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Chris McClelland, multiple award-winning short story writer and novelist, also sometime writing coach

Chris McClelland's World War Two Romance, IN LOVE AND WAR named a #2 Best Selling YA military fiction e book by Amazon! Star-crossed lov...

Friday, October 24, 2025

Monday, October 20, 2025

Next Blog--Blog #166; Link to my Latest Poetry Appearing in Adelaide Literary Magazine

 This is an unprecedented (for me) event: Five poems appearing in one issue of a magazine.  I am both proud and grateful the folks at Adelaide who published them.  Here is the link:



Enjoy!

Sunday, October 12, 2025

Blog #165; Latest Publication

I have a number of poems accepted for publication in the Adelaide Literary Review..  These poems will appear in issue #81 of this publication next week. I will post a link when it is live. 

Saturday, October 11, 2025

Blog 164; Meet and Greet at Provo, Utah Library on Oct. 25th

 I am planning to attend Provo Library Book Festival on Oct. 25 of this year and will be available for Q&As, book signing and meeting and greeting all interested readers.  Expect to find me in the Ballroom on the second floor from 10 am to 1 pm.  I will have copies of the following books available for purchase at my booth in the Ballroom.  I am hoping to meet some of you there!


In Love and War (critically acclaimed novel)
Under Old Glory (YA novella, acclaimed by Association of Mormon Letters)

Cheers!

Chris

Wednesday, August 20, 2025

Blog #163; Recent Publications and Awards

 Today I found out that one of my poems, "Hot Sands" appears in the latest issue of Beatnik Cowboy.  Another appears in Poetry for Mental Health.  In the local Salt Lake City Creative Writing VA Festival, my poem, (that just appeared in Irranteum) called "A Deeper Baptism" won First Place in the Mountain West.  Another poem and a short piece of fiction won silver in the same competition.


Tuesday, August 12, 2025

Blog #162; New Poetry Publication!

 Announcing the latest publication of my poetry.  "A Deeper Baptism" and "[Give me Mercy, Lord]" are scheduled to appear in the next issue of Irreantum Magazine.

Thursday, August 7, 2025

Blog #161; Academic Critical Thinking and My Personal Culture Shift in Higher Education

 I noticed something in my thinking processes when I started graduate school, all those many years ago: I had a cultural shift in the way I saw the world.  My worldview expanded, and I became much more sensitive to the culture of the different time periods I studied.  Even in my undergrad, with the Age of Dryden and Pope, I adjusted to the rather wry humor and sarcastic wordplay of people like Swift, Dryden and Pope.  There are many majors I could have chosen, and many graduate schools I could have attended, but I think literature (American and European) was the perfect suit for me.  As I advanced in grad school, I became much more analytical in my approach to text and studies around various cultures, including my own American culture of the modern day.


Nowadays, I can appreciate something like The Great Courses and continue to educate myself, not only in literature, but European and American history, Central American culture, which I experienced first-hand right after grad school.  The great courses encompass psychology, neurology, space flight and exploration.  It is well worth the fee we pay to have access to such a treasure trove of knowledge.