WCC professor's work may be famous in fiction writing circles
By Phyllis Moore
Published in News on December 10, 2014 1:46 PM
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News-Argus/CASEY MOZINGO
Dean Tuck reviews a student paper during English 112, a research writing class, at Wayne Community College. Tuck has had several of his short stories published online and in journals. His latest, "Twinless Twin," was chosen for the most recent issue of Cornell University's Epoch Magazine.
Dean Tuck may one day write a book.
But for now, you are more likely to find his work online. Or in journals.
His grassroots celebrity may only be familiar to those in fiction writing circles. He has had work featured in publications such as the Los Angeles Review, Vestal Review and Fiction Southeast, an online showcase for promising writers.
For the past three years, the 33-year-old Bailey native has also been teaching freshman English and creative writing at Wayne Community College. But first and foremost, he is a writer, he says.
"I think in high school I had a really good English instructor, AP English, Ms. Hardy," he said. "She exposed us to some really nice fiction.
"And poetry -- I thought I was going to be a poet. Short fiction is what I have gravitated to. I love the stories she exposed us to. They have followed me."
His enjoyment of the art spans a lot of genres.
"I like 20th century literature. I read a lot of Southern literature. I would like to grow into longer fiction, toward writing a novel," he said. "I don't want to position myself as a Southern gothic writer but at the same time, I don't want to say stark realism either. I like mysteries."
He has also been dabbling in "flash fiction," a very short form of fiction, maybe only 600 to 700 words in length.
One of his latest entries was recently published in the renowned Cornell University journal, "Epoch," which features fiction, poetry, essays, cartoons, screenplays, graphic art and graphic fiction.
"Twinless Twin" is told from the perspective of a mother who gave birth to twins and only one survived, he said.
"The whole story is a series of these, maybe scenarios," he explained. "I sort of captured her voice, the story of a mother trying to figure out why her son ended up the way he did."
Writing is "just a series of hundreds of choices," he said, prompting another secret about the art -- "every character is you."
Imagine what it would be like to be that mother, he mused.
"I think if I can just step outside of myself a bit, I can claim a bit of objectivity," he said.
Tuck has participated in very few contests because of the fees involved, but he has submitted a lot of fiction to journals like the one at Cornell.
"It's not so costly," he said. "It's time, it's paper and ink and postage and a self-addressed stamped envelope, and now a lot of it is going online so it's not so bad."
He has had his share of rejections, he says. But that does not deter him from submitting his work elsewhere.
"I have stories out there in 50 to 60 journals," he said. "Because I enjoy sending stuff out and I keep stuff out there all the time."
His foray into the classroom was an unexpected side trip, he admits. Having the opportunity to impart some of his wisdom and perhaps spark an interest among fledgling writers has also been a learning experience for him, he said.
"My first semester teaching creating writing here was in the spring. There were four people in the class," he recalled. "One student in there was really sharp and eager -- even things I didn't require, a real student when you think of students in most classes who are doing the assigned work. A real student goes out there and learns all he can get."
He gave her advice on stories and even received critique from her on some of his, he said.
"She sent back wonderful nice advice about editing and tightening it up," he said. "She surprised me with her great advice that she gave. I think that was pretty delightful."
His dream, he says, would be to have his work accepted into an anthology or compilation.
"It's complex," he said. "I would like to prove something to myself that I could contribute to a body of work, literature. I guess I would really like to get a fiction collection.
"I would like to write a novel one day but a short fiction collection, that would be exciting."
He has come up with a plan for a novel, he said, but not so much the actual topic. More like a writing schedule.
"I have things in the back of my mind on the horizon," he said. "But I just don't want to start a novel just because. I want to have something to say."