Storytellersunplugged

By Richard Steinberg (pinch hitter deluxe) for Dick Hill Dick Hill is deeply enwrapped within the preparations for, and the recording of, Thomas Pynchon’s new novel: Against The Day – and rather unwisely has allowed me to fill in for him. As a writer, not as a reader, so relax; Pynchon’s in great hands. As for you, well . . . “We are taught that God, the unchangeable, is the ultimate author of the Good Book. Unchangeable? That explains why ... Read More

By Richard Steinberg “I have no stories to tell but mine own. I am, however, so many characters that I fear it will take many works to tell it,” J.M. Barrie Do places have a soul? Is there – within brick and mortar, iron and steel – a divine spark that grants good or evil (whatever they are) and then judges that against unreasonable standards? Would a God with the intricacies of touch to create a perfectable man, deny that same right to man’s ... Read More

By Richard Steinberg “The human mind is not capable of grasping the universe. We are like a child entering a huge library . . . The child knows that someone must have written all those books. It does not know who or how,” Albert Einstein Among the vast dark matter plains of space, galaxies are constantly in motion; often coming into contact with each other. Millions of stars and planets (perhaps more) are constantly sliding effortlessly and harmlessly past each other. ... Read More

Justine Musk 1 When I showed up at the hotel in Austin, Texas where the World Fantasy Conference was being held, they had canceled my reservation. An accident, of course, and no harm done: they found me another room. But it seemed a troubling omen. Even as I dumped off my stuff, in a hurry to mix myself into the flow of attendees in the lobby below, I couldn’t stop myself from thinking: Do I really belong here? It wasn’t just that I was ... Read More

Frank T. Wydra The regulars, crowded around the table, are bantering back and forth when Mary Shelley says to Edgar, “Good stories tell a tale while great stories reveal a truth. “Ah,” Edgar says, “Truths are fickle. One person’s truth is another person’s fiction. It’s that simple. So, I find it impossible to believe that all great stories carry some ponderable truth. In fact, I would argue that often the purpose of great literature is to do no more than ... Read More

by Mort Castle Last month we had some fun here, some of us, choosing to publish fiction. This month, I am going to share with you some poetry. This is prompted by my being asked a question -- the question -- the other day when I was working with high school freshmen. This was a new crew, some really tuned in to this "writing thing," some not quite sure if I was a substitute teacher, NBA, college, or Army recruiter, or apprentice custodian, and some ... Read More

by George Guthridge I have been writing a series here about how to use nonfiction techniques to write better fiction. Because of something that happened recently – something that I hope you all will find fascinating, even though it only peripherally has to do with writing – I am going to diverge from that series this month and perhaps once or twice in the future as well. Backstory (I apologize to those of you who already know this): In 1982, more or less on ... Read More

(or how I almost ended up going through a meat grinder sluicing through the sewers of Europe) By Richard Steinberg "There are truths on this side of the Pyrenees, which are falsehoods on the other," Blaise Pascal As you read this, I should have been beside (or perhaps within) a monster soul some 6,303 miles away from my home in the Las Vegas Valley. I would have traveled there alone, not speaking the language, filled with equal measures of adventure and unease. My intended destination was ... Read More

by David Niall Wilson This isn’t going to be a really lengthy entry. Since my fellow Storytellers graciously granted me the 31st of October for my short story, I feel kind of odd following up with another piece of my own. Still, November looms, and with November comes a phenomenon known throughout the writing kingdom as “Nanowrimo,” or, more formally, “National Novel Writing Month.” As a regular participant in this event, I wanted to mention it at least once here ... Read More

By David Niall Wilson The window looked out over mean streets and dirty dreams. Smudges of soot, wind-blown grit, and splatters of the last things to go through the minds of bugs and birds alike coated the multi-colored panes, creating subtle shifts in the original artist’s intent. What had once been a multi-hued peacock had taken on ghost-images of other creatures; what had begun as a leafy tree dripped with the streamers and ornaments of time. On the windowsill, a goblet sat ... Read More