prisoners, I just assumed the guy had never read my guidelines and was just ignorant about the whole business of submitting manuscripts. He was obviously a beginner. His poetry obviously bad. I took pity on him and wrote him back (using my own envelope and stamp — aren’t I nice?). I explained to him a number of realities and gave him a piece of advice that he’d do well to follow if he were to continue to submit poetry to literary journals. I also informed him that I wouldn’t be so nice to him in the future should he ignore what I’d told him and submit to me again. I would toss his work without reply and would not indulge him.

So, over the summer while I was undergoing my treatments for cancer, the submissions piled-up. I was in no physical condition to bother with them and am only now reading and replying to them. Among the submissions that came in over the summer was — you guessed it — from that self-same individual. He completely disregarded what I told him and was absolutely insistant that I deal with him on his terms and disregard my own. Needless to say I am not happy. I considered simply tossing his efforts, but then I thought, before I do that, why not post his nonsense on this blog and let others read it. Fuck, if the man wants attention and comments … let him have what he wants. So, without further ado, here’s Douglas Frey:

John,

Douglas Frey

(Good Lord! At this point I’m checking the locks on my door. But it’s not over yet. Let’s read this poem he sent.)

Continue Reading »

A relatively new blog — and one I can recommend — is CriticsRant.com. It is a multi-author blog featuring movie reviews, DVD reviews, tv reviews and entertainment news tidbits. It is not at all unlike an entertainment ezine I was developing back in 2004. Of course, I ran out of money and, quite frankly, lost interest before bringing it to fruition. So, I guess you could say I have a bit of a soft spot for CriticsRant.com.

One of the things I hate about most film and tv reviews is the holier-than-thou tone of the writing. One definitely gets the impression from reading such reviews that the authors don’t really like the medium they write about. I’m happy to report that the reviews on CriticsRant are wholly unpretentious and I genuinely enjoyed the in-your-face attitude. The reviewers keep it short and simple and don’t pretend that reviewing a movie is in the same league as writing War and Peace.

Now, all is not roses here. As much as I liked the site, I thought that for an otherwise professionally produced blog, there are an awful lot of typos and mistakes of a glaringly stupid nature. While I’m usually willing to overlook this sort of thing (having made my share of typographical boo-boos in the past), I know there are many readers out there who are not as forgiving and will see CriticsRant as less credible because of it. So, word to the wise: proofread, people. But, overall, I’d say this blog is a keeper. ^*

^*This entry is a paid review facilitated by SponsoredReviews.com.