Storytellersunplugged

By David Niall Wilson A local reading group recently took up the challenge of my novel, Deep Blue. I had the distinct pleasure of being invited to the discussion session, and I thought this was the perfect opportunity to share that experience. I don’t have to tell most of you what a thrill it was to sit at a table with a group of people who had actually read my book, or how rare that experience can be. I’ll admit that going ... Read More

by Guest Storyteller Jeff Osier I used to think of myself as a writer. Never mind the details. Started when I was a little kid, went through a new phase every year (at least), started submitting stories to magazines in my mid-twenties, accumulated rejection slips, found some sympathetic editors in the small press, managed to get about thirty short stories published, co-wrote a nonfiction book that actually got published, wrote a couple of novels, one of which I had an agent try to ... Read More

by Dick Hill I think my good friend Rick Steinberg mentioned in these pages as he covered for me last month that he did so because I was involved in the longest, most ... Read More

And then there’s that old adage about dealing with life’s pressures that goes, “Don’t sweat the small stuff.”Yep, keeping your eye on the big picture is always vital. Getting bogged down in niggling details is a good way to send your blood pressure skyrocketing, particularly when, in the overall scheme of things, they’re inconsequential. I know a young woman who can spend three hours trying to figure out which pair of earrings goes with a particular outfit. She’s usually very late to ... Read More

At the very beginning of the year, I sat down to post a rant on my web site. Why I felt the need to do this is still something of a mystery. For my part, I’d much rather engage in polite, if energetic conversation, but no, no – the rant now appears to be one of the three main forms of acceptable communication between a writer and his or her audience via web site. (The other ... Read More

By Janet Berliner In November I promised more of STONES. Here it is. Happy Hannumas. --Janet My half-brother, David, whom I have yet to meet in person, was for some years a member of Ha-Mosad le-Modi'in u-le-Tafkidim Meyuhadim, The Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations better known as simply Mosad. Mosad is one of several agencies responsible for intelligence collection, counter-terrorism and covert action in Israel. My only contribution can be with words. From Israel, I travelled to Berlin to visit my mother, who ... Read More

Scribe ScroogeWhen asked if the university stifles writers, Flannery O’Conner stated that the university unfortunately doesn’t stifle enough of them.I paraphrase that quote from our dear friend Rick Steinberg, who has done more to encourage young writers than anyone else I know. Encourage them in the proper way, of course, which he does with great flourish, energy, and skill.But this isn’t about encouraging.This is about stifling.Repression.My naturally autocratic tendencies, which have held me back in the literary world for years, compel me ... Read More

- Jeffrey ThomasThis blog entry comes from the Innocent Abroad. Well, at least that’s how I must have come across as I flew from Tokyo to Vietnam to spend Christmas with my wife’s family. As I sat crunched into my little airplane seat resting my eyes, my hands folded primly in my lap, someone (presumably the Vietnamese girl seated opposite me) pointed me out to one of the Japanese stewardesses, who then said, “Yes — innocent!” Hm! Maybe they’d be disappointed to ... Read More

By Richard Steinberg “Every word written is a victory against death,” Michel Butor Why do we fear it so? What is it about that ending which casts such a shadow, which dominates our conscious or subconscious lives? For my part, while not seeking it, I think I might welcome it. An end to the fight, to the struggle, to the nearly achieving, to the pain. A cold quiet to replace the cacophonous world that speaks without hearing, shouts without saying anything, and constantly gibbers indecipherably. ... Read More

By Jeff MariotteNo, not Breaking and Entering. Beginnings and Endings. Since it’s the season of giving, I thought I’d give Storytellers Unplugged’s dear readers a gift and let them read something other than my standard yawp about how and why I do whatever it is that I do.I write from four to six novels a year, most years (he wrote, immediately breaking the promise above). So it sometimes feels like I’m always either writing a beginning or an ending.Both ... Read More