Pete Pazmino

I’m pretty excited about the fact that Colin Meldrum, editor of A cappella Zoo (which published my short story “Singing Bucket” in issue 3), has invited me to join a handful of other AZ authors in a reading he’s organized at the upcoming AWP Conference in Washington, DC. The conference runs from February 2-5 at the Marriott Wardman Park & Omni Shoreham Hotels; we’ll be reading on the 4th at the Eighteenth Street Lounge. The other authors who’ll be reading from their works published in AZ include Ian Denning, Prartho Sereno, Crystal J. Hoffman, Rae Bryant, Travis Blankenship, and Mike Meginnis. There will also be writers there representing Weave and Ampersand. If you’re attending the conference or will be in town, come on out!

My short story “Mountains” was just recently published by /One/: The Journal of Literature, Art and Ideas. I’m excited about being included in this journal, which is relatively new (they launched in 2009). They’ve published some very good material by some very talented writers (including Adrienne Rich!) in the short time they’ve been around. It’s also the first story I’ve ever published that included an author photo alongside it. So that’s something.

The story, by the way, is an older one I started back while I was earning my MA at Hopkins. I believe the earliest version of it, which weighed in at something ridiculous like 6,000 words, first appeared in a workshop being led by Elly Williams (author of the novel This Never Happened). It started with a long, rambling, totally overblown exposition in which the main character was standing at a window in the dark and thinking very bad thoughts. It took about three pages for anything to happen. My friend Ali, who was also in the class, commented that it seemed to her like the story really started with a conversation that took place much later (and was presented in flashback, to boot). I think it’s some of the best story-specific advice I ever got in a workshop. So thanks for that, Ali.

Anyway, you can read the story here: http://onethejournal.com/2010/10/mountains/.