“Moroni” is published in SciFan

I tussled with this story (from 3,000 words down to 900 and back again!) before I got it right, so that’s probably why it’s one of my favorites. Also, I got to write about the Palisades! I got the idea from a long ago climbing trip during which partner Wayne Thompson took a brief dive into one of the North Pal glacier’s crevices.  Pick it up on Amazon:  https://www.amazon.com/SciFanTM-Magazine-May-2017-Editorial-ebook/dp/B071R56XS4/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&qid=1493212003&sr=8-6&keywords=scifan+magazine&linkCode=sl1&tag=blooandshad03-20&linkId=c0876a807379eaf2304f033db38540a7

 

Climbers’ Light

Son Jon made a notable journey through New Zealand a few years back. He went far and high and by himself to take many wonderful photos. I paired one with a mountain poem of mine and the Ekphrastic Review just published both. Do take a look.

http://www.ekphrastic.net

 

A Crow Fell

Friend and Colleague John Miller recruited me to contribute to his teaching unit on Medieval Japan a couple of years ago. One of the tanka I wrote as an example for the students was included in the Tanka Journal # 3. Another was just published in Tanka Journal #4. A print edition is available from Prolific Press. Here’s a link to the online journal:

http://tankajournal.com/issue.php?id=7&issue=4

 

Yosemite High Camp

Photo courtesy  of the Yosemite Association

Mike Russell and I have managed to spend some interesting nights out over the past forty years – under the stars if we were lucky. Our latest nocturnal duel with frisky mountain weather occurred last October in the Sierra high country. I crafted my loose impressions into a poem and The Ekphrastic Review published it. Here’s the link:  http://www.ekphrastic.net/ekphrastic/yosemite-high-camp-by-robert-walton

“Rise Above” is out!

Steve Roper and Al Steck created and recreated “Ascent” for more than thirty years. It was the premier journal for mountaineering photography, art and literature, both fiction and memoir. When they stepped away from the immense work each volume required, the publication became history. An enormous void took its place. There is now no meeting place where climbers can share and reflect upon the best of their images, the best of their words, the most intense of their experiences.

Most of my climbing fiction has gone begging these past ten years. I wrote “Moroni” far too late to have it considered for inclusion in “Ascent”, but it’s a good climbing story, one of my best. Imagine my gratitude to editor and publisher Cassie Newell that she agreed with my assessment of “Moroni” and offered it in Rise Above, her new e-book collection of prize-winning short stories. Please follow the link below to peruse Rise Above.

http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Above-eBook-Short-Winners-ebook/dp/B0147VZ4C6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1440164219&sr=8-1&keywords=rise+above+ebook+me+up+short+story+2015+winners

Yosemite – Unnamed Falls

You all know by now of my long enchantment with Yosemite. It’s ongoing and continues to spark my writing. Here’s a just published Yosemite poem I’d like to share:

http://www.yourdailypoem.com/listpoem.jsp?poem_id=1919

“Moroni” takes first place!

There are times when a story doesn’t come right until it’s been rewritten again and again. “Moroni” is my all time revisions champ, with more than a dozen versions in my computer. Finally, though, I felt that the story’s narrative fell into its simplest line and the characters spoke clearly. Editor Cassie Newell and the judges of the e-Book Me Up short story contest agreed and awarded it first place. I’m most pleased and honored by this recognition of “Moroni, especially after the extended tussle it gave me! The contest winners and finalists will be published on Amazon sometime this month. I’ll let you know when this happens. Here’s a link to eBook Me Up:

http://www.ebookmeup.com/home.html