Storytellersunplugged

I imagine most of you will be on holiday today, soaking up the sun if you are in the Southern Hemisphere (like me), or looking out over the snow if you are in the North. So I’ll keep this one pretty short for those stalwarts keen enough to read our blog while teetering on the precipice of the new year.As I’m writing this, I’m looking out at native New Zealand bush, listening to bird song, and sweating through an evening that’s ... Read More

 Hello. My name is Alma Alexander, and I'm a writerholic. This is my first real step on the Storytellersuplugged stage, so I figured I could do worse than start out by giving you this essay below - the essay originally presented as a speech for my first Guest-of-Honor gig at the 2005 Writers Weekend conference in Seattle (I could have fiddled with time references, but on reflection I chose not to - so any references to "recent" in the essay refer back to ... Read More

I'm up to my neck in revisions for Corambis, my fourth book. In fact, I may be in over my head. 2007 was the year I learned I can't write a book in a year. Actually, that's not quite true. I can write a book in a year. What I can't do is write a good book. The first draft of Corambis was certainly a book. It had a beginning, a middle, and an end; it had ... Read More

Wayne Allen Sallee jonalgiers@aol.com Here I am again. Before I go into my intended topic this go round, I’d like to take a moment to talk about the vagaries of irony. Now, its old news that my tombstone will read “The Computer Remained His Nemesis.” But I continue to find new ways to become an irony magnet when it comes to this thing in front of me, the Monster That Made Ted Kaczynski Insane. (The Unabomber grew up in Evergreen ... Read More

There’s a moment before the curtain goes up, when the conductor holds the baton like a headsman’s axe and the heat of the lights melts you like wax. It’s the moment when you’re convinced you’ve forgotten all of the words, you don’t remember any of the notes, your Shakespeare has fled and left behind Bugs Bunny, and you’re absolutely certain your fly is unzipped. No amount of reassurance, of practice, of checking to make sure you are in fact appropriately zipped will ... Read More

By Janet Berliner My best student sent me a holiday card and added the words, "Writing is hard." I wrote back, "Who promised easy?" Then I thought about it. A lot. Writing is hard. Being published is almost impossible.  Making a living out of words is about as close as you can get to a fool's dream.  So, why try? In 1936, the great Oscar Hammerstein II wrote: "Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, I gotta love one man till I die." Somehow I'm sure ... Read More

(Everyone out shopping? Yeah, I thought so…)Ah, the holiday season. What better way to spend the end of the year, than in spiritual reflection, decorating trees, buying perfect presents for loved ones, sending out cheery holiday cards and newsletters, drinking champagne and eating fabulous little cookies, indulging in the free DVDs that the evil corporations continue to send striking screenwriters because force majeure be damned, the Oscars must go on...)Right?Um. Wrong. This Holiday season, if I don’t do at the very least ... Read More

I’m in a bubble-bursting mood today, but I’m not sure that’s really a bad thing.  Some bubbles need bursting.  Most of these little lumps of coal are meant for the newbies in this crazy business, who need every bit of advice they can get, and who also need a good bubble bursting every now and then to keep them honest.  1. All publicity is not good publicity.  Rampaging across the Internet like a lunatic, making jackass posts on public forums, and starting pissing ... Read More

by Richard Steinberg This month’s column is dedicated to the sacrifices of Staff Sgt. Michael J. Gabel, 30, of Crowley, La., Cpl. Joshua C. Blaney, 25, of Matthews, N.C., both of the 173rd Airborne Brigade; Chief Petty Officer Mark T. Carter, 27, of Fallbrook, Calif., a Navy SEAL; Cpl. Tanner J. O'Leary, 23, of Eagle Butte, S.D., Spc. Matthew K. Reece, 24, of Harrison, Ark. Both of the 82nd Airborne Division; Staff Sgt. Gregory L. Elam, 39, of Columbus, Ga. of the 101st ... Read More

[My apologies for being a bit late with this. Due to WordPress's scheduling feature, I'll slip it in behind Richard's post, and no one will be the wiser. Except those of you who read this confession. D'oh!]  Last month I wrote about how I needed to spend more time on my own work rather than the tie-in novels, toy development, and computer game work that occupy a good chunk of my time. (Well, the kids take up more than that, but that's not ... Read More