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Latest Posts

Apr 2, 2026

Dr. Pongtree

Apr 2, 2026

Selling Art, Antiquities and Firearms

Apr 2, 2026

Mar 23, 2026

Beseeched

Mar 23, 2026

Beseeched at night is an inner-city Bus Operator’s worst nightmare.

Mar 23, 2026

Mar 14, 2026

Building a Publishing History

Mar 14, 2026

Ginsberg, et al, sold their work from a push cart on the street in NYC

Mar 14, 2026

Mar 6, 2026

Optimism or Not

Mar 6, 2026

Optimism is not the same as believing this property will sell soon.

Mar 6, 2026

Mar 2, 2026

Flattery in Context

Mar 2, 2026

For all I can tell, this avatar could be how many people see me.

Mar 2, 2026

Feb 20, 2026

Play in the Minors First

Feb 20, 2026

Get high in the Literary Magazines

Feb 20, 2026

Feb 16, 2026

More on Quality

Feb 16, 2026

This depth and quality fascinates me

Feb 16, 2026

Feb 8, 2026

Thin as a Slab of Tofu

Feb 8, 2026

A glitchling magnified 168,000 times, using Ultraviolet light and a Y2K.7 filter.

Feb 8, 2026

Feb 1, 2026

Editing

Feb 1, 2026

La Redacción was a Cuban newspaper during the Bautista era. In 2017, it was just a gov’t-owned restaurant/bar. Hate to think of it now.

Feb 1, 2026

Jan 24, 2026

Publishing is only somewhat Mysterious

Jan 24, 2026

From the former offices of a Cuban Editor

Jan 24, 2026

Short stories? Look in WORKS

BREAKING NEWS.01!

August 13th, 2025, Sterncastle Publishing and myself, author joe c smolen, signed a Publishing Agreement beginning the publishing process of my mystery/romance novel, Lostine: An Homage to a Girl

See the first few Advance Reviews in THEY SAY on this site. The M/S is currently going out to Trade Reviewers.

Set in 1969 in a swamp called Coffin Marsh, 6th-grade Chet, in order to save Lostine, the 7th-grade girl he loves, is forced into a fight to the death with two, armed men he witnessed her commanding, while he struggles with her truth - that she is a dragon lady

Lostine: An Homage to a Girl, is expected to be available to starved readers everywhere as early as August 2026.