Archive for September, 2005
READING BETWEEN THE LINES
— David Niall Wilson
Throughout my life I’ve heard the term “reading between the lines” used to infer that a person has grasped some deeper, hidden secret buried in words someone else has written, or an untold story being ignored and glossed over with a less-than-truthful or fabricated façade. As an author, I’m often amazed [...]
You Ought To Write A Story About This…
Art imitates life. Sometimes life imitates art, too, and the lines between who you are and what you do get blurry.
So it’s ten PM on a Saturday night and I’m up on top of a mountain. Mount Pisgah, to be exact – a slithering hunk of rock that stretches [...]
In-Translation
by Janet Berliner
The words “Ich bin Blau” in German, directly translated, mean “I am blue.” But try saying that in passing to someone on the streets of Berlin and see what happens. A lot of laughter, or at the least giggling is what happens because, colloquially, “Ich bin Blau” means “I am drunk.”
What, you [...]
Voodoo Magic
Voodoo Magic
This month I have a real problem. Because I’m going through a Hellish patch of writer’s block, how can I write about writing if I can’t write? I’ve been told to either just wait it out, do something else, or force myself to sit in front of the computer until my irises are ready [...]
Grimm and Grimmer
by Jeffrey Thomas
When it comes to brother acts, for me film-makers come to mind more readily than authors. There are Larry and Andy Wachowski (the MATRIX movies), Peter and Bobby Farrelly (DUMB AND DUMBER and the hilarious STUCK ON YOU, about conjoined brothers), the Polish Brothers (TWIN FALLS IDAHO, also about conjoined twins, and the [...]
Ninety Percent Asshole, Ten Percent Saint - Living Online
When Shawna, my wife, approached me in late 1998 wanting to purchase a secondhand computer so she could get online, I resisted. “The Internet is for geeks, freaks, and losers,” I said. “What the hell are we going to use the internet for?”
My concept of the Internet was very narrow at that time. I saw [...]
PROMOTING OUTSIDE THE BOX PART 2
Last go-around, I spoke about different ways of promoting oneself and their work–more untraditional ways of getting into the public’s eye. As discussed, I’d taken a huge long shot in trying to land a spot on the reality TV show Survivor. I’d made a tape, filled out the lengthy application from CBS.com and sent it [...]
The Wood Lot
First day of autumn.
That means, among other things, that it’s almost time to buy firewood for the winter. And I hate to do that, because it requires going back to the wood lot, and I never want to go back to the wood lot again. It’s just too scary.
Many people think that Arizona [...]
BLEED WITH ME*
by Brian Keene
“At the very bottom of (a writer’s) motives lies a mystery. Writing a book is a long, exhausting struggle, like a long bout of some painful illness. One would never undertake such a thing if one were not driven by some demon…”
George Orwell
Write what you know. How many times have you, as a [...]
COME HELL OR HIGH WATER
It’s a known fact that deadlines can cause hives, hypertension, hyperventilation, hair loss, and hernias (The latter is a condition inherent to lifting heavy objects (i.e. the computer) with the express intention of tossing said heavy object out the window.)
Of course these symptoms can be associated to stress, but in a writer’s life, I think [...]
