Writer and editor, MFA in Poetry @stthomashouston, Deputy Editor @WisebloodBooks, social media editor @DappledThings1
Joined August 2014
- Tweets 2,676
- Following 1,202
- Followers 804
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234 Photos and videos
Jun 11
The Tale and the Telling: What makes any literary work unique and compelling, even exciting, to read is a good story paired with good telling—that is, the author’s craft, style, and sensibility.
Read more in our newsletter about @EricMichaelCyr's Here It Snows in June & @cribbenMerrill's The Comforts of Exile:
open.substack.com/pub/wisebl…
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Jun 4
In just a few weeks, Here It Snows in June, @EricMichaelCyr's debut collection of short stories from @WisebloodBooks will make its way into the world, and the book has seen a remarkable early reception. While most often the reviews come in a few weeks or months after the book’s release, Here It Snows in June is already yielding a harvest, including this review from @NadyaWilliams81 that came out just a few days ago in @ubookman. Read more in our newsletter:
wisebloodbooks.substack.com/…
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May 28
While it is true for a small house like @WisebloodBooks that “there’s no such thing as bad press,” we prefer good press—because we believe our books deserve it. And while we are truly grateful for any and all reviews of the books we publish, we are especially thankful when a reviewer “gets” the book and brings its merits to the forefront by highlighting the depth and richness of the work in a new way.
Recently, our books have gotten quite a bit of “good press” and we want to share some of it with you today.
Read more in our newsletter:
wisebloodbooks.substack.com/…
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Mary Finnegan retweeted
May 26
Have you picked a novel with the hope that it would quell the desire within? Or have you read a book that made you want to be a better person? Or gave clarity to a real life scenario? Or simply stayed with you in a way you could not explain? Joshua Hren from @WisebloodBooks new book More Than a Matter of Taste: The Moral Imagination and the Spirit of Literature from @WordOnFire new Luminor imprint speaks straight to this. Get lost in these pages about the role of literature in our moral and spiritual life.
Order yours : bookstore.wordonfire.org/col…
amzn.to/49poRqz #affiliatelink
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May 24
A treat today in Talk to Me in Long Line: And excerpt for @je_suis_liv's released-today book, The Blackbird Ballad.
open.substack.com/pub/versea…
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May 22
These stories are, indeed, brilliant!
May 22
Excellent. The angel on the cover shared our prayers and A. A. Kostas delivered. “ . . . many of Smith’s brilliant pieces of fiction are haunted by characters with desperate desires for the transcendent in a world shaped by demeaning systems.” Thank you, A. A. Kostas, for holding Lucas Smith’s work into the light.
firstthings.com/briefly-note…
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May 21
“Welcome to the world of reality—there is no audience. No one to applaud, to admire. No one to see you. Do you understand? Here is the truth—actual heroism receives no ovation, entertains no one. No one queues up to see it. No one is interested….True heroism is minutes, hours, weeks, year upon year of the quiet, precise, judicious exercise of probity and care—with no one there to see or cheer. This is the world.”David Foster Wallace
May 20
It comes out in June, but you can order your copy now at the pre-order price. Here It Snows in June by @EricMichaelCyr from @WisebloodBooks - mythically strange, comic, startling. This one is not to be missed!
wisebloodbooks.substack.com/…
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May 21
In his collection of short stories, Here It Snows in June, Eric Cyr has written about those people who don’t get all the attention, applause, and admiration, those who don’t swirl around saying, “See me, pay attention to me, me, me…” And he has shown us that even the most ordinary of lives is difficult, challenging, and full of opportunities for grace and goodness. Read more in our newsletter and pick up a copy of these excellent stories:
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May 20
Very excited to have my poem "Derecho" appear in this chapbook with excellent poems by some of my favorite poets. I am especially excited to be share Movement II: Fire with great poets I've long admired including (but not limited to those not on this site😉) @DanielCowper @SallyThomasNC @StevenEKnepper @BenMyersPoet
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May 20
It comes out in June, but you can order your copy now at the pre-order price. Here It Snows in June by @EricMichaelCyr from @WisebloodBooks - mythically strange, comic, startling. This one is not to be missed!
wisebloodbooks.substack.com/…
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May 14
10 Great Films with Strong Christian Themes (6-10) anteroomproduction.com/blog/… via @Anteroom80867
"Shane, like Alyosha, can see who he is—or perhaps more accurately, what he is. He sees beyond the mere profession of gunslinging and senses something deeper and more sinister. He is a gunslinger because he is something else first: a violent man. It is not that he is undisciplined or wild; much of the film emphasizes his restraint. He knows violence intimately. He understands it. In its wake, he feels at home. And Shane believes his curse is that he will never truly escape it, no matter the clothes he wears or the company he keeps."
My brother is one of those incredibly smart people who can see things others don't.
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Mary Finnegan retweeted
May 12
If you're a Christian and/or a writer, would you mind sharing this post with your people? You might know some writers interested in what we've got to offer this summer in historic Winona Lake. grace.edu/about/the-winona-c…
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May 12
What does it mean to be a reader of good taste? How can we inhabit the moral imagination in a way that avoids heavy-handed moralism? How can we grow in prudential judgment and spiritual discernment while delighting in the books we get lost in? And can looking at the world through the “million windows” of the “house of fiction” really elevate or transfigure the lives we lead?
In More than a Matter of Taste, @WisebloodBooks explores these questions and presents fresh takes that possess timeless significance. Read more about this important book here:
open.substack.com/pub/beatif…
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May 11
You should order your copy now!
May 11
More than a Matter of Taste: The Moral Imagination and the Spirit of Literature, the tenth book by our founder and editor Joshua Hren, makes it way into the world today. This book is dedicated to Colleen Hutt and Mary R. Finnegan (@maryraphaela), friends in literature and in life. The cover bears the painting “Woman Holding a Balance” in honor of Joshua's wife Brittney, who loves Vermeer. Read more via the link below:
beatificvisions.substack.com…
*Image credit: @WordOnFire
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May 7
"In The Death of Rabelais, her recent verse play, J.C. Scharl has created something rare: an excellent comedy about death. It is, moreover, not only a comedy about death, but a comedy about comedy’s relationship with it. But the most impressive thing is that the play manages to take death seriously and, at the same time, be very funny."
A very astute Close Reading of @JcScharl's The Death of Rabelais from Brenden Sylvester. The book is available from @WisebloodBooks
open.substack.com/pub/slantb…
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May 7
“The city of the dead is right in the middle of this other city, the heart of the whole country, and no one cares.”—from “A Prayer” by Wojciech Chmielewski
Award-winning Polish author in English for the first time from @WisebloodBooks
open.substack.com/pub/wisebl…
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May 1
What’s Wrong with Men? Something? Everything? Nothing? @WisebloodBooks @EricMichaelCyr @cribbenMerrill
Laments and warnings over the dire-strait state of young men play out predictably according to the two-sided breakdown of our partisan politics: men’s troubles stem, alternately, from right-wing incel podcasters to left-wing woke college admissions boards. The solutions, too, range from the obvious (stop watching pornography / get off social media) to the medical (use creatine).
open.substack.com/pub/wisebl…
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