A Man Walks into a Bar: An Interview about Time, Writing, and What Isn't Revealed

Photo by Mark Kelly, used under CC license

The incredibly generous writer and editor, Michael Noll, is featuring my story "The Midwife" on his website Read to Write Stories.

On Tuesday he featured a writing exercise based on the story, and today's installment is an interview with me in which I discuss why I don't use advertising in a story and some of the problems caused by writing in present tense and how I tend to deal with those.

A man also walks into a bar. Come on over. :)

NOW AVAILABLE: The Midwife in Glint Literary Journal, 2012

"Get Back Better On",
Photograph by Eleanor Leonne Bennett,
Cover art for Glint Literary Journal 2012

"Along the block of mostly abandoned storefronts, the barber turns the sign to Sorry we're CLOSED Please come back tomorrow, and moves the red plastic arrow to 7 AM. No customers came in today, yesterday, or the day before. But no matter, you keep the same hours every day, said her father when, after her mother's hysterectomy, he began officially training her for her inheritance."

"The Midwife", by Erin Pringle-Toungate, just came out in the newest issue of Glint Literary Journal.  It will be in her book Midwest in Memoriam.  The story follows Susan, a woman who has inherited the family barber shop as well as the "delivery" end of the business.

The managing editor of Glint, professor and writer Brenda Mann Hammack, wrote a very welcoming and in-depth introduction to the work in this issue.  Regarding "The Midwife", she writes, 

At least three works of short fiction (Noah Milligan’s “Amid the Flood of Mortal Ills,” Alexandra Pajak’s “Election Day,” and Erin Toungate’s “The Midwife”) concern themselves with feasible futures that challenge faith. 

[. . .] Language has undergone a similar sea change in Toungate’s narrative as a young girl is inducted into the family business of “midwifery.” In each of these speculative texts, the authors imagine that the world as we know it has vanished, though not entirely.

Other artists in this issue are Eleanor Leonne Bennett, Ivan de Monbrison, Christine Dano Johnson, B.D. Fischer, Noah Milligan, Alexandra Pajak, Abdel Shakur, and David Vardeman.  

Glint Literary Journal comes out of Fayetteville State University in North Carolina.  

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NOW AVAILABLE! The Nortang Bears in SAND Journal, Issue 5

 You can now read her story "The Nortang Bears" in Issue 5 of SAND Journal: Berlin's English Literary Journal, which just hit the stands.  You can find issues of SAND in shops around Berlin or order it via email/Paypal, and they'll send you a copy by post. 

If the story were long, she'd share a bit more, but it's a very short story, and one of her favorites at the moment.

Up in the high mountains live the Nortang Bears . . . 

Superb News! Pringle-Toungate 2012 Artist Trust Fellowship Recipient

A Washington arts foundation, Artist Trust has awarded Erin Pringle-Toungate a writing fellowship.  She is one of sixteen artists in Washington state to be awarded the honor, and one of eight in the literary arts category. Over 400 people applied for a fellowship.  Artist Trust is a not-for-profit arts organization that supports regional artists in their pursuits.  


"Fellowships award $7,500 to practicing professional artists of exceptional talent and demonstrated ability."  ~from the Artist Trust website


To read the list of other winning artists, please see the Artist Trust website or the press release in The Seattle Times.

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Needless to say, she's very pleased and will be able to finish Midwest in Memoriam completely this summer and make a deep start into a new book.  A new book?  It's dazzling to consider.

Cheers!