Michael Dean Clark

I'm in a moment of career transition, so I thought I'd remind y’all I consult/coach/edit for private clients alongside my teaching. From sifting ideas to finalizing projects, I have decades of experience to share. You can reach me through my website, michaeldeanclark.com.

Working on my book and a story of mine I haven’t thought of in a long time came up in a few of my letters to students. If you missed it back in the day, here’s my story of a heroin-addicted pastor with OCD trying to hold it together to perform a funeral. foreshadowmagazine.com/magazine/no-on…

A book has been a dream of mine for more than 20 years, so I am beyond thrilled. Stay tuned for more on this in the coming months. Until then, if you see me, feel free to ask how the book is coming, if for no other reason than to push me back to the keyboard where I belong. 2/2

A little news I’ve been sitting on. As of last week, I am officially under contract with One Subject Press for a collection of essays on writing and living built around the more than half million words worth of letters I’ve written my students over the years. 1/2

@brecht_dp I like to imagine your story and mine sitting in a waiting room talking while they wait to get read.

They better like it, or else...

@TheRealSoch As a lifelong Laker fan, I will never accept this Celtic slander. 🤣

@MDeanClark That's Bob Cousy in the 1963 all star game stop gaslighting us

It has recently come to my attention (today) that I actually grew up in the 50s rather than the 80s…Behold, 12 year old me playing the game I love. Swipe to check the form up close.

@AKScotland When being right feels so wrong…thank you for the encouragement!

@MDeanClark If you’re not feeling like a massive imposter, you’re doing it wrong. Good luck!

Been writing and subbing short stories and essays for close to 20 years now. In the last week I’ve subbed to Guernica and Paris Review for the first time…No, YOU’RE drowning in impostor syndrome!

@brecht_dp I thought those exact words as I hit sub to PR. If nothing else, their rejection letter will fancy up my pile! 😂

@MDeanClark Someone's got to get in! 🙂 Good luck! 🍀

On anniversaries of a less celebratory variety. michaeldeanclark.com/blog-1/on-the-…

Ever found yourself thinking, "I wonder what Michael thinks about AI and creative writing...?" Well, I was asked to elucidate on the notion of AI and human creativity for a book on the subject and said book is out now. Check it out here: amazon.com/AI-Creative-Wr…

For the record and forever: no part of the proposal process feels as manufactured and self-aggrandizing as picking comps.

So there is sadness in the end of Drunk Monkeys, but also real appreciation on my part, as there should be. Creating a home for a wide swath of voices and fostering them all is the most critical work the literary community should be doing. Drunk Monkeys did just that. (10/10)

wasn’t sure I could pull off the form I was wrestling with. So, when Kolleen and the crew chose to publish it, a switch flipped and I pushed into the rest of the ideas I had bouncing around in my head. In fact, there’s a direct line from “Subsidence” to (5/10)

submitted an essay I cared deeply about. When they said yes, I was ecstatic. At the time, “Subsidence” (read it below) was a foray into what has become a series of pieces I’m closing in on having a book’s-worth of. And if I’m honest, (4/10) drunkmonkeys.us/2017-posts/202…

"On the end of a journal I loved" Woke up this morning to the news that Drunk Monkeys is closing its doors. To be fair, I had a bit of a heads from a friend on the staff who let me know it was coming. That foreknowledge actually made the news a little sadder. (1/10)

now friend, Sean. He had recently moved onto the masthead as a section editor during his time in Orange County. From there, he connected me with co-founder Matt, a guy I’ve come to like a great deal. I did an episode of his podcast and then, after seeing what DM put out, (3/10)