Friday, November 25, 2011

Writer's Block: Nicholas Campanella

Posted By on Fri, Nov 25, 2011 at 3:00 PM

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Short Stories by local author Nicholas Campanella has been published by The Moon Publishing and Printing (www.moonpublishprint.com).

Campanella grew up on the Jersey Shore, in Seaside Heights. He says he used to listen to the Beatles and Rolling Stones "blasting over the ocean and down the boardwalk in the 60s." He majored in creative writing at Evergreen State College in Olympia, WA. He's married and has lived in Tucson since 1995.

He writes, "Short Stories is a collection of stories written over the last ten years—most of which appeared in The Moon, a local literary zine which has relocated to Indiana. There is a variety of horror, humor, enchantment, fantasy and a couple of poems."

Here are some choice excerpts:

"The Boardwalk in Winter"
The boardwalk in winter stands quiet. Abandoned. Cold, cloudy with lonely waves traveling an incredible way to die on distant shores. The boardwalk in winter has no friends. Only memories of what was and what will be. I walk from one end to the other. Past every covered ride and boarded up food stand. Every silenced penny arcade and frozen fun house. Standing on the beach at the cold water's edge the wave perishes in a quarter inch of water finally foaming at my feet.
The boardwalk has only sunshine friends.

"The Not Ready for Prime Time Fisherman"
As an angler, fish really like me. They don't have to worry about getting hooked or injured. They'd get a good laugh at how a guy could spend twelve hours catching nothing. I imagine fish comparing my angling ability to my dating scene. I couldn't catch a fish in a grocery store. Whenever someone asked about the one that got away, shamefully, my answer was, "All of them."

"The Church"
The congregation spilled in Sunday mornings from the surrounding countryside. The elderly. The young and rambunctious. The middle aged, who were often too over dressed for the occasion and seemed more concerned about how they appeared to others than about the salvation they may receive from their little church. As if how they looked mattered at all.

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