House of Bourbon
House of Bourbon was the first of my experimental pieces. The following chronological piece – which is still in review for a contest – Three Pills, took what I was testing in this piece to the next level. All of the work in House of Bourbon and Three Pills became vital to me during Tesla’s Travels, where I utilized what I had learned through these pieces to drive home a fundamental sub plot of the manuscript. I don’t want to give much away, so here is the link: House of Bourbon. If you are interested in more details about the piece, continue reading, but you need to understand that the following is full of explanation.
Back – We Are
I am exhausted so this will be short. We are officially back online. The short story section has been completely remodeled and has a whole new section: Semi-New Short Stories. Inside of this section are 12 unreleased short stories for your reading pleasure. I will be doing features and write ups about each new piece over the next two weeks. So expect a couple of emails. I also have to find a blender to take a very specific picture for one of the short stories – Solutions – so you will notice there is a weird gap in the page. I apologize but I wanted to get this all up before I begin actually writing the sixth manuscript. Also, I need to update the manuscript page. I did delete links to further information on manuscripts as I don’t have much to add there. Either way, enjoy some new pieces and look for the featured emails that will be coming out soon!
Sincerely,
Theodore J Maestranzi
Website is Down
You got fifteen minutes before I play closing time.
Another Chunk Down
Just finished laying out the Semi-New Short Story section and then populated it with information. At the time, I can’t find a graphic I need for one short story Solution; I haven’t eaten in nine hours, so I am taking a break. Once I have that graphic, that page will be done. I will be taking the site down sometime tonight to rework the landing page for short stories. I will have to get to manuscripts tomorrow, as I am exhausted right now and not sure if I will have much gas left.
Crunching Along
The databases have been cleaned up so browsing should be faster for the next six months until I have to perform more routine maintenance – nothing like database spring cleaning to really knock you down into an exhausted state. After getting the rest of the short stories prepped for the website (I had a lot more than I imagined, and two are still pending at two separate magazines (therefore they won’t be on the site until I get the rejection letters)), I decided a cup of coffee and a run was in order to spike my energy levels. Threw in a mango and it looks like I should be able to lift a car and climb a mountain. Instead of using my wonderful spike in energy to throw a car and fulfill my life long dream of being called the hulk, I will be sitting at my desk pounding down lemon and mineral water and trying to get the entire site reorganized. I decided I will have to do the graphic work for the pieces later, I can’t switch from IT and web UI to Graphic Designer without going insane. Alright, time to build out the Semi-New Short Story page template and populate it! See you guys on the other side!
I don’t remember that…
A very interesting issue is arising as I am going through my work to populate the website. During my experimental writing to try and hone in on having multiple narrators, I wrote a few different pieces… the issue is I don’t remember writing these pieces. I found three pieces that I know I wrote; I remember writing them, but I totally forgot about. Compare that with Gopple which is in the Old Work section, which I remember till this day and is a go to suggestion when someone wants to read my work – written in 2013 but still a go too for me. Luckily, I have started running into work that I was very passionate about, but those few pieces I didn’t remember scared me.
Been Awhile
At the time, I am currently trying to find a career that isn’t in the writing world as I still do not have representation. Because of this, I have been dropping certain things from my schedule – updating the website is one of those things. I am still writing; I am beginning work on the sixth manuscript because I am a writer, and therefore, I will never drop working on novels from my life. However, I have receded all current submissions of short stories that have been with magazines for over six months. But why would you do that? You need publication credits to get an agent to represent you?
Simple, I want to published these semi-new pieces on my website as they are outdated compared to my current writing style but are better than the current work available on this website. I want you all to have access to more of my writing. Perhaps, I have become jaded but I want my writing to be accessible not locked in a submission manager for over six months. So, today I am going to get this ol’ site back up to a more current portfolio of my work.
Three “New” Flash Fiction Pieces
Oh happy days! There are three new short stories – flash fiction – available on the website. These additions were part of a contest with the Harvard Book Store and were written in a single sitting. I have my personal favorite, but I will not share which one that is with you. As I have been busy, I am hoping to take sometime soon to deploy a massive backlog of short stories (most of which I find lacking my newest style). Either way, please enjoy the new pieces in the flash fiction section. The three new pieces are: Please, Don’t Recycle, A Little Vanilla, and Family Matters. Is it my best work? No idea, I am a novelist who writes short stories for practice and experimentation. I enjoy them; I hope you do too.
(Apollonian*TA)+(Dionysian*TD)X=K
I hate drinking holidays and believe they are the bane of existence for humanity. I understand that in our regimented society humans need to enter into a Dionysian form of celebration. That is why we have Carnival, Mardi Gras, Saint Patrick’s Day, Cinco de Mayo, July 4th, and various other days were society collective participates in the narcotic drink of the Gods. This breaks down into a simple equation (that I created for illustration purposes): (Order*TA)+(Chaos*TD)X=K or if you want to go Greek on it: (Apollonian*TA)+(Dionysian*TD)X=K with TA being equal to time in an Apollonian state, TD being equal to time in a Dionysian state, X being a multiplier of intensity, and K being a constant and equilibrium. Our K may be different from person to person, but we as people will constantly try to reach this equilibrium. But how is this an issue?
Just Go Up
I have been filled with fear for the last two and a half years. Around five years ago, I made the decision to write a book – which I never finished. Following that, I tried my hand at a second book; I never finished that one either. At that point in my life, I wasn’t afraid. I was complacent. I had a job, and I was making money; I was on my way to buying a home. Then, I decided to try my hand at really writing a novel and completed my first manuscript – Primo Capite and the Others. This is no longer available for agents or publishers. But it was when I made that decision, to write my first book, that I decided to take my writing seriously. At that moment, I was filled with an abundance of fear. And since that moment, I haven’t lived a day without fear. Why you ask?