“Spin Cycle” at Lowlife Lit Press

I wrote this story that I really liked; I knew it was good writing, and I found it funny. I also knew it was loaded with filthy language, and comments on its first rejection warned me, women won’t like this story. I kind of thought, well, yeah, they definitely won’t like these characters, because the guys in this story are scumbags and lowlifes–a lot of men probably aren’t going to like them either!

Now where the hell do I place this since it’s not 1995, or 1985, or 1955, anymore? Young men behaving badly: not really at the top of editors’ wish lists these days! (Though “Spin Cycle” is intended to be a coherent story with a point, not to be too nail-on-the-head, but sometimes losers keep on losing. And some other stuff too.)

I played around on Chill Subs, and made a list of five or six markets from the three thousand-plus over there that I thought might make a good fit. I’d sent it to a couple, and then started Googling things like stories about scumbags (yeah, seriously, Googled that), and wound up thinking, oh boy, “Spin Cycle” had better find a home quick! Didn’t feel like there were a ton of options out there.

Then I found this brand new site, Lowlife Lit Press, which seemed very busy and looked very pretty. The guy running this place has a great eye, and after I’d checked out his “Holy Lit Grail” page, a pretty good ear as well, I thought. Because another thing I’d Googled had been stories about scumbags like Bukowski. And there he was, on the list of Holy Lit. Multiple times.

So, that worked out.

You can read “Spin Cyle” in its entirety over at Lowlife Lit Press here.

Here are the first couple of paragraphs if you’re looking for a little teaser before you head over: