My Story “Like They’re Waiting” Gets Published

I just learned that the folks at Adelaide Literary Magazine published my story “Like They’re Waiting” at their site back in January. It’s a very short piece of flash fiction, but one of my favorite projects from the past few years even though it’s a bit confrontational for the reader. I came to it partially inspired by real life events. Also, perhaps, I was a bit touched in the head by all the time we all spent in that first two years living on Planet Covid.

Besides having a comprehensive online publishing presence, Adelaide Literary Magazine is a print-based operation publishing a monthly journal of fiction, poetry, non-fiction, book reviews, and interviews. They also run a small press imprint called Adelaide Books that is more prolific than any other micro-type operation I’ve encountered.

I submitted “Like They’re Waiting” to at least a dozen literary publications that I respect (they know who they are). I don’t get upset or self-destructive anymore when folks pass on stuff. I just figure someone out there is going to get what my stories are up to. I do, of course, wonder about the folks who aren’t falling all over themselves to publish my work. I’m not demanding to get paid or anything untoward like that. You gotta worry, though, about those magazines that pass on great new weird work and keep pasting up the same old second person point of view, complainy, woe is me stories. I may be old and no longer sexy, but I think I know what matters and what doesn’t in this world.

“Like They’re Waiting” is one of a number of stories inspired by life here in the nether regions of Philadelphia at the edge of the Wissahickon Woods. Years ago, my friend Rob Young pointed out that for those of us who love the wilderness, cities are really great inventions because they protect the rest of nature from human beings. We were walking to a meeting in West Philadelphia at the time. It was an important insight for this old country boy from central Missouri. Cities protect nature from people.

Rob also pointed out the unique opportunity I had living on the edge of forest land that is part of the 340-year history of Philadelphia. I’ve learned how spot-on he was about that observation during the 32 years our family has lived here. Hawks, eagles, owls, and all manner of migrating bird flit and float through the trees out back. Murders of crows show up in the early spring and act like a bunch of jackasses. Several times a week we get to watch buzzards circling and swooping the commuter rail tracks that run directly behind our house. Also, we don’t just notice deer, fox, ground hogs, and raccoons, we get to know their herds and families and mates throughout the year. We hear the bellowing croaks of foxes calling to each other late at night and the insane pleadings every now and then of deer in distress. Too many of them get stuck on metal fences or break their necks leaping down the ravine above the rail line when startled by a fox or a car or kids sneaking around at night.

It’s likely a weird kind of anthropomorphism, but I’m often impressed by how friendly our woods seem and all the creatures who live there. In the spring especially it feels like there is this very subtle essence of love and embracing of everything all at once coming out of that world — love, intimacy, infinity, and the comedy of life.

Maybe I’ve said too much. Here’s how the story begins:

Most mornings I drank coffee on the back porch observing as they foraged on vine berries, honeysuckle, and new grass. The cat perched on a crumbling stone wall to watch over them. Our favorites were the two odd males on the periphery of the group — one missing his left antler, the other fully antlered, but lame, his left hind leg locked stiff and useless, dragging behind. At full light the herd would begin to mosey down the hill to where the woods are proper. Single Antler and Lame Leg were always the last to leave.

Excerpt from: “Like They’re Waiting,” Adelaide Literary Magazine

I told myself I would hold off publishing a chapbook of my stories for general reading until I got “Like They’re Waiting” hooked up with a literary outfit. Now that that’s done, I’ll be pulling many of the stories I’ve published over the last two years into a collection. Stay tuned by signing up here for any blogs I post on next steps for that book and any other stories that get published. (By the way, I’m working diligently on my next novel as well, Sound Effect Infinity).

Make sure you check out my current novel too, Old Music for New People. It’s perfect reading for spring vacation. You probably need to buy print copies for all the readers and teens in your life. It’s a great story and is getting decent reviews at Amazon. The print version is a gem of a little paperback novel. I’d buy one for every bathroom in the house and your living room coffee table. I assure you, that book is a serious conversation starter.