The Dissociative Disorder of Pen Names

The Dissociative Disorder of Pen Names

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
“I suggest to my students that they write under a pseudonym for a week. That allows young men to write as women, and women as men. It allows them a lot of freedom they don't have ordinarily.” ― Joyce Carol Oates“While I was writing I assumed it would be published under a pseudonym, and that liberated me: what I wrote was exactly what I wanted to read.” ―Nicholson Baker * * * Remember the internet of the 90's, when that robot dude's voice announced, "You've got mail!" each time you logged on? It was around that time that I had to choose my first email address. I wasn't sure what to use, so on a whim, I used my middle name: Rasmenia.This was a name I'd kept to myself as much as I could. Not because there's something wrong with that name, but because I fell victim to the same insecurities of childish mockery and teasing as anyone else. Every time someone...
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Broken Abroad

Broken Abroad

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
Soon."BROKEN ABROAD is a collection of stories about nine different Americans in Europe. They are not searching for traces of their ancestors. They're searching for themselves, for the meaning of home and the road forward. A woman cuts the resemblance to her mother away from her flesh. A grieving sister tries to honor her twin brother, whose ashes she carries in her pocket. Survivors of a mass shooting find refuge in a fairy tale. These are stories of the lost, damaged and grief-stricken who have run far away from home, to another country, only to find that life and death will follow them everywhere."BROKEN ABROAD will be available some time in May. You will be able to download it on your shiny Kindle. You'll be able to hold the dead-tree version in your fleshy hands. Of course, I will again be making signed copies available for sale right here, over on the Books tab. As soon as I know more about...
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Business in Buenos Aires

Business in Buenos Aires

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
The reason we went to Buenos Aires had nothing at all to do with fun. It was all about work. Specifically, Olivier's job. Occasionally, the company he works for sends people to Argentina, or puts some Argentinians on a plane for France. They'd sent Olivier to Buenos Aires for a week a couple of years ago, but I stayed home. It wasn't a sad thing, since I had a BFF from back home visiting me.About 6 months ago, Olivier was informed they'd be sending him again. But, this time I'd get to tag along and we decided to take an extra week to spend time appreciating Argentina.After our insanely shitty flight from Madrid, we arrived on a Sunday morning to find Buenos Aires calm and still half-asleep. After showers and a Burger King fix (give us a break - there's no Burger King here, so we jump on it whenever we get the chance) we had a quick stroll, then...
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Writing a Frankenstory: Reality in Fiction

Writing a Frankenstory: Reality in Fiction

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
"My characters are fictional. I get ideas from real people, sometimes, but my characters always exist only in my head."  -S. E. Hinton"Any writer’s work is a map of their psyche. You can really see what their concerns are, what their obsessions are, and what interests them.” -Kim Addonizio“To ask an author who hopes to be a serious writer if his work is autobiographical is like asking a spider where he buys his thread. The spider gets his thread right out of his own guts, and that is where the author gets his writing.” -Robertson Davies *** A few nights ago, Olivier, the cat and I were curled up in bed, enjoying our pre-sleep reading time. Me & Cat with a paperback; Olivier reading my latest short story published by an online literary journal.When he finished, he turned to me and said, "Yeah, I know where you got that idea from.""What? No you don't. I made it up.""Sure. Parts of it, but...
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What Is & What Will Be

What Is & What Will Be

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
“She was a published writer. I imagined how thrilling it must be living such a life, going around the world and making up things about it.” -E. L. Doctorow *** Well, not so thrilling, as it turns out. Interesting, yes. Fun, definitely. Boring... never. Most of the time is spent not zipping around the globe, but here in this corner, in this room, at this desk where I sit now. I scribble in notebooks, make faces at open documents in Word & lean my head on my hand as I read submission guidelines for one literary journal after another until my eyes go all googly. And research... entire days of reading, searching & asking questions. On really good days, I sit curled up in a comfy chair with my iPad while working on a piece of flash fiction. It's really not that thrilling, but it does make me feel glad & complete inside. I don't believe in sitting around waiting for "the muse" & I...
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The Joys of a Dysfunctional, Symbiotic Relationship

The Joys of a Dysfunctional, Symbiotic Relationship

by Rasmenia Comment Closed
“Authors like cats because they are such quiet, lovable, wise creatures, and cats like authors for the same reasons.” ― Robertson Davies“A cat has absolute emotional honesty: human beings, for one reason or another, may hide their feelings, but a cat does not.” ― Ernest Hemingway“Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea.” ― Robert A. Heinlein * * * "I think you might have a dysfunctional relationship with your cat," Olivier said as he watched the cat curl herself around the top of my head."What? Crazy talk. Nonsense. We have a perfectly normal and healthy relationship." I nuzzled my face up against her whiskers. "I'm sure lots of people share their pillow with a cat every night.""Lots of weird cat people.""Careful. You're offending the cat."I suppose he could have a point. Me and Cat (yes, my cat's name is Cat) might have a dysfunctional relationship, but it's been functioning...
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