50 Word Story Segment, Part 5

That’s right, folks. This Thursday morning brings you a new 50 Word Story Segment with esteemed editor and writer Jackie Corley of Word Riot. She is the author of the forthcoming collection The Suburban Swindle from So New Media. She rocks, without a doubt. Find out for yourself.

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Peasant Feast
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Each had a part itching: an ankle under a threadbare sock; an unshaved calf; chapped knuckles.

He unlocked the hatchback for them, turning his thick fist slowly around the key.

“Dunkin’ Donuts throws out leftovers after closing. I rescued this.” He lifted a garbage bag from the trunk.
He was punk rock glory.

Q: Where did this story come from? Describes its genesis?

Every night, each Dunkin’ Donuts opens up a new garbage bag and dumps out, like, 10-20 pounds worth of relatively fresh doughnuts because they can’t sell day-old ones the next day.

My friend Aaron stopped over my house late at night after a small gathering was petering out. In the back of his station wagon he had this bag of doughnuts he swiped from the Dunkin’ Donuts dumpster just after they had closed. Aaron wound up driving around for, like, a week with this massive bag of doughnuts in his car, handing a few out wherever he went. He was like Santa Claus.

Q: Who are you? What makes you so amazingly cool that we just had to interview you?

I’m Jackie Corley. I run Word Riot (http://www.wordriot.org), an online literary magazine, and Word Riot Press, a small print publishing house.

I’m also a writer. I have a short story collection titled The Suburban Swindle that will be coming out through So New Publishing in the next few months. Visit http://www.sonewpublishing.com/stacks/corley/ for more info.

Q: What are you working on right now? Can you tell us? Stores? Poems? Novels? One of those tiny ships in a bottle?

I’m working on a multi-colored macaroni necklace because my mom told me I was lousy at arts and crafts as a kid.

Actually, I’m writing a novel manuscript I’m calling ‘Fine Creature.’ I had a lot of bizarre experiences when I was a reporter and got to know a lot of fascinating, eccentric fellow Jerseyans. You learn a lot about human nature and what motivates the crappy, wretched things we do to one another. That’s kind of what I’m trying to explore in this book. Obviously, if it were a movie, it would be a romantic comedy.

Q: Think fast: favorite short story or novel at the moment? Of all time?

Novel: The Naked and the Dead by Norman Mailer. It’s the greatest freaking book ever written. It’s like a Russian novelist took over Mailer’s body and produced this psychologically-rich mega-production chronicling every subset of American society.

Short Story: “Pretty Mouth and Green My Eyes” by J.D. Salinger. I know it’s as high on the Salinger short story totem pole as “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” or “Teddy” or whatever, but it’s got this wonderful collision of two worlds. You’ve got this touched, highly emotional dude wringing his voice out over a telephone, trying to connect to this human being who has wronged him. But the guy on the other end just isn’t that much of a human anymore. He’s so keyed in to a surface social framework that there’s just no there there anymore.

Q: If you could start a band full of writers, of literary greats and contemporary stars, who would be in your band and what instrument would they be on (four or five members only, otherwise the van gets too crowded and smelly)?

Salinger would be the emo singer. F. Scott Fitzgerald would be the bassist who’s always too drunk to make it through an entire set. Hemingway would be the drummer who pounds the skins too hard, overpowering the vocals and starting fights with Salinger. I’d be the guitarist and Flannery O’Connor would be the band manager and the moral support. She’d be the one hiding Hemingway’s Luger before he can blow the head off another chicken and send Salinger into a crying fit.

Q: What’s on the horizon for you? What’s next—i.e., publications, events/readings, etc.

A helluva lot of promotion for The Suburban Swindle. I’m going to try to plan some events and readings in the next few months. I love doing readings. You get this wonderful connection with an audience, which is great given the solitary nature of the craft.

Word Riot Press is publishing two short story collections in the next few months: Mind Games by David Gianatasio and World Takes by Timmy Waldron.

Thanks, Jackie–you rule! BUY HER BOOK, folks. Buy two copies just for shits and giggles.