In the year 1995, the rapper Coolio released the classic Gangsta’s Paradise, in which he posed the question, “I’m twenty three now but will I live to see twenty four?” I guess if you’re reading this, you can answer Coolio’s question with a resounding, “Yes!”
As writers are wont to do at year-end and year-beginning, I’ve assembled a list of pieces I’ve published in the previous twelve months. Many of you arrived here sometime in 2023 and have continued to stick around, so I believe it’s safe to assume you’re enjoying what you find. In the grand experiment of writers finding an audience (like thistleseeds finding arable soil) most of my work was published here, aside from a few pieces with my steady friends at Front Porch Republic, Texas Poetry Assignment, and Reformed Journal. I’ve enjoyed writing here. The feedback and interactions you all provide is either a balm to the lonesome writer or a fix for the junkie of my ego.
Plans for 2024
For 2024, I’ve promised my wife and several friends that I would set aside all other writing projects and finally finish a long gestating novel. I’m not sure what that means for In Solitude, For Company in the next twelve months. I’ve often tinkered with the idea of writing a serialized novel in the way that Charles Dickens published many of his novels. Or if you grew up in my era, the way that TV shows released one episode per week. It’s one way to do things, and Substack definitely makes that possible. I don’t even know if there’s a right way to publish anymore. Maybe I’ll begin sending out chapters of the novel as I write them. I’m attaching a couple of polls below to gauge interest. Feel free to leave comments or send me an email if you’d like to discuss this in more detail than the polls allow.
2023 Publications
Below is the compilation of last year’s writing. I hope you enjoy or enjoy again! Peace to you and yours in the new year.
Poetry
Non-Fiction
2023 Substack Collection
You Ever Seen a Dead Man's Hands?
In the last issue, Dancehall Beauty, I wrote about the difference between Fine Arts and Industrial Arts using Ryan Culwell as an example. Since today is the one year anniversary of his most recent album Run Like a Bull, I thought I’d follow it up with a close read of three songs from across all…
Little Girl Found
A few years ago in a neighboring town, which was booming as a safe alternative to my city, a man with no criminal record drove into the parking lot of a gas station and tried to steal a little girl at gunpoint. The girl’s grandmother intervened. The man shot and killed the grandmother.
A Letter to Amarillo's New Mayor
April 27, 2023 Dear Mr. Cole Stanley: As I sit down to write this letter, we are a week away from Amarillo’s mayoral election. Judging by the number of yard signs, conversations with my neighbors, and Facebook comments, I expect that you will be the next mayor of Amarillo. It’s been a controversial election this year, which means, unfortunately, you’ll be…
Twilight of the Hearthgods
Cormac McCarthy died on June 13, 2023. If you’re the literary type, this isn’t news to you. But even if you’re not literary, you may be aware of his books All the Pretty Horses, No Country for Old Men, and The Road. There are many people who are more qualified than me who have written
Read the Story
If you’ve been reading In Solitude, For Company for a while, then you know my wife, Katie, is not a “literary” person. That is not to say she isn’t smart; she’s just American busy. She’s the broker of a real estate company. She manages employees and thirty agents, rental properties, and sub-contractors. It’s not unusual to s…
I Don't Want to Die in a Gulag
Being thrown in a concentration camp seems to be a common source of anxiety for people in my life. At the tire shop the other day, I ran into my old friend Alex. His eldest son is off to college in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex, away from our small city. We all watched this kid grow up to become a star student and a …
Christmas Traditions
If you don’t follow me on other forms of social media, then you might not know that my friend Wes Reeves and I embarked on a small town poetry tour around the panhandle of Texas. I suppose the tour is ongoing, like Bob Dylan’s never-ending Rolling Thunder review, except we’re not Bob Dylan. (That’s a big ‘except.’)
Thanks for the company!
I like the idea of a serialized novel, as long as the whole form is available at some point on paper. It's certainly not an un-natural way to encounter a story. You said in here that reading stories is a way to love God. Thank you for enlarging our capacity to love. It is hard to keep up, because I am slow, but I am sure grateful for how you write, Seth. I am doing my best to pay attention. You have had a productive year, including all of your other significant non-literary accomplishments and moves. I'm mighty proud of you.
Man, I’ve been toying with the same idea (serialized on substack) with a piece I’ve been (not) working on for about 20 years. Looking forward to seeing what direction you go!