Pond 42 - 2018 |
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Writing humor isn’t as easy as it seems, especially if it’s smart dumb humor. If you’re so inclined check out StC’s sister site Decasp.com. Several StC authors have been featured there. Fair warning though, it’s the exact opposite of StC.
As for StC, this issue includes the first creative non-fiction selected after I opened submissions up to CNF. It also includes an author profile of John Jeffire whose piece in issue 40 received the most votes. ALSO - Would you mind taking a second to fill out this anonymous survey about StC Apparel. Enjoy! - Ken Apparel for all at the Bait Shop. Support the Carp.
No account needed to view or purchase. Women's and Men's apparel available. Short and Long sleeve available. Visit the store for additional designs. |
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S H O R T S T O R Y
When you first start Rita Stevens’ ‘Deer on Roof’ you might think it’s a kiddie story involving Santa. You’d be way wrong.
P O E M
‘Plein Air, Deconstructed’ by Donna Wallace wonderfully shows us how to be the art, be in the moment.
P O E M
I’m fairly certain most marriages beyond twenty years have their share of the grit and sadness portrayed by Gary Lark in ‘A Marriage’.
C R E A T I V E N O N - F I C T I O N
For a musician there’s nothing worse than when a movie shows one on screen, but has the wrong instrument playing on the soundtrack. Queue Michael Coolen’s ‘Canadian Actors Cannot Dance and Other Things I Learned Watching Hallmark Movies’.
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S H O R T S T O R Y
Mary Donaldson-Evans’ ‘Waiting for Respect’ is a nice vignette that handles foreign language use perfectly. Read and learn.
P O E M
Anyone with a teen will see the raw truth Meg Freer portrays in ‘Things are different now’.
P O E M
‘Volcanoes (A Failed Sonnet)’ by Elizabeth Alford will ring true for, well, every writer. Her poem is featured in the Mind of a Poet.
S H O R T S T O R Y
Classical music buffs will love Fred McGavran’s farcical ‘Beethoven’s 10th’. Others will merely love it a smidge less.
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Show Your Support...
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Author Profile
John Jeffire 
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Mind of a Poet
Elizabeth Alford 
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ARTISTS and SHUTTERBUGS I’m looking for original artwork and enhanced photos featuring Carp (including Koi) for the Carpwork Gallery. See the Submissions page for details. |
Author's Row
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Patrick Reardon
In “Requiem for David,” Patrick T. Reardon wrestles with the suicide of his brother and the pain they shared as the children of demanding and emotionally absent parents. Novelist-poet Sandra Cisneros calls Reardon's book “the heart’s howl,” and poet Haki Madhubuti writes: “Reardon’s poetry reminds me of the great poet and Catholic priest, Daniel Berrigan.”
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William Swarts
Readers praise William Swarts’ latest poetry collection, Harmonies Unheard: for example, ”Bill Swarts rewards us with poetry of an often delightful earthiness and much ironic humor,” says Black Buzzard Press publisher and poet Bradley Straham. “This is a book not to be missed.” And, University of Vermont English Professor Emeritus Richard Sweterlitsch agrees, “His verses resonate with rich images; his themes are universal.”
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Ken Poyner
A collection of fantastical mini-fictions. A man who encounters mammoth rustlers. Houses that begin to move on their own, forcing the inhabitants to finally introduce themselves to their neighbors. Giant chickens that are hunted for processing in the chicken sandwich industry. And much more.
Humor, irony, mythical realism, surrealism, soft science fiction. |
Ken Schweda
If you enjoy thought provoking, unusual science fiction, that might not even make sense the first time you read it, then this book of short stories is for you.
A summary for them might be: first contact, pig, birds and black holes, conspiracy, more birds, lunacy (or not?), lost time. Your reaction to each story might be something like: ? ? ? , , , ? . . . !!! , , ? |
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Jacqueline Jules
“Jules’ gift is in finding the small moments — green paisley pajamas, carrot cake, the giggle of a nine-year-old boy — and gracefully elevating them to tell the story of a life. If half of all marriages end in widowhood, Stronger Than Cleopatra is a manual for how to go on.”
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Jeanne Julian
The changing seasons provide a framework for these poems that explore the loss and rebirth in the natural world and in the spirit. "These poems challenge and resonate; the reader will be haunted by them." - David E. Poston, author of Slow of Study
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Ken Poyner
Forty-two surreal, irreal, subreal fictions of master bird races, nine foot tall women, chickens and their cell phones, the collection and consumption of oxygen, a surrogate lover for a mermaid.
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Brett Stuckel
Guided by Shadows: A Westward Walk on Spain's Camino de Santiago. Discover the absurdity of Europe’s most famous pilgrim path (a Kindle eShort, ~15,000 words, also available for Nook and Kobo).
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Carol Roan
When Last on the Mountain: The View from Writers over 50 offers nonfiction, fiction, and poetry that range from the heart-wrenching to the hilarious. Who better to bear witness to the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune than writers over 50?
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Carol Roan
Speak Up: The Public Speaking Primer is an inspirational guide through the thickets of stage fright, in all its forms, to the freedom of speaking up. The journey begins with a breathing exercise and wends its way through practical advice about the use of space and energy.
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William Quincy Belle
Fate can be kind. Fate can be cruel. However, every once in a while, fate can be funny. This is the lust love story of how one man met the most unusual of women in the most unusual of circumstances.
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