creative writing – J. S. Kuiken

Ch-Ch-Chaaanges

Changing careers and sticking with the novel writing.

I’ve applied for a few Stegner Fellowships in my time, and inevitably found myself looking at the biographies for the current Stegner Fellows. Supposedly the fellowship takes people from all walks of life, with different educational backgrounds. The website for the Stegner Fellowship states that a degree is not a prerequisite for the program. AndContinue reading “Impoverishment”

I am in the House of Mercy

I’ve been writing shorter fiction this summer, while I’m on a break from my main manuscript. This excerpt is from one of those pieces of shorter fiction, titled Queer as Love. The story follows a married couple as one of them transitions from female to male. This part comes after the narrator, who is the cisgender spouse,Continue reading “I am in the House of Mercy”

Short Story Publication: The Blind Tattooist

Today my short story, “The Blind Tattooist”, came out in issue three of |tap|. This story is important to me for a few reasons. It is that it is the first publication I’ve had in the two years since I began submitting short stories professionally, since I decided I would only submit to paying markets.Continue reading “Short Story Publication: The Blind Tattooist”

A Heart that Burns

I finished the second draft of my novella, Bloom. It’s just under 57k. I may have to do some tinkering with the third draft and consider designating it as a novel. I do feel accomplished, but I also feel relieved. I’ve been chasing this ending for what feels like forever, and I am ready to beContinue reading “A Heart that Burns”

#writelifemay Day 2 – WIP

So day two of #writelifemay is “WIP”, aka, work in progress. I wasn’t sure what to post and so settled on posting an excerpt from my work in progress. The official blurb for my current work in progress is: “Men ought to love men, and do.” Ben, a straight man, falls in love with his bestContinue reading “#writelifemay Day 2 – WIP”

Light at the End

I am five chapters from finishing the second draft of my book. It will be 11 months and a little over 50,000 words of work on this draft. Edited to add: I will have written far more than 50,000 words for this draft. The 50k words are the words which survived editing and pruning to makeContinue reading “Light at the End”

Poem: love

This came out of a poetry exercise, in which I was supposed to use nonsense words to write about love. It didn’t really work out that way, but I am pleased with the results nonetheless.

Poem: Sweet and Thick

I wrote this poem a week and a half ago. It was part of an exercise from Easy Guide to Writing Poetry, which I admit has proven very useful in my quest to learn how to write poetry. Sweet and Thick A tumble of red and yellow silver bodies and limbs a wide pale blue arc andContinue reading “Poem: Sweet and Thick”

Excerpt: Up to No Good

My current main project is a novella tentatively titled “Bloom”. It’s about a man who believes he is straight, Ben, falling in love with his gay best friend, David. This is an excerpt. It occurs in the last third of the story, when Ben has begun really wrestle with the question of his sexuality. Is he straight? IsContinue reading “Excerpt: Up to No Good”