Storytellersunplugged

I’m a one purse at a time kind of woman. In other words, I don’t have a handbag to go with every outfit. The ones I get are typically multifunctional and fit just about any occasion. Well, except formal affairs. For those, I rummage through the forty plus bags in my sister’s closet and borrow one. Anyway, a few years ago I figured it was time for a purse makeover. I bought a small one, hoping to keep the ‘stuff’ I usually ... Read More

--by Bev Vincent Whenever the subject of writer’s block comes up, I usually say that I don’t believe there’s any such thing. The answer to writer’s block is, quite simply, to write. Write something. Book reviews, essays, blog entries, anything. However, I do believe there is such a thing as Writer’s Doldrums. The original Doldrums are regions in the oceans near the equator where the prevailing winds are calm. Sailors who ended up in the Doldrums could find themselves becalmed for days or weeks. ... Read More

Writers are failed children.  Lemme try that on for a thesis sentence and see where it goes.  We already know that writers are failed adults by dint of the facts that they are dreamers, seldom get paid, and work sporadically; but do the roots of their malfeasance tangle with childhood?  The answer to that might be a handy object lesson for struggling parents who have burned their Dr. Spock books: “Eat your spinach and stop picking your nose, Mikey, or you’ll become ... Read More

by  John B. Rosenman Recently I gave my second radio interview in an attempt to promote my writing.  The program is “With Good Reason,” and it aired in Virginia, Maryland, and a few surrounding states from October 25-31.  If you missed it, you can check it out below in the Nov. 1 slot (link provided.)  The first radio interview I gave occurred twenty-six years ago in Orangeburg, SC and focused on my first published novel, The Best Laugh Last, which came out both as a ... Read More

It’s not the writing that’s the problem. It’s finding the time to write. Oh, I know a lot of people have troubles with writer’s block, but not me. Not most of the time. There are always a few exceptions, of course.   I know I’ve probably gone over this before. Hey, what can you expect? It’s one of the things that I believe is important, so I’m going to cover it repeatedly for as long as I’m writing these articles.   There are tools for ... Read More

Special mini-essay: TALK BACK The people reading this blog may notice that there's been turnover.  People are leaving, new people are coming in.  If you want to make a difference in this circumstance, if you want to support Storytellers Unplugged, there's one hugely important thing you can do: MAKE A COMMENT. It's done by going down to the bottom of the essay, putting in your name and an e-mail address, putting a number in for a basic math equation (done to avoid spammers) and then ... Read More

So... I'm out the door right behind Skipp, and it's been illuminating fun, but I'm too overtaxed to do right by the essays, and judging by the dearth of comments, either something else really awesome is happening the 10th of the month, or somebody else should be doing more with this slot than I have, to date. I work about ten hours a day, six days a week, at home, at the same desk, in the same chair, where I write. I get a little bit ... Read More

If today’s title sounds familiar to long-time S.U. readers, that’s because I’m resorting to a rerun from August 2006. I had a fresh one underway but for the time being can’t see well enough, for long enough, to finish it, now that a cold has morphed into my first-ever case of pinkeye and both orbs are goo factories. If you’ve ever looked through a Vaseline-smeared lens, then you get the idea. * Throughout June and the first half of July, I served as a ... Read More

SKIPP’S LAST CLASS! LET’S HOPE IT DOESN’T SUCK! (W IS OUT THE DOOR AT LAST; AND SO, ALAS, AM I)   by John Skipp   Dear beloved class and fellow faculty members –   Let’s take a moment to picture ourselves in that imaginary classroom amphitheater we’ve shared, at various points over the last several years. You guys are all up in the seats, for some reason, watching me yap about one thing or another; and I, for once, am poised to make some big emotional statement. Like, for ... Read More

by Gerard Houarner The idea of “dark matter” has been banging around loose in my head for quite some time. For a quickie definition, Wiki says it is invisible energy whose presence “can be inferred from gravitational effects on visible matter.” It’s there, we think, we just can’t sense it other than the effect it has on things we can sense. Dark matter and dark energy apparently account for most of the mass in the universe. I also like this ... Read More