derek d. smith

Short Story: The Hemingway Cat

Photo Credit: Alice Rosen/Flickr

Author’s Note: This is a short story that I wrote with the intention of submitting it to the Writer’s Digest Short Story Competition. I had already submitted one story and submissions cost $20 per entry. I held off on it and then I wrote another story that I found much better. So since I am not submitting this to any competition, I thought I would publish it here. Since I did not submit it to the contest, I did not take time to polish the story in any way. This is a genuine first draft. Enjoy. 

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From the Vault: Unashamed and Unaware: A poem by Derek D. Smith circa 2005

Photo Credit: neal conway/Flickr

Author’s Note: The following is a poem I wrote back in college in 2005. I plan on posting some short stories and possibly some poetry here as time goes on to give readers a sense of my writing style. Since I’m still in the process of building my “portfolio”, I thought I’d dig this thing out and show it. I was in a much different place emotionally and in terms of maturity than I am now, but I’m still pretty proud of it despite it’s profoundly negative message. Enjoy.

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The Perils of a Beginning Writer or: What I’ve Learned from Hemingway, Palahniuk, Vonnegut and Myself

Photo Credit: shutterhacks on Flickr

I am not a professional writer. The only time I’ve ever been paid to write was during one summer in high school while I interned at the local newspaper. Writing has—up to this point in my life—only been a fun hobby. But I’ve come to realize it’s also a passion. And it may be my greatest passion.

So I’ve decided to take a leap of faith and try to make a living out of my passion. I mentioned in a previous post that I have started working on my first novel, Ungenerous Fools. So far, it’s been fun. I’m a few weeks in and I think now would be a good time to take a moment and write about some of the experiences I’ve had so far.

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On my new direction

This blog has taken many forms in the two or three years since it’s creation. In the past year, it has become the digital equivalent of a paperweight—sitting here, undisturbed and holding down precious space on the interwebs.

Today that changes. I have recently begun work on a novel that I intend to self-publish and self-promote. This blog will serve as my way of documenting the process. As of now I am just under 8,000 words into a 50 to 70,000 word goal. The plot is almost fully formed, several characters have been born and the path has been set. Now I just need to get it all down.

Along the way, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on many topics, ranging from my creative process to my thoughts on the current state of literature. This blog will be strictly dedicated to shameless self promotion from here on. Perhaps I will even share excerpts of the book from time to time.

Enjoy and thanks for reading.

Derek D. Smith