Custer State Park, Black Hills, South Dakota

I took these photographs on May 1, 2013. We were in a big truck, but they didn’t care. They crossed the highway right in front of us.

aastrolatry asked: I'm sure you've been asked quite a few times before, but if you don't mind relaying it once more: how were you able to start? I'm hesitant to say that I ask for selfish reasons; I do write, but I'm yet to admit that I'd want it as a full time career. It's more of a fleeting aspiration. It's just that when I see someone my age whose traveled such a wonderfully different path, the curiosity bubbles up in me.

I’m reminded that an important thing for any kind of artist to remember is that you’re still always becoming, no matter how accomplished you are. I’m nowhere near being formed as a writer, and because of that I’m not really qualified to give advice about writing. I still have a long, long way to go. That said, I can tell you when I started thinking of writing as something I could do for a living. It began with positive feedback from teachers and a friend who believed in me. Then journalism and my college writing classes. After that it was learning how to tell people no. My friends got frustrated until they realized I was serious. That took time. If you want to write as a career the only way that will happen is by writing. For yourself. For your friends. For the Internet. Journalism is a good way to get experience, but there are many other ways to get there. You have to find your own.

I go for the 0.5’s. I like how they cut into the page. View high resolution

I go for the 0.5’s. I like how they cut into the page.

oldlands: 100% Nature-Made Sepia, Gering, NE by WELFL on Flickr. View high resolution

oldlands:

100% Nature-Made Sepia, Gering, NE by WELFL on Flickr.

(Reblogged from oldlands)

Adam Gnade: A PERSONAL PLEA

gnade:

Dear friends,

If you’ve ever considered ordering from my friends and I’s publishing house/distro, Pioneers Press, now’s the time. We had a horrible April for book and zine sales and May is looking even worse. At this point we’re already unable to pay rent on the rescue animal sanctuary/farm this…

(Reblogged from gnade)
rjkoehler: It’s like the Grand Canyon of Lotus Lanterns at Busan’s Samgwangsa Temple. View high resolution

rjkoehler:

It’s like the Grand Canyon of Lotus Lanterns at Busan’s Samgwangsa Temple.

(Reblogged from rjkoehler)
theparisreview: “I had never been a particularly good liar, having been blessed with a round moon of a face that registered every thought. But as I assimilated among the English, a people with whom I assumed I’d get along very well, being of clearly similar native-of-Boston stock and having a love of nineties Britpop, it was becoming clear to me that I had a more pressing social problem: I did not know how to tell a white lie.” Elisabeth Donnelly on her semester abroad. View high resolution

theparisreview:

“I had never been a particularly good liar, having been blessed with a round moon of a face that registered every thought. But as I assimilated among the English, a people with whom I assumed I’d get along very well, being of clearly similar native-of-Boston stock and having a love of nineties Britpop, it was becoming clear to me that I had a more pressing social problem: I did not know how to tell a white lie.”

Elisabeth Donnelly on her semester abroad.

(Reblogged from theparisreview)
“
The main lesson my chapbook has taught me about current projects is: find the format that fits your story, not the other way around. Just because many of us dream of publishing a book that provides a nice advance, not every story is suitable for the for-profit enterprise of commercial publishing. It’s a business. Some of our prose is too experimental for that outlet. Some of us write black sheep forms like the essay. I think of it the way I think of individual pieces. Some things you write are essays, some are articles, and some of the ones you thought were articles turn out to be short blog posts. The same goes for book projects. Some stories are chapbooks. Some are longform lit mag pieces. Others are books to send to trade publishers, and others are eBooks. Not every long narrative is a potential trade paperback to give your agent. Sometimes it’s best to go indie–not to be forced to, but to want to. Independent presses and relatively obscure literary magazines foster some of our country’s best writing, hands down, and writers should try to match our story to the venue.
Vol. 1 Brooklyn | Talking Travel Chapbooks and a Sense of Place With Courtney Maum, Aaron Gilbreath, and Bart Schaneman (via vol1brooklyn)
(Reblogged from vol1brooklyn)

My rooftop smells like pizza

You damn kids with your damn beer and your damn noise.

“Our environments have a large role to play in forming us. Our sense of space, of nature, of beauty, of other people.”

The good Tobias Carroll at Vol.1 Brooklyn interviewed Aaron Gilbreath, Courtney Maum, and me about traveling and writing about places. Story here.