Thomas Benz's Blog

A story of mine called "Clairvoyance" won a recent contest sponsored by the Rialto Books Review. It's about a young man who consults someone who purports to be able to enhance his ability to envision the future, especially in regard to a crucial impending decision about a girlfriend. It explores the nature of the title's concept. The story is now out in volume 18 of the magazine.

I had a couple stories accepted recently and they should be out in the next few months. One called "The Brighter Flame" was accepted by Catamaran Literary Reader which is published in northern California. It describes to rediscover the magic of a former neighborhood with a friend he'd lost track of for a long time, with unforeseen consequences.

The other story is "Do Nothing Until You Hear From Me," the title of which is taken from a famous jazz tune. It relates the dilemma of a divorced life coach whose own romantic problems threaten to overwhelm his professional knowledge. It will be published online at Carolina Quarterly out of Chapel Hill, NC.

A story of mine called "Perfect Excuse" will be published in the Cold Lake Anthology in June. It's about a guy who is faced with an agonizing time conflict concerning a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity who turns to a company which purports to be able to fashion a perfect excuse for any such dilemma. (published by the Burlington Writers Workshop in Burlington, Vermont.

I have two new stories being published in the Spring or early summer. "Plus One" will appear in the Woven Tale Press magazine and "Necessary Detour" will be pat of Hypertext's next issue. Check out these very interesting journals at:

https://www.thewoventalepress.net

https://www.hypertextmag.com

Thanks much.

A story called "Plus One" has been accepted by the Woven Tale Press (www.thewoventalepress.net) for publication in the Spring. It's an interesting magazine with lots of nice artwork. The press is located in East Setauket, NY on Long Island. It's worth checking out. Thanks.

The interview can be seen here:

https://indiereader.com/2019/02/ir-ap...

The book is now available at The Book Stall in Winnetka IL. Also, I strongly recommend the novel "The Day's Heat" by Roberta George and a story collection "The Amazing Mr. Morality" by Jacob Appel. (note goodreads reviews)

Thanks.

I got a very thoughtful and well written review which you can read at https://smallpresspicks.com/home-castle/

Also, the author of it has a new novel coming out from Garland Press called "In This Ground."

Kirkus said of it, "“Startlingly incongruous parts—graveyards, guitars, and mushrooms—come together in satisfying and unexpected ways. Sharp writing and an unconventional plot make for a darkly enjoyable read."

Check it out and support small press books. Thanks.

My story "Retrieval" recently won the Solstice Literary Magazine Short Fiction Contest. A description of the contest and the story itself can be found at:

https://solsticelitmag.org/content/fi...

https://solsticelitmag.org/content/re...

The story is about a husband in a troubled marriage driving up to a northwoods resort where his family happily vacationed for many years but which was the setting of a painful secret. The narrative traces a path where past and present merge in some mysterious way.

Also check out the other fine writing at Solstice. Thanks.

HOME & CASTLE’s collected short stories offer an outside-looking-out perspective: assuming—not denying—a mistaken identity; the inexplicable happiness of being somewhere without permission; the horror of love for another mistaken as hostility; publicly fighting a fake Darth Vader and other tales following explorers of life into landscapes domestic and wild, returning with artifacts we might fear to believe, but will—as fellow travelers—wholeheartedly recognize.

In “House Crawl,” Reed Naughton’s fresh life with wife Greta and 10-year-old Charlie is cracking. Spirit Island Estates, “pleasantly separate” from stresses including Reed’s boss “hovering like a killer drone” (owing to a copywriting blunder and big accounts being plucked away by the Pacific Rim) and nearby urban chaos, boasts opulent homes, property, and even a golf course hosting the Arrowhead Grill—a name both crass and faux historical. As in real life—or IRL for the Island’s over-caffeinated—friends here are replaced roughly every seven years, many obscured behind e-mail, hyper-vigilantly curated Facebook profiles, and the security system known to most as Caller ID.

Blotching residents’ radar are menhirs—upright megaliths a la Stonehenge—under attack from drive-by shooters, graffiti artists, and cable-TV installers. Like authentic colonizers, the Island’s upscale folk give lip-service to the ancients’ artifacts. Reed is attracted to his neighbor, Mandy–the girlfriend of his best pal, Brian–a quietly mysterious blonde blogger/freelance whose articles reveal a seething intelligence. Reed admires Brian’s neither prying nor remote aura, but soon learns of an on-the-side sex life.

The annual House Crawl beckons; Reed is alienated among the partiers, including wife Greta, so removes himself to an isolated (strangely glowing) patch—and encounters Mandy. Discovering festive balloons trapped between menhirs are the lights’ source, Reed and Mandy (“Which side are you on?” she asks. “The past or the future?”) seek blurry redemption via a rolling embrace and kiss—and shots sound, breaking the moment. Is it Brian, gunning for Reed? Opportunistic vandals? Benz’s masterful closing foils both pessimism and optimism, catching us in the dark with our anguished hope.

“Life Jacket,” another existential slice, follows fraught father Brett and only-child Otis to a playground, where community members’ personae of outward politeness masks genuine yearning for connection, stifled by fear of societal judgment. Brett’s desperation to squeeze in even brief time with Otis is shattered by the bland compulsion of an ice cream truck’s tune and its luckless vendor’s refusal to be bullied. Brett’s repressed rage explodes, and hands grip cell phones hoping to capture something for the media. But Otis intervenes, recalling in Brett a long-ago moment with his own father.

Rightly compared to Updike and Cheever, Benz’s prose dazzles more for its devastating accuracy than linguistic pyrotechnics.

With HOME & CASTLE, Thomas Benz sharpens the tools of earlier literary traditions into cutting—yet humane—observations of the hazards present in our culture of comfort and convenience, with striking clarity, insight, and an intimacy bordering on clairvoyance.

William Grabowski, Indie Reader

Andy Jordan at Midwest Book Review recently reviewed my story collection and said this:

"The deftly crafted short stories comprising the latest anthology of his work "Home and Castle" contnue to reveal and showcase Thomas Benz's genuine flair for narrative storytelling, and his undeniable skill at engaging the full and rapt attention of his readers. A brilliant, original and quite representative collection of Benz's literary abilities."