Storytellersunplugged

(so what the hell do I do now?) Justine Musk 1 Perhaps theme gets a bad rap. Its twin, Theme with a capital T, deserves all the potshots and ridicule and dressing-down that it gets. But if Theme is the pretentious dude decked out in Gucci and Prada who wears sunglasses at night and brags about how many thousands of dollars he dropped at his VIP table at Hyde or Les Deux the other night -- which was a worknight because only wage slave losers ... Read More

by George Guthridge We just learned that our son, who turned 13 on the last day of the year (and, ohmigod, in now officially a teenager), has Attention Deficit Disorder. That makes studying difficult for a kid who already is adverse to it, and makes it doubly hard for him to catch up – he has spoken English only for three years, so he is behind his classmates. But what does that have to do with fiction writing? Several years ago it occurred ... Read More

by Gerard Houarner By a happy coincidence, this one follows up Elizabeth's great essay from a few days ago, though takes a different track (which is scary, because you never really want to wander too far off a trail blazed by Ms Massie, but I'm brave, or perhaps a little too much like those unsung stars of COPS, with their inspirational bad choices.....).   I was reading Entertainment Weekly for January 15th (yes, I read EW, mostly because it's the ... Read More

by Elizabeth Massie Yes, I’ll admit it. I watch “Cops.” Some Friday or Saturday nights, when Cort and I have dinner (our dining room is a converted art studio so we eat in the living room), we tune in to Court TV and watch the finest from around the country chase down, drag out, wrestle with, handcuff, question, and arrest the not-so-finest of the same areas. We try guess the year the show was filmed based on the hair-dos, cars, and clothes. Cort ... Read More

by Dick Hill Writing is difficult for me. I don’t exercise the muscles enough. Oh sure, I shoot off a fair number of emails to friends and business acquaintances, and I endeavor to make those entertaining (and for the business contacts, endearing), but that’s easy stuff. The expectations of most of these folks when they open their typical message are, I hope and expect, low enough to ensure that my offerings are a touch above the norm. Often ... Read More

by Wayne Allen Sallee Hello to everyone at the Round Table and in the audience. I’m making a late entrance here, thanks to David Niall Wilson and Stephen Mark Rainey, the Dukes Of Hazzard in modern horror. Dave has kindly offered to cut and paste what I write here and post it on the blog, as I am, and always will be, computerally inept. And yes, I made that phrase up years ago; use it as you see fit. ... Read More

By Richard Steinberg “Al dra 'n bobbejaan 'n goue ring, bly hy nog 'n lelike ding,” C.J. Langenhoven How true that is. Words for every writer, serious about their craft, to engrave on their frontal lobes, emblazon on the hearts, print out and carry around in their pockets. Perhaps even one of the “three great truths” to any writer’s being. Maybe the most important of the three. In our work, when it properly reflects the essence of the above quotation, it ... Read More

Justine Musk 1 So I was thinking a bit about serial killers. We love our serial killers – in movies and fiction. So much so that readers like me have been known to pick up a paperback on the New Releases table, groan, “Not another serial killer novel,” and toss it back. But I imagine that serial killers are like vampires: just when you think the genre has been done to death (no pun intended), someone comes and reinvents it, makes it hot all ... Read More

Frank T. Wydra Mary, always the most effervescent of those around the table, clapped her hands at the sight of the newcomers. “Chucky, how delightful! You’re just the person we need for this discussion.” The bearded Chuck Dickens, swept off his beaver hat and made a gracious bow. “My dear Miss Shelly, the delight is all mine.” Rising, he said, “And I have brought Eric with me.” There, in the flesh, was Eric Blair, known to most as George Orwell, an irregular visitor to ... Read More

by Mort Castle We at Storytellers Unplugged know that many of our readers come for advice: they seek to be wildly successful writers, just like all of us Unplugs. It's 2007. It is the dawning of the Age of Aquarium. Time to quit handing out the same old bromides, borscht, and boushwah: Read widely. Revise constantly. Study the markets. Mumbo-jumbo-tick-a-tee hoo-hah ... I am coming clean in this new year. Here's the real stuff. (Oh, you ask why I didn't share this before? Truth: I was ... Read More