Issue 12

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Editor’s Note

Among the host of gems in Virginia Woolf’s A Writer’s Diary is this juicy nugget: “I deserve a spring—I owe nobody nothing,” and if that’s true for anyone, it’s true for us at Story|Houston. Our stewardship of H-Town’s literary core continues into its 6th year, and we are inclined to take a break and inhale a few whiffs of the cherry blossoms in Hermann Park. But, it was our other pal Leo Tolstoy who wrote that “Spring is the time of plans and projects,” and thus, it is incumbent on us to produce flowers of our own.

Besides, spring in Houston is well over, and we now contend with the equatorial heat and Old Testament floodwaters that east Texas summers bring.

The first work we have for you is “Diver” by Ross Feeler, a second-person enigma that to this editor’s eyes weaves between narrative nonfiction and magical realism. In describing my experience of reading this story I’m tempted to use a blurb like “breathless and gleefully disorienting, as if one is suspended in space and yet braced for impact,” but I should leave the descriptions of diving to Mr. Feeler. He’s much better at them. Also, I have to confess to hearing a melancholic version of Steve Winwood’s “Arc of Diver” in my head while reading this one.

We at Story|Houston have seen our fair share of discontented relationship stories—such is the lit journal’s burden in this day and age. But, one thing we haven’t seen much of—because it’s almost impossible to do well—is effective use of animal metaphors. Molly Giles’s “The Life Cycle of a Tick” takes us on an exquisitely irritating journey through a couple’s foray into the Deep South. Is this relationship on its last legs? All eight of them? You decide.

We go from the skin-crawling of “Tick” to much more serene climes. “Sound of Water” by Edward Myers, like the pond that forms the centerpiece of the story, is many things: a series of contemplations, an anthology of Zen koans and other poetry, a naturalistic DIY epic befitting a backyard Herzog, and many others as well. Mr. Myers’s essay moves us to contemplate the growth ushered in by spring, as well as the inevitable change and dissolution that that growth implies.

“Yahoos” by William Garland takes us way out West—both spatially and morally. The second relationship story of this issue illustrates just how far those platonic Bromances can go. Mr. Garland is a Houston-area writer whose eye for detail when it comes to class, culture, and dive bars is put through its full paces on his protagonists’ doomed vacation.

In the time since we launched this journal, dozens of editors and interns have begun their literary careers and retired, regional rivals have come and gone, and major literary movements have exploded onto the scene and then fizzled out. The one constant through all of this has been the stupendous cover art of Matthew Boelsche, of which so much has been written that it’s easy to forget there was a time when Mr. Boelsche and his Driftwood character were not household names. Here’s to Matt Boelsche: the toast of the town.

We’d also like to thank our interior artist Cameron McFarland, a young hotshot with all the right moves. Mr. McFarland contributed art to all four stories for this issue, and we hope to continue our working relationship with him on into the future. Keep an eye on Mr. McFarland.

Well, there you have it. Another Story|Houston issue for the books. We’d lastly like to thank all of our longtime readers, without whom we’d be mere voices crying out to the wilderness. Thank you for reading.