Storytellersunplugged

Hey, everyone. I've been sitting here for twenty minutes trying to think of a title and gave up. I went to my list of unused story titles. Because at the very least the title needs to be catchy. I'm notorious for needing a title and the last line of a story in my head before I can go on and write the damn thing. This is the case with my Richard Matheson-esque story "The Night of The ... Read More

I’ve talked about writing reviews before in this space, but, upon further (ahem) review, I realized that my work in that regard was not quite finished. Sure, I’d talked about what I thought was important in a review, and John B. Rosenman had posted an excellent essay about his reviewing techniques, but I realized I’d left out the most important thing. I’d forgotten to talk about how to write a bad review. Not an unfavorable one, mind you – a bad one. A ... Read More

Our own Richard Steinberg is swapping in for Janet Berliner this month with the following essay - DNW "Many of us spend our whole lives running from feeling with the mistaken belief that you cannot bear the pain. But you have already borne the pain. What you have not done is feel all you are beyond the pain," Saint Bartholomew That's my job. Making you feel all you are beyond the pain. But you can not move beyond the pain, until you've felt it. I know ... Read More

I’m doing another one of my screenwriting in an hour workshops in New Orleans this weekend, at Heather Graham’s Writers for New Orleans workshop. (Yes, and partying in New Orleans, too. I deserve it, okay?) I know, it’s crazy, right? – what can you possibly teach anyone about anything in an hour? Well, I can’t teach screenwriting in an hour, but I’ve found I can teach people how to start to teach THEMSELVES screenwriting in an hour. (And what ... Read More

I've been on the road almost the entire time since my last post here on Storytellers Unplugged. I started out with a quick couple of days in San Diego at Comic-Con International, the biggest pop culture convention in the world. On that Friday (July 25), I rode up to LA for a business meeting. I flew back from there and got home around midnight. The next morning, my wife and I packed the kids into the minivan and set off for the Northwoods ... Read More

Pressing issues have prevented a post by our usual 20th personality, Justine Musk, so I'm expanding something I've written previously in my own on-line journal and hope that it will suffice.  Next month, Justine will be back in her regularly scheduled slot ... I’ve been involved in some discussions lately that caused a particular passage in “The Haunting of Hill House” to stick in my mind, and I thought I’d share.  There are actually two issues involved, so bear with me.  The initial ... Read More

Assaults of all kinds can result in body wounds, and most involve skin damage. Our skin just seems to hang around not doing much, but it performs some very important functions. It stands between us and many harmful agents. It also plays important roles in maintaining our body temperature and in gathering sensory information from our surroundings.Skin comprises an outermost layer known as an epidermis. Its thickness ranges from 0.05 mm eyelids to 1.5 mm palms and soles, and pigment (melanin) is ... Read More

A few weekends ago I attended a genre conference and was tagged to sit in on multiple writing panels. The range of topics was vast, everything from how-to, to what-now. Usually when sitting on these panels, I enjoy the various points of view from the different participating authors. The operative word here is u-s-u-a-l-l-y. Protocol most often calls for a moderator on these panels, and that moderator’s job is to make sure the conversation flows smoothly by asking questions, prompting different sub-topics ... Read More

-- Bev Vincent I have published something on the order of fifty short stories since I began writing seriously at the beginning of the millennium. Some of the early stories appeared in what are disparagingly referred to as “for the love” (or “4theLuv”) markets. A few were published in “royalty only” anthologies (which are but a smidgen better than 4theLuv markets in that in rare cases some of them have delivered a pittance in revenue—my current record is about $18). Most of ... Read More

Flamingo Frank would hate it if I wrote his obituary, especially with black crepe hung all over it. Much too dreary. But early on the dawn of August 2, 2008 -- by his own decision, you can be quite certain -- Frank T. Wydra decided he’d had enough of wrestling with pancreatic cancer and told the subversive processes that were racking his body, “Okay, you want it, you got it.” He could do that because his physical presence was the least of ... Read More