Discover more from A Stylist Submits
His name is Dan Moore, and I primarily know his voice. He speaks softly, sometimes halting to reconsider, in the sloping accent of western North Carolina where a man can wait atop a mountain all night and never fear the elements or creatures there. Dan spoke quite a lot when we talked on the phone for several interviews last year, and I suspect that he enjoys speaking because he’s brimming with stories but has rarely shared them in his life, the way that many old men enjoy talking when someone asks about the long, unseen lives they’ve led.
Dan worked as a state wildlife protector between 1971 and 1991. He patrolled black bear sanctuaries in southwestern North Carolina, where the Blue Ridge mountains and their national forests blend between North Carolina and Tennessee. As he told it, Dan lived a solitary life aimed at the poachers whom the courts would often acquit once he’d spent months tracking and arresting them. I wonder how little he talked in those days, and if that small sum explains how much he told me when I brought him my fumbling questions.
From Dan, I received exactly one quote that I was able to use in my new piece at Plough Magazine, “The Wardens and the Poachers.” I’d interviewed him for my novel-in-progress, together with another old-timer who was among the first conservationists to begin preserving the Roan Highlands in 1971, Bruce Byers. Bruce couldn’t fit at all into the Plough article, because of both thematic focus and literal length. But, like Dan, Bruce will have his place as a formative voice in the novel. (You should ask me about the novel—I have so, so many words.)
“The Wardens and the Poachers” (whose original title now headlines this announcement) is part of Plough’s spring issue, “The Riddle of Nature.” It is a providential placement for many reasons which I’m thankful for—perhaps most of all because the wardens and the poacher I narrate are a riddle to their neighbors and to the natural world where they live. They are riddled with the usual complexities and uncertainties of created humans living among creation: how to be, how to tend? I hadn’t known that the magazine had prepared a full issue on this question when I pitched my motley collection of character interviews and historical records to the editors. And yet, they had; and yet, my work suited theirs at exactly the right moment.
In other news, I’ve enjoyed heaping helps of encouragement from other publications. The first was an essay of mine at Ekstasis Magazine, “A Scene Report from a Literary Gathering”—adapted from a certain February scene report y’all might remember—to read at April 12 Inkwell event in nearby Durham. The folks at
put together a great event for us all, and I was honored to appear with the rest of writers and poets who read there—this in-person melding of beauty, Christianity, food, and community is exactly what we need as readers, artists, and humans.The second was my short story, “Human Features in Minute Detail,” which appeared in a little e-zine called Pere Ube. It begins with a dead goose and reaches all the way to inexplicable violence, all within the terrarium of a small, surveilled apartment complex. Let me know what you think of it at ktlathorn18@gmail.com, once you read it; the only thing better than being read is being read closely.
And by God’s curious prodigality, I also received acceptance for new work in two print magazines that’ll appear later this summer. It’s too early to name them, but it’s not too soon to squeal over the encouragement they’ve given me this spring.
As y’all can see, I’m continuing to write. And I welcome more patrons for it.
Patronage is a sweeter word than the verb we’ve kept from its Latin root—patronize, which belittles and obscures the fatherly care of its original meaning. If you care about what I write here and what I write elsewhere, become a patron and support me directly.
Speaking politely, the payments from my above publications were nice to nil. Through this point of 2024, the vast majority of my writing has served only my unseen novel and poems, which only my paid subscribers are paying for monthly or annually. The way I’ve done it so far, these regular payments for my work well before their potential publications (and their oft-chimeric payments) is the best option I have for payment.
Thank you for supporting me with your eyes. If you can spare any more support, I’d welcome and not waste it.
Thanks for being here, y’all. Really.
I’d had a mad idea when I began this newsletter that I would often share author-ish updates: publications, readings, the like. They’ve been much, much more infrequent than I’d hoped (to the great benefit of my writing and dedication, honestly). And still, God has provided them.
I’m hooked by the dead goose. Headed over to read that. And congrats on the publications!