Philadelphia

At Play in the Land of Identity

Philadelphia Inquirer Op-Ed on Gender Identity
~ David Biddle ~ 1 Comment

My essay, “Our National Conversation About Gender is One Big Miscommunication,” was published in The Philadelphia Inquirer a few weeks ago. I was fortunate enough to work on it with Commentary and Opinion Editor, Devi Lockwood. I am always grateful when my work goes through the fine-tuning filter of professional editors. I was quite happy with that piece when I submitted it. It says a lot more than pretty much anyone else has said on gender and identity in a long time (check it out if you don’t believe me). However, I wonder if people fully understood that I was pointing my finger at all of us and our growing collective inability to communicate in this nutso country, not just those who have demonstrated political and kneejerk prejudices about transgender culture.

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Why There Are No Final Drafts

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Photo by Jakob Owens on Unsplash

I completed the first draft of a story called “Millie Floating” in the fall of 2004. In those days, my goal was to edit a project until I had a final draft, at which time I could send it out to publications until someone accepted it. That was naive and wrong.

Fast forward nearly two decades. “Millie Floating,” a weird little story about a guy who wonders if his wife has murdered the family dog, was published in the Toho Literary print collection, The Best Short Stories of Philadelphia 2021. It would never have been published if I’d stuck with that final draft theory.

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My Story “Like They’re Waiting” Gets Published

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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.

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After My Book Deal: Life Changing or Same Old Struggle?

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Along with the rest of the world, 2020 was pretty crappy in our household. [I originally wrote a long paragraph here about all the things we failed to do and how miserable we were, but what’s the point in that? Seriously! We’re still here and we’re vaccinated AF, and there’s really nothing else to say than: “Let’s go!”]

So, while a good portion of life certainly sucked here at the dead-end of our little street this past year, I managed to publish a number of short stories and flash fiction pieces with a broad spectrum of literary publications — large, small, well-known, obscure, etc. In addition to which, I signed a book deal in early January 2021 to write three novels over the course of the next several years.

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A Click Away: Where the Good Stuff Is

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BeautifulMorningBlues in Philly
It’s morning in Philadelphia…

We go to people’s websites and blogs following a link from somewhere else. Usually we don’t so much read an article, post, or essay as we absorb it. I have to tell myself to slow down ten times a day when I’m visiting content online. “Slow down, dude. Pay attention. What else is there connected to this site? Read the article. Don’t just link away from it on the first promising reference. Relax!”

There’s interesting stuff at almost any blogger’s site. Certainly there’s a treasure trove of archived information and articles at all the online magazines and professional websites you go to daily. The good stuff is often just a click away. I was recently at one of my favorite author’s sites because I referred to his work in this blog post. Anthony Continue reading →

Divergent Paths: The Most Influential People I Ever Met

~ davidbiddle ~ 6 Comments

I spent the first 30 years of my adult life as a consultant in the world of energy and the environment. I’ve done energy and solid waste audits of over 600 institutional and corporate buildings throughout the United States. During that time I wrote eleven separate manuals on energy conservation and recycling.

I was pretty good at what I Continue reading →

This is a Place I Don’t Feel Alone: Work-in-Progress

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Casual Friday
Casual Friday: double glasses and someone’s underwear

I spent far too much time in 2012 sitting in a little room by myself trying to get people to pay attention to my books and far too little time writing and editing. I had a lot to learn about being an independent writer and publisher. That time was necessary, but it still makes me feel so far behind the eight-ball. It’s a lonely thing, sitting in a little room trying to get people to pay attention to your work.

As last year began, I knew I wanted to publish two sets of stories and my first novel, Beyond the Will of God. I accomplished those goals. The story sets, Trying to Care and Implosions of America, lay out the beginnings of what my true Continue reading →

Holiday Price Slashes: Fiction By David Biddle

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Up to 80% Off!

It’s Black Friday. Holiday pricing for ebook versions of Trying to Care: A Story Collection and Beyond the Will of God: A Jill Simpson Mystery are now at the rather low levels of $0.99 each. Take advantage of these offers. You can read electronic books on E-Readers, of course, but you can also download reading apps from Amazon that let you read books on your smartphone or your computer as well. Books that list at $4.99 cut by 80% to a penny under a dollar are good deals. Buy one for yourself and use Continue reading →