Author Archives: jaurquhart

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About jaurquhart

Jack Andrew Urquhart was born in the American South. Following undergraduate work at the University of Florida, Gainesville, he taught in Florida's public schools. He earned a Master of Arts degree in English, Creative Writing, from the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he was the winner of the Harcourt Brace Jovanovich Award for Fiction (1991). His work has appeared online at Clapboard House Literary Journal, Crazyhorse Literary Journal, and Standards: The International Journal of Multicultural Studies. He is the author of So They Say, a collection of self-contained, inter-connected stories and the short story, They Say You Can Stop Yourself Breathing. Formerly a writing instructor at the University of Colorado’s Writing Program, Mr. Urquhart was, until 2010, a senior analyst for the Judicial Branch of California. He resides in Washington State.

Indie Book Reviews: Objective Notice or Subjective Fanfare?

Posted on February 1, 2012 by jaurquhart

By Jack A. Urquhart, ©2012 It is with trepidation that I undertake this long-winded piece, the topic of which is indie book reviews and my questions and misgivings about same. I say trepidation because it could be that I’m missing … Continue reading →

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Monster Is in the Eye of the Beholder, by Lorinda J. Taylor

Posted on January 11, 2012 by jaurquhart

Well-Intentioned Scientists Running Amok Book Review by Jack A. Urquhart ©2012 Lorinda J. Taylor’s imaginative and entertaining science-fiction novella, Monster Is in the Eye of the Beholder, reminded this reader of Mary Doria Russell’s The Sparrow (1996).  Both works are first-contact … Continue reading →

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SEASON of TR$EASON (A 100-word “holiday” story)

Posted on December 23, 2011 by jaurquhart

By Jack A. Urquhart ©2011 It had to stop, he’d thought in acting: the humiliating front-yard proselytizing. “JESUS is the REASON for the SEASON,” the placard read—his wife’s latest proclamation of faith emblazoned in Yuletide colors. “This all started when … Continue reading →

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Running Downhill?

Posted on December 12, 2011 by jaurquhart

copyright 2011 by Jack A. Urquhart I like to run. I like the freeing way running takes me out of my head and anchors my consciousness in my feet, legs, lungs—in the rhythms of breath and stride.  I like running … Continue reading →

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Affluenza: ’tis the Season

Posted on November 28, 2011 by jaurquhart

Do you feel it yet?  Are you showing the symptoms?  I am.  I’ve got it bad.  Affluenza.  I’m sick and I know it.  Worse, it’s a chronic case.  Immedicable.  No known cure.  No joke. How can I be certain?  Because … Continue reading →

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Exacerbating Malapropisms

Posted on November 21, 2011 by jaurquhart

I don’t know about you, but I hate, loath, and despite malapropisms in the books I persue.  I mean, these days it’s sometimes implausible to get through a single paraphrase of an Indie-arthured nouvelle without finding too or three of … Continue reading →

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Remembrance of Things Recurring

Posted on November 15, 2011 by jaurquhart

Yesterday I missed an anniversary.  No matter that it wasn’t mine, nor even the kind of anniversary that some folks would choose to commemorate.  Still, I wish I had—remembered it, that is.  Somebody besides my partner, RLB, and a handful … Continue reading →

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Getting It: A Reflection on ‘Coming Out’ in Middle Age

Posted on November 8, 2011 by jaurquhart

Introduction: The following personal essay, written twelve years ago for an online journal—a piece I’d all but forgotten—was brought to my attention recently via e-mail by an individual I’ve never met. Aside from the fact that posting it here absolves … Continue reading →

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E-Store Customers Looking to Avoid Indie Authors?

Posted on October 30, 2011 by jaurquhart

By Jack Andrew Urquhart Recently, after reviewing my author page on Amazon, I passed an hour perusing several of the customer discussion threads that proliferate on the site.  A writer for over twenty-five years, I am yet a novice in the … Continue reading →

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The Zen of Ironing

Posted on October 22, 2011 by jaurquhart

I rather like ironing my partner’s shirts.  Two or three garments into the laundry basket and I’m in the zone, meditating on how maybe, just maybe RLB derives some small pleasure when he opens his closet and finds a crisply … Continue reading →

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