Skip to content

Jeffrey Ricker

Queer writer of weird things

  • Home
  • Bio
    • Now
  • Blog
  • Books
  • Contact
    • Privacy Policy
  • Reviews
  • Stories and Essays

Category: writing

Don’t measure success using someone else’s yardstick

writingMarch 19, 2018July 5, 2019

Four years is not such a long time when you think about it. On the other hand, in such a short time a lot can happen. Leaders change, geniuses die, Kate Bush stubbornly does not come out with a new album. Did you know that in the last four years you've traveled 3.76 billion kilometers …

Continue reading "Don’t measure success using someone else’s yardstick"

A Breakthrough Over Lunch

writingFebruary 19, 2018

I had lunch recently with a friend of mine, Karen. In addition to mutual appreciation of many things (wine is high up on the list), we also have a deep and abiding love of pasta, grilled cheese sandwiches of infinite variety, and pizza. So, as we caught up over a plate of spaghetti and a …

Continue reading "A Breakthrough Over Lunch"

My Goal for 2018: Focus

writingJanuary 15, 2018January 14, 2018

For the past couple years, I’ve tried to come up with one word or phrase that could capture my focus for the coming year. In 2016, it was “completion.” I wanted to complete the draft of the novel I was working on. And I did that, although in 2017 I ended up setting it aside …

Continue reading "My Goal for 2018: Focus"

My year of embracing rejection, year-end roundup

writingNovember 27, 2017November 27, 2017

At the beginning of 2017, I set a goal for the year of actively seeking rejection. What this meant was that I would send out my short fiction to contests and magazines, apply for fellowships and residencies, and otherwise just get my work out into the world so that other people might possibly read it. …

Continue reading "My year of embracing rejection, year-end roundup"

What is your first best destiny?

writingOctober 30, 2017November 8, 2019

There’s a moment in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (the best of the Star Trek films, if you ask me) when Spock offers Admiral Kirk command of the Enterprise. Spock has captained the ship as a teacher of cadets on a training cruise. If they're going into combat, though, Kirk should take command, …

Continue reading "What is your first best destiny?"

Five Things I Learned by Failing at This Novel

writingSeptember 21, 2017April 2, 2019

They (that ambiguous, omnipresent “they”) always say that you learn more from your failures than you do from your successes. Unfortunately, it’s true. Equally unfortunate for me, I just got reminded of that recently. I've been talking a lot about the as-yet-unnamed sequel to The Unwanted over the past three years. Recently, I came to a …

Continue reading "Five Things I Learned by Failing at This Novel"

What to do when writing is a struggle

writingJuly 3, 2017July 5, 2019

If you’re a writer, you will most likely think, in some variation at one time or another: Well, this is not really very good at all. I have no idea what I’m doing. What is this story/essay/script/poem even about? I shouldn’t be wasting my time. No one’s going to read this. Why did I ever …

Continue reading "What to do when writing is a struggle"

Finding writing inspiration… at a leather convention?

writingJune 19, 2017August 12, 2017

You never know when inspiration is going to cross your path. In my case, I never would have expected inspiration for my young adult writing to arrive at a leather convention. Let me back up. Recently, we went to Chicago to visit my friend Scott. He’s a photographer and a good friend I originally got …

Continue reading "Finding writing inspiration… at a leather convention?"

Want to get published more? Embrace rejection — an update

Publications, writingApril 24, 2017November 24, 2017

I got the nicest rejection letter recently. No, I’m totally serious. I wanted to write them back and say thank you; thank you for rejecting my work! Are they going to publish it? No. Did I win any sort of consolation prize (like, you know, money)? No. Is my name going to be on some …

Continue reading "Want to get published more? Embrace rejection — an update"

A cautionary social media tale

writingMarch 27, 2017May 30, 2019

[TL/DR: social media delights in distracting you and wasting your time. Minutes/hours spent tweeting or posting are minutes/hours not spent writing. Is that how you want to be spending your time? Also, commenting on a trending hashtag brings out the crazies like you wouldn’t believe. Don’t feed them, whatever you do. Their appetite is bottomless.] …

Continue reading "A cautionary social media tale"

Prev 1 2 3 4 … 8 Next
Integer theme by ThemePatio
Oh look, another cookie notice. Look, cookies make everything better, and this here website uses 'em. Ya gotta be okay with that if you keep reading, but if not, close this tab, clear your cookies, set the do-not-track option in your browser, and go read Buzzfeed or something. (But they probably use cookies too. Just sayin'.) Cookies! Yum! My thrilling privacy policy
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT