Excerpts from the Void
A new story from BAD HOUSES! A new poem! And various other dispatches from the void (& info on a newsletter for paid subscribers).
Welcome to the first full installment of Excerpts from the Void—my free newsletter about all things JES (& keep reading to hear plans for the first paid-subscriber newsletter, which I’m hoping to put out next month). I’m happy you’re here.
Somehow, it’s already July, and too many things have been happening and not happening in the world of JES. We are officially less than two months away from the release of my new book BAD HOUSES, which has snuck up on me. There’s definitely going to be more on that soon, but I can say that if you’re in the greater Kansas City area, I’m going to be doing my first book launch at The Raven in Lawrence, Kansas on Tuesday, September 3 (7pm!). Who are a great store to pre-order books from as well, if you’re in the US and are looking for an indie store to order from. But also it seems likely that things will emerge in St Louis, Winnipeg (MB), and hopefully a few other places. My next letter will likely have everything (at least for the first few months) set up, so keep an eye out for that one in early August!
Some Publications!
Speaking of BAD HOUSES, my short story “Engagement” from the book is now up on Plenitude magazine! This is a dark little tale about living in the age of social media, and the struggle to try and put yourself out there (& the ease with which you can lose yourself). It’s a strange one—which is no surprise, since the book is full of strange ones—check it out here!
I also have a brand new poem out in the world today: my poem “(It Is Hard Not To) Envy The Corpse” is out now on DUSIE. Thanks to rob mclennan for featuring it. Check that out here!
In terms of what I’ve been up to, it’s been a bit of a whirlwind of various little projects: working on stuff for BAD HOUSES, pencilling my graphic novel, teaching a course on revision through the Lawrence Arts Center, and just generally trying to acclimate to the new job schedule. I also feel like I’m still recovering from the last semester of teaching, as well as the grief of leaving that part of my life behind (for now). But I’m also beginning to feel a marvelous sense of space (intellectually and creatively) knowing that I don’t have to start worrying about lesson planning. But I also feel like I may have too many projects bouncing around my head right now, trying to find a way out, such that my creative life is feeling a bit too much like Mr Burns’s “Three Stooges Syndrome”.
As well, despite that I really was planning to be mostly underemployed this summer, I’ve taken on some work as a grant writer for a local org—which is something I never thought I’d do. But the org is cool and I want to use my powers to help them continue to support and enrich the community. More detail on that in future letters, I’m sure, as right now it’s still brand new and in development.
I’ve also been doing a bit of documentary photography work for some friends of mine who recently had a baby. This isn’t public-facing work, so I don’t know how much I’ll ever share (above is one photo I shared on my instagram, of my wife Melanie and the baby sort of mirroring one another), but I am sure at some point in the future I’ll share a larger sampling of it. I’ve been having a lot of fun, though, and the work has further proven that documentary and portrait/people photography is really where I want to live (photographically). I have also been developing some ideas for some other projects I want to start as well, including more self-staged, composite photos like the one at the top of this newsletter.
So if you need someone to document something…hit me up! I’d love to get involved.
I also took a lot of photographs at this deeply Evangelical wedding I went to. Here’s me in the blazing Oklahoma sun.
Some particularly great news!
The poetry collection More Sure, by A. Light Zachary, won the Trillium award for poetry! I was very lucky to have been asked by my friend Light & Arsenal Pulp Press (my main publisher) to edit this book, and I’m so jazzed to see it be recognized by this award—which, given the amount of Canadian books come out of Ontario, is about as competitive as it gets!
It’s been a big year for books I’ve edited, as the first novel I’ve had the pleasure of editing for a press—Disobedience by Daniel Sarah Karasik—also came out just this spring from BookHug. Order both from your favorite indie bookstore today!
The Void (Unabridged)—Coming soon!
The last thing I want to touch on are my plans to begin having a more in-depth version of this newsletter starting next month as a thank you to my paid subscribers, which I will be calling The Void (Unabridged). There’s no important information that will be withheld from this free newsletter, of course, but if you’d like to follow my work in a bit more detail—while also helping support that work being done, during a time when I’m increasingly feeling the strain of not having anywhere near the income I’ve been accustomed to (and while being saddled with the demoralizing cost of health insurance in a fading empire)—then I welcome you to subscribe! You’ll be basically getting a letter like this, but with a bit more commentary, or a few more photos, and perhaps an occasional sneak-peek at some stuff I’m working on! It means the world, and I really am heartened that I’ve already had a few subscribers (before I’ve even had anything to offer as thanks!).
Also, I’m cognizant that this cost can be prohibitive to folks, so if you are facing financial barriers but really want to receive the expanded letter, don’t hesitate to message me on here or reach out to me directly at john.elizabeth.stintzi@gmail.com and I can hook you up.
That’s all for now. I hope you are all having a good summer! I’d also just love to hear if you’ve been reading anything amazing this summer, as I’ve been (for the last few years, frankly!) having a lot of trouble finding stuff that truly grabs me. So please leave me some book recommendations in the comments/in reply to this email.
Voidly yours,
JES
I read this pre-summer/pre-baby but feel like you might dig Jonathan Abernathy You Are Kind.