J.R. Handfield

My only contribution to today's Taylor Swift discourse is that it's a great day to read my story about an alternate universe Taylor Swift who runs Wyomissing like a dictator.

It also has zero references to Travis Kelce's genitals.

So yeah! Enjoy "Break the Grass Ceiling." It's a fun ride, I'm honored someone liked it enough to have it performed with real actors on a real stage. I hope you enjoy it.

docs.proton.me/doc?mode=ope...

3) Toward the end of the podcast interview, the ridiculous escalation is based heavily on an experience I had under my not-pen name, where a particular blogger gave a similar endcap to a video about some local activism I got involved with.

It wasn't pleasant, but the actress *nailed* the absurdity

2) Apparently, the terminology of "Yeti" v. "Sasquatch" v. "Bigfoot" is significant. In workshopping the piece, I was told rather directly how the words weren't interchangeable and that "if people know, they will know." It gave me a funny exchange during the interview scene, so win/win.

Some additional pop-up video notes:

1) The activist's name is the name of one of my son's friends who knows I write. She insisted that I name a character in a story after her, so I made her the potty-mouthed podcast guest. The mom felt it was apt.

The director loved the piece, was on board to get a bunch of Sasquatch outfits. A good friend performed in it. We made some changes for pacing and time. I made a campaign poster.

I think it's probably my most overtly political piece I'll ever write. Especially in This Unprecedented Era (TM).

Then I remembered Harriett Henderson. Realized that there was an angle I could use that could kind of skewer the current mood, probably retain the spirit of my stupid idea from five years ago, and make it work.

It worked.

Finally, when the showcase got announced, I was going to adapt my haunted hotel story from the Broken Teacup, "We Hope You Enjoy Your Stay," but it ended up being a lot more complicated to turn into a staged production than I thought.

thebrokenteacup.org/wp-content/u...

This one was one of the first stories I ever tried to write, back in late 2020 / early 2021, and I could never quite hit the notes I wanted to. I loved the conceit a lot, but couldn't figure out why I thought this would be worth doing. I came back to it every six months or so, but...

Last night, an adaptation of my piece "Break the Grass Ceiling" was performed as part of a writing showcase. It's about the first Sasquatch elected to Congress.
drive.proton.me/urls/VVZGCRG...

As a separate aside, @dailydrunkmag.bsky.social was one of the first publications to ever put my words into digital print. I'm forever a fan. Thanks!

I now know more about Taylor Swift than I really wanted to, and there are notes in here for all levels of Swift fandom, so check it out.

I'm decidedly not a Swiftie in the classical sense. I think the two pandemic folk records are awesome, and I find her to be a fascinating individual and an interesting songwriter.

This is very much a piece in admiration of her world domination.

I AM SO PSYCHED TO BE IN THE DAILY DRUNK AGAIN!

This is one that I've had bouncing around for a while and The Daily Drunk is really the perfect home for it.

👀 @dailydrunkmag.bsky.social

So enjoy a bowl of iced cream and learn a little bit about Emma Goldman in the process. tinyurl.com/wwchandfield

(yes b is true - I thought of him every time I got to read the title aloud. Sorry not sorry. Read his books. He is great.)

I was also inspired by old newspapers with their overly flowery & repetitive storytelling style, which I thought fit in with the time and place of the whole thing.

I also went with a ridiculous title a) bc old newspapers did that and b) bc @ericraglin1992.bsky.social ranted about long titles once.

I was rattling around a story of Emma Goldman getting visited by a ghost for a few years, and doing some research about whether or not she ever taught in my hometown led me to learn about how Worcester ended up being the flashpoint for the most consequential event in her American lifetime.

A room of approx. 30 people watch as someone at a podium introduces the Blackstone Storywalks project on a projection screen.

PDF of a sign that will end up on the Blackstone Valley bike path. The sign has a QR code that brings you to https://tinyurl.com/wwchandfield - the text is as follows: "A pity? Far from it!" One can picture Emma Goldman, small in stature with a zeal for revolution, offering such an excited reply. "The steel workers have suffered under Frick and Carnegie for far too long! This is long overdue!" followed by the title, "For Emma, Forever Ago: or Emma Goldman, Shortly Upon Opening Her Ice Cream Parlour on an Afternoon in May of 1892, Converses With a Gentleman Reading the Day's Newspaper," by J.R. Handfield

I have a piece up as part of the Blackstone Valley Heritage Center / Worcester Writers Collective this week. The story will be on the trail later this week, but we held a storytelling kickoff yesterday and it was awesome! tinyurl.com/wwchandfield

Been quiet over here since I'm trying hard to, like, finish another novel and query the one I've done.

1) Got my @tacobellquarterly.org submission in this morning. 4th time's a charm?

2) I have a piece going up in a public place next week, which is super cool. It's about Emma Goldman.

Once more for the evening crowd.

"World War Z" x "Spontaneous" x "When Women Were Dragons"

Opening: "Everyone remembers where they were when they learned that Taylor McCracken started spewing magma."

#2025pit

VOLCANO GIRLS: Teenage girls are turning into literal volcanoes, spewing magma in perpetuity. A journalist (and witness to 1st event) sets out to interview key individuals and connect the dots across a fractured society; oral history-style.

Comps in next skeet.

#2025pit

okay here's the thing, if you're an artist, a writer, any kind of creator: we all need to get A LOT weirder now, to fill the gap of weird Lynch has left behind.

are you with me on this

Anakin and Padme meme, with Anakin labeled as Brain and Padme labeled as writer, for the sake of the joke and definitely not a reflection of their characters Brain: I have new ideas. Writer, smiling: For the current work in progress, right? Brain: silent Writer, not smiling: For the current work in progress. Right?