Chisel Chips

What is revealed by what is removed

  • What this site is about
  • Reach me
  • Blog
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  • Going Places
  • Driving and Drinking with Dracula
  • What this site is about
  • Reach me
  • Blog
  • Publications
  • Going Places
  • Driving and Drinking with Dracula

Tags

art beyond centro big one budget buses collectivos daily life discomfort disruption doing nothing e-mail earthquakes essay exploring by foot export economy fiction friends FSBO garbage gringos go walking inflated importance language barriers literature Mexico travel mountains out of molehills neighbors Oaxaca off the tourist path outside the guidebooks oversize loads real estate sales really big one rental cars serendipity shrine of the holy torilla something sorting it out speculative fiction transportation travel unfamiliar virgin visions walking wasting time whimsy
fiction, Flash Fiction, literary magazines, writing

Lovely to have a day to myself at Flash Fiction Magazine

Thanks to the team at Flash Fiction Magazine for the digital hug for my flashy absurdity, “Alone with Her Needs.” 

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March 26, 2021
Uncategorized

Rejection, I Spit in Your Face

In the amateur business of pursuing fame through publication in (mostly) online publications, one dances with two partners — acceptance, and rejection. Not every partner wants to dance, at least…

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July 15, 2024
Life as we know it, relationships, Travel, Uncategorized

I gave my card to Debby

Not little Debby, the face of bad pastry. Debby, the Croatian immigre to Montreal, the barista who saw me standing outside her little coffee shop and brought a treat out…

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October 5, 2019

Tags

art beyond centro big one budget buses collectivos daily life discomfort disruption doing nothing e-mail earthquakes essay exploring by foot export economy fiction friends FSBO garbage gringos go walking inflated importance language barriers literature Mexico travel mountains out of molehills neighbors Oaxaca off the tourist path outside the guidebooks oversize loads real estate sales really big one rental cars serendipity shrine of the holy torilla something sorting it out speculative fiction transportation travel unfamiliar virgin visions walking wasting time whimsy
  • Life,  Uncategorized

    A magic moment during an artsy mood encounter

    chiselch / October 12, 2022

    Most of my creative energy flows into writing. That river branches into a visual stream. For most of my life, I’ve kept a file of ideas for physical art that came to me…

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  • Life,  writing

    I am that which I decry

    chiselch / July 28, 2022

    Right before I typed these words, I paused the podcast episode of 70 Over 70 focused on the writer Russell Banks, 81 at the time of the interview. Before I thought I should…

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  • Uncategorized

    What’s wrong with self-publishing, anyway?

    chiselch / June 15, 2022

    Yesterday, in the middle of the Columbia River, on a windsurf rig being buffeted by gusts of more than 30 mph, I had the oddest thought: Why is it that I persist in…

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  • Life,  Life as we know it,  relationships,  Uncategorized

    A car covered in stickers is a person wanting to be known

    chiselch / May 12, 2022

    We were driving north from Portland toward Tacoma today, when we passed a small import. Maybe a Toyota Yaris. Not sure, because the car was blanketed in stickers. At 75 mph, and hands…

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  • fiction,  Flash Fiction,  Uncategorized,  writing

    When Is a Short Story Short Enough?

    chiselch / January 18, 2022

    Trigger warning: This post has a lot of words about writing of few words. I had no desire to write mega maxi micro fiction. Lately, I find myself doing just that. Thank you,…

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  • fiction,  Life,  literary magazines,  writing

    “Hobo Heart” publication is a little bit like pregnancy and birth

    chiselch / January 9, 2022

    Not that I would know a bit what it’s like to be pregnant, or give birth. The analogy may make a little more sense if you understand that submitting a story for an…

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Recent Posts

  • Why short stories? Why not?
  • 2nd place winner in Cambridge Short Story Prize 2025
  • Something Quirky and Gothic, Just for You
  • Technology justifies itself after the criminal fact
  • Tale inspired by a past that felt like quicksand: “Unfurnished,” in Does It Have Pockets?

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Tags

art beyond centro big one budget buses collectivos daily life discomfort disruption doing nothing e-mail earthquakes essay exploring by foot export economy fiction friends FSBO garbage gringos go walking inflated importance language barriers literature Mexico travel mountains out of molehills neighbors Oaxaca off the tourist path outside the guidebooks oversize loads real estate sales really big one rental cars serendipity shrine of the holy torilla something sorting it out speculative fiction transportation travel unfamiliar virgin visions walking wasting time whimsy

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