WIREWORM Magazine hasn’t been around that long, but the editors are talented and committed and I think that shows in Issue 3, which was just released Friday night. The new issue contains a lot of great content and some impressive artwork. Hell, it’s worth checking out simply because some of the titles themselves just kick ass! I mean I’ve spent my life influenced not only by Bukowski and Ferlinghetti, but also Tzara, Bill Burroughs, Philip K Dick, Kafka, cubist and surrealist art, and have often incorporated elements of dada, cutup techniques, found poems, etc., into my work, especially more so these days. But some cool titles of poems, stories and art you’ll find there include “Self Realization According to the Slime Mold,” “nightmare sand lizard rotation would be a sick band name” and “
The Shockwaves From Killing Santa Kickstart A Personal Apocalypse…”  just for examples. My own poem is experimental, not too challenging, but is among different types and styles I’ve been working with as I’ve been putting several potential book manuscripts together, at least2-3 of which are going to be little else but pieces like those I’ve described.

My poem, BE-STILL-ING, fits with the overall feel of the magazine and the editors were kind to publish it but I’m working in a lot of experimental areas these days and I like to play with words, ideas, form, style and yes, titles, too, so I usually don’t mention any possible poetry collections or books of mine until they’re ready for publication and it’s a tough market these days so I have no reason to think anything will get accepted from this group I’m constructing, but let me share a few working titles for some of these book manuscripts to give you an idea. One working manuscript title is Tristan Tzara Bill Burroughs & Harlan Ellison Waltz into a Bar… while another I just sent off last week reads spaZtik disjo!nted des@lation LuZt 0bjekts – p0mes. Yet a third book manuscript I’ve tentatively titled Dreamscaping Daypomed Dystopia: Pomes & Distortions. So obviously there’s no guarantee any will be published. Things are different now from when I had books getting published like crazy over 15+ years and my stuff tends toward the violent at times and definitely isn’t “safe” for some editors and publishers. I can’t seem to change that. Most of my fiction is crime and psychological horror!

Anyway, unless or until I get one of these new book manuscripts accepted and published, I’ll plan to keep submitting solo pieces to great magazines like WIREWORM (I’ve got more coming out soon in other journals) and hope these pieces get exposure that way. Feel free to check my piece, BE-STILL-ING, out as well as the magazine itself and feel free to offer comments about anything I wrote in this post — not just my piece there, but any comments are welcome. I’d love it if anyone would share if they have or will be submitting to this and similar journals. Don’t be shy.

Cheers,

Scott Holstad