“Sandman” published in Shadowgraff Quarterly

James Brega: What I Write Instead of Nothing

Have you ever driven up the California coast from San Luis Obispo to Monterey, knuckles white on the steering wheel as you fight for control of the car through hairpin curves? Have you ever dreamed that you had murdered someone and, upon waking, been unable to shake the conviction that it was true? Have you ever sung onstage to a packed audience, been robbed at gunpoint by a ten-year-old, laughed when it seemed— for a moment—that a famous author had stolen your mojo, wondered why we don’t drive steam-powered automobiles, or confronted your guardian angel at high tide on a gay beach once claimed by Pilgrims ? In What I Say Instead of Nothing, James Brega invites you to explore his real, imagined, and re-imagined experiences through his collected essays and short stories—a journey that will feed your nostalgia for life at the end of the twentieth century and remind you how desperately you wish that a great deal of it had never happened.

“Sandman” published in Shadowgraff Quarterly

June 9, 2016

“Sandman” grew out of a challenge my writing partner and I took up: to write a complete story consisting of one sentence. In the beginning it was just an exercise, a prompt; but I found that the piece that emerged was seductive in its relative simplicity and brevity. The format seemed perfect for a dream-like meditation that, to some, may seem more poetry than prose.

The story touches on mystery, mortality, belief, and sexual desire; it was inspired by a week spent on Cape Cod in October, 2015 and is published this month in Shadowgraff Quarterly. Click to read “Sandman.”

(By the way, Alice and I both cheated a bit on the one-sentence rule: my story is in three sentences, hers is in two. Read Alice’s piece, “Quickly” in the May 2015 issue of Labletter.)

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2 Responses to ““Sandman” published in Shadowgraff Quarterly”

Alice Lowe Says:

June 9, 2016 at 11:09 am
Stunning! Even though I’d seen earlier drafts, I wasn’t prepared for the impact. Wow….

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JLCastell Says:

June 11, 2016 at 11:04 am
A sparkler of a piece. Really enjoyed reading . Congrats on your publication!

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James Brega: What I Write Instead of Nothing