James D. McCallister

author of the Edgewater County series

Perching on the Verge: SHOPKEEP

Author Calls First Draft of Latest Opus ‘Complete’ It’s still Winter 2021, but I’m done with the draft of my memoir Shopkeep. That’s well ahead of the target deadline of ‘sometime in the spring,’ which is no way to set a deadline. In fact, it’s completely antithetical to the method I teach my writing students, […]

SHOPKEEP Excerpt: On Gen X

Gen X calls bullshit on your narrative. Why is this? Because we were left alone to figure it out on our own. And have come out all the better for it.

MoHG Proof in Hand

Author Touts Heft of Weighty New Tome Twenty-one years after I embarked on my adult writer’s journey with an eye toward professionalism, publication, awards and Baldwin’s ‘nice little shelf of books’ to leave behind, I’ve accomplished it all. Life’s work success. Every box checked. “Dreams do come true.” But one last peak remained.

SHOPKEEP Draft Almost in Hand

Author Knows of No Sweeter Feeling Than Being Ahead of Schedule The numbers don’t lie, a statement which in this era deserves a cynical snicker:

MoHG Ebook Link Now Live

Thirty-Year Literary Journey Nears Culmination When I first sat down to try to write a novel steeped in the real tragedies I experienced, in the early 90s, I had neither the distance from the events, nor the writing chops. All that would change.

Scribes Take Heed

Author Shows You How Easy It Is For Him For anyone following the word-count on Shopkeep to the left on the home page, note that in the brief month of February, not yet complete, the count has tripled. That’s 20k scattered words now grown to 60k. In three weeks.

In the Backwater Swirling

Same Black Line Drawn on Local Author Drawn on You Remember the 90s? Skateboarding home from school, getting stoned and making it with your girlfriend to the latest Pavement CD, then playing SimCity until dinnertime? Well, I don’t, but I did do my version of that in the early 80s. It’s the rock music of […]

SHOPKEEP News

Author Hits Key Numerological Milestone A quick post to let everyone know that Shopkeep’s daily word-count rests comfortably at 44,420. Sounds like a good stopping point for now; sounds like time for a refreshing break. At this rate I’ll have the draft in another month or so.

Throes of Art-making

Author Reports from the Literary Trenches Following the completion of Dixiana and its sequels, I took a year off from ‘the chair,’ as Appalachian literary bard Ron Rash would term it, or at least the long-form sort as readers of my poetry saga will recall. I needed a break. The seven-year traverse in writing, editing and publishing […]

Poetry Video Series

Bukowski Award-nominated Poet Unveils First Episode of New YouTube Poetry Jam The title and subhead say it all. As you will see, an enormous amount of work goes into a production like this. Enjoy ‘Altogether Positive Time Trip’. Altogether Positive Time Trip James D. McCallister In describing the profound plan my one-self sat by a […]