Belefant

How excited was I to find out my story 'The More You Take Away' is going to be published in Sequestrum Literary Journal? It never even occurred to me that there’d be money. I mean, I love that they pay contributors. But I am NEVER going to hand this check over to the bank.

The Paris Review rejected my story 'If I Were Going to Have Been You'. But you know what? The handwritten note was super encouraging! Makes me want to grace their pages even more.

I'M NOT JUDGING YOU. OR AM I?

invited me to judge the 2027 Thriller Awards and like I'm going to say nah, not feeling it.

If you have a book entered, don't tell me. I take this stuff seriously and I don't want anybody to think the reason you won was because I like you (which I do).

If you don't have a book entered, go ahead and tell me, but please please please don't ask me to read it. I might have to judge as many as 100 novels. I'll be lucky to have time to read the menu at that Thai place Darby and I like to get takeout from.

See? I wasn't making it up.

It's Two-Fer Tuesday!

My story 'The Nice List' is a finalist for the Story Unlikely 2026 Short Story Contest!

Wow!

Story Unlikely An award-winning monthly literary magazine, Story Unlikely publishes top-tier fiction and non-fiction - from memoir to speculative (fantasy, horror and sci fi), and everything in between. Have a story to tell? Enter Story Unlikely.

They asked me not to say anything until it was official. It's official!

2026 Editor’s Prize Roe River Review is pleased to announce First Place, Second Place, Third Place, Finalists, and Honorable Mentions in the 2026 Editor’s Prize. The 2026 Editor’s Prize issue is available: First Place…

Just saw a proof of my story 'Fabricating Gary Gatenou', which is going to be included in Story Unlikely's first annual print anthology (https://www.storyunlikely.com)! You gotta pick up a copy when it comes out. You just gotta.

I'm going to be in New York, pitching my latest novel. Know any agents I ought to meet? Or who ought to meet me?

My story 'American Foreign Policy' was shortlisted for the Sequestrum Reprint Edition. Even better news, 'The More You Take Away' made it! Look for it in an upcoming edition (https://sequestrum.org) .

Another Almost. My short story ‘The Beneficiary’ made it all the way to the shortlist of the Sequestrum Reprint Edition.