Just dusting off some of my social media.

About a month ago, I posted a story to my moribund and long-neglected Tumblr account called “Weasels of the Apocalypse,” about a handful of urban explorers taking a young thief into their confidence. I cited the story on Twitter and showed it off to some friends on Telegram – no editors, no pressure to publish, no waiting by the mailbox for a two-line rejection letter, just writing and posting a story to make a few friends happy.

It looks like I’ll be making a few more people happy with the story, since my dear friend Khaki Doggy has asked if he can use it for The Voice of Dog podcast. Being insecure, my response was, “Uhhhhhh…sure!” Then I grabbed it back from him, ran back to my lair, edited it six or seven times, and ran back out, hoping he hadn’t noticed my absence, which he had.

Editing a story isn’t just about making sure you don’t have any misspaellings. It’s about putting aside the mindset of the writer to get into the headspace of the reader. You know how sometimes something can sound funny in your head but the joke falls flat in the air? Like that, but with every sentence of a 6,000 word story. In a weird way, it’s actually a kind of marketing. You’re making sure you can peddle the ideas you’re presenting – competently and intuitively.

So I took “Weasels of the Apocalypse” out for a walk and it slipped the lead and scampered off into the neighbor’s yard. Man, I love this profession. Plant a cucumber seed, get a whole garden.

The first part of the story is landing on “The Voice of Dog” on May 2. Many props to Khaki Doggy for his flawless reading.