Story in Literary Orphans

When the Literary Orphans editor accepted my story "The Pines," the editor said it was "very unique." The piece was unusual for me, because my initial impulse was about form, not story or character.  I thought about writing a story told both from the present and and past tense to express how difficult it can be to break free from a traumatic event.  The past is still present, and you can get trapped in the past, especially if you are blaming yourself.  You're caught in a loop.

I don't write a lot of pieces with experimental forms, but I have published a few before, such as "My Route" and "Dear Squirrel," which both appeared in Corium. Another example is "The Moon in Daytime," which appeared in Wilderness House Literary Review. "The Pines" is my second story to appear in Literary Orphans.  The first, "Just So You Know," also had a slightly unusual form, as it was spoken directly to another character.  ​