Category Archives: Blog

On Stepping Down as Guernica’s Fiction Editor

I started at Guernica almost 16 years ago—16 years this July. It’s time for me to step down as its founding fiction editor. Guernica was about a year and a half old when I began at the site. It was … Continue reading

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Look Me Up: Moving to Portland, OR

So I don’t bury the lede: I’m moving to Portland, Oregon and will be living there, starting in August. I will be working remotely. Why do we make big decisions, though: Aren’t they always both inchoate and complex? I’ve been … Continue reading

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Maybe Biden Did Just Fine?

Of course, while watching the debate, I thought of things that Biden needed to say. When Trump talked about Russia, I wanted Biden to ask about the $400 million mystery loan that was probably filtered to him through Deutsche Bank … Continue reading

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9/11: The Wrong People Are Praised in Our Society

The first time I saw the smoke was from the 21st floor of the Conde Nast building in Times Square—a dot of black and gray, far down the island. We evacuated our building because it was the tallest one in … Continue reading

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The Thing About New York City . . .

You’ll always run into someone who will tell you it was better just before you got here. Since you got here, it’s just not as good—it’s now a mall. It’s now a ghost town. You should have seen it a … Continue reading

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Brooklyn Book Festival Panel: Aftershock

On the face of it, the name of my Brooklyn Book Festival panel was a bit grim: Aftershock: Putting Pieces Together Following Family Disaster, but the session ended up being fun, packed, and fascinating. Description, below. The room was packed.

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Speaking at the 2019 Slice Literary Writers’ Conference

I’m speaking at the Slice Literary Writers’ Conference in a panel on magazines: How they’re managed and run, and how they will likely be managed in the future. Personally, I think digital sites will make stories more visual. I’m not … Continue reading

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Alexa Marketing. This is Something Wholly New

The experience involved 11,000 lines of script, more than 60 storylines and 36 actors… Participants spent an average of 14 minutes in “The Maze” and the game garnered more than 500 million earned media impressions. To promote the second season … Continue reading

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Strategy first. Everything Else Follows

“Don’t let tactics interfere with strategy.” Mark Ritson on Brand Management is how I think when I’m doing my job. I learned how to do it through trial and error. Glad I’m doing it the way it’s taught.

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Now on LitHub: That Time I Met and Interviewed Donald Trump—and Worked for Him

I interviewed Donald Trump—not about his fortune or his various ambitions, but about his relationship with Tiger Woods. This was when I was (sigh) managing editor of his magazine, Trump Style. More on that on Literary Hub.

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Robert Indiana: Create New Spaces and Communities that Allow You to Create New Art.

When I was about 12, I went to an artist talk given by Robert Indiana (RIP) in Charleston, SC. Like everyone at the talk, I was there to see the man who’d created the LOVE sculpture that was so famous, … Continue reading

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My Lost Stories

I’d completely forgotten that a lot of my fiction is located on this site. There’s some stuff there that’s now lost—the magazines went out of business. Stories like this one: The Town Secrets by Meakin Armstrong Grace works at Minot’s Drug … Continue reading

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Guernica and Best American Short Stories

A Guernica story by Jocelyn Nicole Johnson was just selected for Best American Short Stories, edited by Roxane Gay. So pleased. Read it here:

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My Grandmother the Flirt

My grandmother was a Southern woman who dropped out of school to raise her four brothers and sisters when her parents died. I’m vague on the details, but life was hard. She got the kids off the farm near McClellanville, … Continue reading

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Guns and Funerals

Fresh from getting my Columbia MFA, I was broke and in need of quick cash. I accepted a gig as a proofreader and editor of funeral brochures in Brooklyn. The company, located in a rambling warehouse off Gowanus Canal, was … Continue reading

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