Sunday, December 9, 2012

New Short Published on Every Day Fiction

I meant to post about this yesterday, but it completely slipped my mind. Busy little beaver, this one.
I've got a new piece of flash fiction published over at Every Day Fiction. It seems to be polarizing the readers quite a bit thus far, but I suppose that's a good thing. In my opinion, worthwhile fiction is going to stir different emotions in different readers. What one person reveres, another may chastise. It's certainly better than a lackluster response. 
I'm overall pretty pleased with what I accomplished in such a short space. Check it out for yourself here:

http://www.everydayfiction.com/the-unwilling-trophy-wife-by-chad-stroup/

Leave a rating or comment there if you feel like it.

Friday, November 30, 2012

AWP Intro Journals Nomination

Looks like the "Art-Making in the Technosphere" collaboration that I edited and co-wrote (see my November 4th post) has been nominated for the AWP Intro Journals award. A pretty nice compliment whether it wins or not. So yeah...this is basically just a braggart post...sue me. I deserve one of those every now and then. Congrats and good luck to the rest of my co-authors on this project.

Monday, November 26, 2012

New Short(s) Published on Slit your Wrists E-Zine

Looks like I'm getting behind on my own self-promotion. I had a couple of flash fiction pieces published by the Slit Your Wrists E-Zine about 3 weeks ago and didn't even realize it (to clarify...I knew they were publishing it, but I didn't know it had already happened so quickly after they informed me). Whoopsie...
Anyways, I am pretty fond of these two semi-related shorts, so it's good to see someone else appreciated them enough to share them with the world. The two shorts are called "Cuerpo en el Dolor" and "Cuerpo en el Placer." You can check them out here:


Enjoy...leave comments or something. Let me know I'm not just randomly vomiting into cyberspace here.

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Collaboration Published in Fiction International

A few months back, I was involved in a collaborative effort with a few of my fellow MFA colleagues. The ever-supportive Professor Hal Jaffe decided he wanted to publish these in the upcoming edition of Fiction International, which has a theme of "Real Time/Virtual." While there is a print version forthcoming, the texts have just been published on the Fiction International Wordpress blog, so you can go ahead and preview those here:

http://fictioninternational.wordpress.com/2012/11/04/welcome-to-art-making-in-the-technosphere/

My sections are the two that begin with "Dear Sirs of Happy Coupling..." and "I wanted to rip my eyes out." While there are eight total authors in the collaboration, my pieces are direct collaborations with Randall Lahrman, whose segments immediately follow both of mine. You will eventually see something else from Randall on Subvertbia (as soon as I can bug him enough to find the time to write a short horror story for me. Hurry up, dude!).

As a side note, I also managed the developmental editing on this project. I think it came out quite well, and that everyone was able to bring their "A" game on this one!

Monday, October 8, 2012

New Short Story Published in Anthology

Just got the news today that the anthology with my new story has been officially released. It's called Enter at Your Own Risk: Fires and Phantoms and is a collection of gay-themed ghost stories. My story is titled "Prickle the Ivories." Between this story and my poem "Chloe" that was published in Educe Journal a few months back, it appears that at least some of my work is destined to be accepted by the queer community. Definitely cool with that (hell, I'm cool with almost any audience that'll take me in, but I do have a soft spot for all things LGBT). Sheesh, wait until I finish my novel...only my wife will be able to confirm my sexual orientation.

Here's a link to purchase the Kindle edition on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Enter-Your-Own-Risk-ebook/dp/B009LOOCKU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349684082&sr=8-1&keywords=enter+at+your+own+risk%3A+fires+and+phantoms

And the print version from Barnes and Noble:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/enter-at-your-own-risk-alex-scully/1113145342?ean=9781479228096

Also...here's a link to the publisher's site with some info about the book:

http://www.firbogpublishing.com/Library.html


Sort of crazy to think that I have a story in a book that also features work from Edgar Allan Poe and Edith Wharton. Sweet.

Saturday, October 6, 2012

On a Meathook


Hello everyone...sorry it's been forever since my last post. I'm just a busy little beaver. Here's a quick treat for you. This poem was previously published in the San Diego Poetry Annual.
Dedicated to everyone who values and respects the lives of non-human animals...or maybe it's dedicated to those who don't...hmm...

ON A MEATHOOK

sterling clinks fine china
stained with filthy ichor
savor the spirit
that dances down the gullet
wails echo from afar
the executioner wipes
the sanguine blade
upon his apron
relish in
humanity

in the grim field
gazing
into her moist orbs
so sweet with life
her mottled hair
once so brilliant
soon commodified
sold for magic beans
her manure
perpetuates the cycle

she finds her next life
in the form of prosperous
gilded arches
sentience sliced
and processed into the smiles
of naive
ethereal minds
condiments will mask
the flavor
of malfeasance

the body of mankind
a tomb
the epitaph--
nutritional statistics
the elegy--
a catchy jingle
lyrical lies
drawing flies
that pulp caught twixt your teeth
was someone's baby

the heart
is cheap gristle
with compassion
stunned
into nebulous
oblivion
children's laughter
children slaughtered
selfish tastes
lead to cancerous fates

Sunday, August 26, 2012

Short Story Published by Penduline

My story "Maternal Instinct" has just been published by the online journal Penduline. In this issue, their theme is "WTF?" Well, I'm pretty confident that I gave them the ultimate WTF? story. It's one of my favorite pieces I've written in recent months, and also my very first attempt at writing from a woman's first-person perspective. You can check it out here:

http://www.pendulinepress.com/author-article-archives/maternal-instinct/

Let me know what you think!

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

They-Who-Do-Not-Exist


Not much to say about this one...just an allegorical "unseen monster" sort of tale I suppose.

THEY-WHO-DO-NOT-EXIST

Reading, Pennsylvania and its inhabitants cannot be seen with the naked eye; they must face each harsh morning using only the sense of smell. Those with leather wallets and a bloodhound's nose are fortunate enough to pay the landlord most months. The town's sense of sound is also keen, but the screams that pervade the night are typically ignored, drowned out by the shared crunch of day-old bread, the pressure of liquor's languor.
Within the city limits lays an invisible beast that bellows: a roaring lion with claw and tooth ravaging the potential of youth, claiming more victims than can be counted by the Census Bureau. It never crosses the Penn Street Bridge for fear of being discovered. The monster punishes the locals for their poverty, dips into its own till, traps itself within.
A glass bottle transforms from comfort to weapon.
A gunshot echoes at 5th and Penn.
Again.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

New Poem Published in Educe Journal

The second issue of Educe Journal has just been released and it features a poem of mine titled "Chloe." Educe is known for publishing queer literature, which is obviously usually written by those who identify as such, so it's an extra bonus that the editors were impressed enough with my work to publish it despite my "straight" status. I consider myself to be queer friendly in both my writing and my personal life, so it's an honor to be included in this publication.
If anyone is interested in purchasing either a digital or hard copy of this issue, here is the link:

http://www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/417174

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Sonnet of Samhain (mischief night version)


Here's the companion piece to my last post, as promised (which was published alongside it in the same journal). I played with this one a little more to give it a more modernized feel, whereas the other sonnet was "older" in its feel. This one still basically adheres to a Shakespearean sonnet form, but the iambic pentameter is purposely less perfect. I enjoy them both for different reasons...if anyone out there has a favorite, let me know in the comments!


SONNET OF SAMHAIN (mischief night version)

hey! let's pretend we're boogeymen again
in plastic, rubber, thrift store finds we've dressed
voorhees, krueger, myers—our chosen men
the masks we wear are spooky (fuck the rest)

we'll never be too old for tricks and treats
toilet-papered trees won't be easily stopped
our terror's in the hidden nooks of streets
ringing your bells and then avoiding cops 

costumes adorned with bile, blood, and grue
if candy rots our teeth then so be it,
the devil's sugar is our impish fuel
our classic scares will fill your pants with shit

world at our mercy, let's take back this night
not for the weak, a holiday with bite!


Wednesday, July 4, 2012

Sonnet of Samhain (traditional)


This little ditty was originally published in a journal called Synesthesia. There is also a companion sonnet that was published alongside this one. I will post that one up in a few days.


SONNET OF SAMHAIN (traditional)

this night we don the masks of those we've lost
such frightful flesh does tickle at our cheeks
the lines of blessed and damned have now been crossed
'tis goblins and sly demons that we seek
through trickery and guile we prevail
a sacrificial feast upon our plates
sweetmeats between our teeth so sick and stale
we dabble in divinity, not hate
where spirit and corporeal now meet
we dance under the black flames of the sky
don't dread the tiptoe tapping of our feet
the darkness will soon offer its goodbyes 
tomorrow we shan't regret what we've done
just wicked children yearning to have fun

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Untitled Short #4


Okay, so here's the other "true" short I promised to post. This one's arguably a little wackier than the first one.

In some Georgian cultures, shoving hash browns down one's pants makes for a more proficient soccer player. Greasy, chafing crotch burns are known for assisting in focusing on goals.
One hash brown=$1.06
One bail release=$1,500

The culprit's been banned from twelve UGA eateries for a year.

A masked blessing, perhaps?

Monday, June 11, 2012

New Short Published on Lingustic Erosion

Hey everyone,
My very short piece, titled "Bleak Iridescent Shark," has been posted on Linguistic Erosion. It's a tad bit Lovecraft-y. Go check it out here:

Saturday, June 9, 2012

Untitled Short #3


This is one of two very short pieces inspired by bizarre, yet true news items. I'll post the other one in the next week or so.


Stealing candy from a baby was breezy—he figured there’s probably no chore in pilfering the brat's savings.

Two important questions:

A butcher gutting a piggy bank—unconscious desire?

If Baby Mama only has $60, a cellphone, and some condoms worth burglarizing, where the hell is a two-year-old acquiring $400?

Monday, June 4, 2012

Comments Disclaimer

Okay, so for some reason my settings were not allowing comments for anyone, even though I definitely had them set that way when I originally started the blog. So now I've fixed it. If anyone has been just dying to leave me a comment, now's your chance! I'd appreciate some thoughts on any of the posts I've made. Thanks, jerkies.

Friday, June 1, 2012

Satan Scare in San Diego


Here is a haiku series (sort of) about a prank I began, but never followed through with, when I was a wee lad. It was a brilliant plan if I do say so myself, but I was probably distracted by skateboarding, girls, or going to shows. Oh well...

SATAN SCARE IN SAN DIEGO
an experiment in the power, influence, and mystery of slogans and cultism

harvest crusade slaves
bumper sticker theism
time to taste my jape

create my label
spread amongst the gullible
fears of deviled youth

upside down crosses
sixhundredandsixtysix
pointed star of five

peel the layers back
sticker's truth will still remain
religion may fib

wasn't authentic
but perhaps you question it

Monday, May 28, 2012

Jake Oliver—"Let the Good Times Roll"


When I first began this blog, I loosely "promised" that I would eventually be including an occasional Featured Writer post. Well, that time has finally come. Hopefully there will be a couple more of these over the summer.
I first met Jake Oliver a couple of years ago in a poetry class. I was pretty much immediately drawn to his sick, fearless mind. This particular piece is what I would consider quite tame for Jake's standards, though still well-written. I think he was just scared to send me any of his psychosexual stuff. 
Chicken.


Let the Good Times Roll

It started out as something like Leaving Las Vegas without the theatrics or the bad haircut, and certainly no Elisabeth Shue. I unwrapped a fifth of whiskey; I believe it was Penderyn, which is to my knowledge the only Welsh whiskey, and with a shaking hand I poured a drink any proper Englishman would deem ghastly—but I’m an expat, and here in this closeted environ, a dingy motel room at thirty-six quid a night, there are no noses to be looked down and surely a suicide, a drawn-out one or no, isn’t concerned with English claims to undisputed gin superiority. I don’t believe the English distill whiskey, and in this still we’re looking at, hand wrapped around a smudged glass that must’ve gone a week since its last cleaning, the man framed couldn’t give two shits.
            The man in the still has come to Hammersmith to drink himself to death. 

Bio:
Jake Oliver is a righteous dude from Maine who also happens to have a morbid fascination with Nicolas Cage and believes Deadfall may be the pinnacle of cinematic achievement. He attends San Diego State University and is closing in on completion of an MFA in Creative Writing (Poetry). 

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Detour

Okay, so school is over for the semester, so hopefully I'll be posting at least slightly more frequently throughout the summer. Here's a little quickie about a man in, ahem, love with what he finds to be the perfect woman...


DETOUR


     “I've been needing to see you...so badly. Please come with me tonight.”
     The lost man pleaded through the meticulously adorned glass.
     “My wife thinks I had to drop off some paperwork so I could come out this way.”
     She did not respond, did not even bother to look at him.
     The dress salaciously hugged her breasts and waist.
     She modeled Juicy Couture, advertised at Saks for $99.99.
     Her legs reflected fluorescent lighting, both blinding and stirring him.
     “Please tell me...I don't even know your name.”
     Her face eternally yearned.
     He loved her dearly.
     She was plastic.
     Flawless.