Equipment Test‪!‬ Eric Shay Howard

This week on the blog, I didn't post that much. I was distracted by my second MFA Program acceptance, which I accepted. I got accepted into the EKU Bluegrass Writers Studio MFA Program. I start in the summer. 

On this week's podcast episode, I also read Friday's short story - "Beards". I also talk about how I resubscribed to the New Yorker after a few years of hiatus from reading it. I think I unsubscribed because I didn't want to renew sometime in 2017 or so, to cut some costs after graduating with my bachelor's degree. I figured it was time to resubscribe, since I am also catching up on The Best American Short Stories series that I'm so behind on.

A short episode this week. I'm still figuring out what this podcast even is, so thanks for listening.

This week on my blog, I let you all know that I got accepted into one of the four MFA Programs for Creative Writing that I applied to! I'm excited! I'm still figuring out the details, but I think it's safe to say I'll be writing A LOT of fiction here soon. 

In this episode, I also read my short story that I posted on my blog on Friday, called 'The Plan". 

I also bought a Leuchtturm notebook to start a writing project in. I've found that I don't write in notebooks very well longterm as a writer - I tend to type most of my stories. But, if I'm working on a specific project, or doing a lot of writing about the same characters or places, I like doing that sort of work in a notebook. I don't do it super often, maybe once or twice a year.

Also, on my reading list this week, I started reading The Best American Short Stories 2021, edited by Jesmyn Ward.

This week on my blog, I talked about my reading for the week and I posted a short story on Friday. 

This week, I read (or got read to by Audible) Less by Andrew Sean Greer and The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich. I also talked about some books that helped me with my writing, including Widow by Michelle Latiolais and the Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories, edited by Tobias Wolff.

I also picked up a copy of The Best American Short Stories 2021, edited by Jesmyn Ward this week.

My short story this week was "Replacement Parts", which I read for you on this podcast.

This week I read my short story, "Binoculars", and talk about my blog! I'm still waiting to hear back about my MFA applications, and I'm trying to manage my expectations. I looked at lots of MFA programs and settled on 4 to apply to for now, and will see where I get with those. 

There were some other programs that I wasn't too sure about, and one in particular that really kind of bothered me on a number of levels. I'm hoping I'm just wrong about it and I missed some important information about it or something - something that would help it make sense.

This week on my blog, I posted my short story, "Knees", and wasn't sure about the title. I also wrote about The LinkedIn Learning and Udemy platforms, and I got a Capstone Excellence Award from WGU!

I'm also applying to some Low Residency and online MFA programs in Creative Writing. Let me know if you know about any good MFA programs! I'm currently on the fence and applying to 4 of them. Not sure if I'll get into any of them.

This week on Equipment Test!, I talk about why I love short fiction/short stories! I wrote a blog post last week about it on my website and since I'm trying to make this podcast more useful and actually about really things, I thought I'd talk about it here! 

I post short stories on my blog every Friday, so please check that out, if you're interested!

Also, I mention some blogs and books I've been reading this week. Those are:
- https://www.thebloggess.com - Blog
- https://www.stuartdanker.com - Blog
- https://www.saggingmeniscus.com/catalog/hashtag_good_guy_with_a_gun - Literary Fiction

Thanks for listening to my podcast, which is basically my blog in audio form. I blog on my website Monday through Friday, and I'll talk to you next weekend back on the podcast!