Storytellersunplugged

--Justine Musk So here’s the thing. I sat down yesterday to write my essay for this site. I had a topic. I had a sense of where the piece would start, where it would end up, and how it might go in-between. But when it came game-time, I realized: I got nuthin’. Could be I’m a bit burned-out – and maybe I could have essayed about that, except Elizabeth Bear already said everything I would want to say about that point in your ... 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

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

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 Justine Musk 1 You get attached to your characters. You spend a great deal of time getting to know them. I know I ‘have’ a character – I’m writing him or her in a way that feels vivid for the reader (some readers) -- when I have a sense of his or her ‘mindset’ – a perspective, a mental outfit of that character’s knowledge, beliefs and experience I can slip into as soon as I tap out that name on my computer screen. Some mindsets ... Read More

Frank T. Wydra Papa is on his second daiquiri when Al sidles up and says to the table at large, “Hey, I see where yer pal, Skipp, is fornicating with the movie business. You think he’s serious?” John Skipp, a story teller of the unplugged variety, had recently written an essay, actually more of a dump, on his newfound romance with the movie-making craft, and this, I suppose, is what Al is talking about. The Table is a little skimpy this afternoon ... Read More

by Mort Castle I don't know about you, but like a lot of writers, I read those "Notes on Contributors" that appear in anthologies and literary magazines. They give you real insight into the writing processes and pathologies of the people you call your colleagues or competition. There are those we see as prolific: LORRAINE LIFTSHOES has had poetry in more than 17,000 literary magazines in the past month. Recovering from a recent lung, kidney, and liver transplant, she has had to slow down considerably. "I ... Read More

by George Guthridge I sometimes think that, when it comes to writing short stories, I have too much time on my hands. When I was writing short stories full-time back in the late ‘70s, short story checks often meant the difference between feeding my family something substantial and having my daughters endure another of my creative soups. Because I now am a professor and a business owner, I no longer consider the occasional checks I receive from short stories to be part ... Read More

A Cautionary Tale... by David Niall Wilson I used to read books that began with elegant, extravagant endpapers featuring maps, family trees, historical anecdotes, journal entries, or other bits and pieces of the fictional lives of the characters involved. I always enjoyed going over the maps, reading the odd lineage charts and trying as I read along to picture how each person fit into the grand scheme, but as much as I enjoyed it, I also wondered why in the hell the author ... Read More