Writer. Editor. Orange Enthusiast.
The inaugural issue of Mental Papercuts is here! Published on April 1st, my team and I are so proud to finally share what we’ve created. From maybe-equine sports hecklers and lonely mothers to trips to unfamiliar hair salons and naked mole rats, each and every piece is absolutely superb. What’s your favorite story? Let me know! (And don’t forget to submit to our next issue too!)
Read Issue One here!
These past few months, my very-talented friends and I have worked on creating a new literary magazine called Mental Papercuts, and on February 1st–THIS FRIDAY–submissions will close for our inaugural issue. Continue reading “Mental Papercuts – Submissions Closing Soon!”
Introducing Mental Papercuts, a new lit mag committed to showcasing the prickliest flash fiction and nonfiction! Also introducing Flashtober, a month-long writing event to help create and share your work!
Continue reading “Exciting News – Introducing Mental Papercuts & Flashtober!”
LOGLINE: Peaches is an hour-long drama about a grizzled, fifty-something peach farmer in California’s central valley who finds himself the unsuspecting foster parent of four of his workers’ children, and must rediscover the balance between being a parent and being a businessman.
LOGLINE: With great tragedy comes great therapy. Amazingman is a short-form webseries about Blart Cent, a disgraced therapist who must redeem his reputation, overcome his alcoholism, and earn back his license to practice by “superheroing” for court-mandated community service.
Dear Agnes,
I miss you. I miss the sound of your voice. I miss the sparkle of your eyes. I miss your hair and the way it cascades down your shoulders, crawling with lice. I miss you.
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This piece has been published in its entirety in the second issue of Habitat Magazine. To read more, be sure to check it out!
This piece has been published in print and online in the fortieth edition of Hair Trigger. To read this story in its entirety, click the link above or pick up a copy of Hair Trigger 40 at Columbia College Chicago’s Creative Writing department or bookstore!
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Sam Showers entered the library with a big smile on his freckled face and a spring in his step. Today was not just another average Monday at this second home of his. Today was the day he would receive the prestigious “Outstanding Community Member” award, given annually to the cheeriest, hardest-working, most-dedicated-to-their-town individual in all of Townville. He had combed his curly red hair into perfect submission, worn his favorite green-plaid flannel and khakis, and even gone through his teeth cleaning routine three times to ensure he looked his best when he was handed the gold-plated replica of City Hall. The ceremony was scheduled for eleven sharp, and everybody who was anybody would be there: the mayor, the fire chief, the crossing guard, everyone. It was a really big deal.
Continue reading “The Sad, Sad Story of Sam Showers’ Ceaseless Sprinkling”
In space, you are an oxymoron.
You are both a complete anonymity and a bright beacon, able to be seen from anywhere in the darkness around you. You are one in a million, one in a billion, one in a trillion, a quadrillion, an infinite army of space explorers exploring this infinite space, completely alone but shining like the Sun. You stand out from everything around you, and yet the vast magic that lives amongst the stars swallows you up and turns you into a single blip in this giant, never-ending thing called the universe.
You are no one. You are the only one. You don’t belong. You fit in perfectly. You are the only you around in this endless sea, but in this ocean, being you doesn’t seem to matter. You are nothing and you are everything.
You think of all this as you follow the manatee through the asteroids, wondering if it will ever make its way back to the preserve.
Over the past few months, I’ve had the incredible opportunity to work on an as-told-to memoir project with Tonya Rabb, the founder of a new nonprofit called “Tonya’s Mission to Walk”. I’m excited to finally announce that My Mission to Walk: A Journey of Sight, Step, and Strength is officially out!
I made some soup for family and friends. While stirring, I accidentally spilled salt into the pot.
“There is too much salt in this soup!” they cried. “We need to do something to stop this from happening again!”
I promised to be more careful next time and my words put everyone at ease.
The next time I made soup, I spilled salt again.
Lawrence Silveira 