WRITING TIGHT by John M. Floyd No, this title isn’t a description of the way William Faulkner created most of his stories. I’m referring to tight prose, not tight pro’s. Long ago I was browsing through YouTube videos and found a clip from an old Leave It to Beaver episode. (In fact I think I […]

A STORY BY ANY OTHER NAME by John M. Floyd One of the few unpleasant things about writing fiction is that editors and publishers sometimes choose to change the title of an author’s short story or novel before publication. I’ve not met many authors who feel that the changed titles of their own stories are […]

A HELPFUL DISCUSSION? by John M. Floyd “Fat, dumb, and happy” isn’t a good description of me, but that’s only because I happen to be skinny. The other two adjectives are a good fit — I’m usually content and carefree. My wife is the worrier. She’s the one who’s always concerned that we’ll make an […]

UNIDENTIFIED FLYING BOOGEYMAN by John M. Floyd This past Tuesday my wife and I returned from a week-long road trip to visit our oldest son and his family in Parkersburg, West Virginia. It’s a friendly city with an interesting history, set in a beautiful part of the country—and it’s located about fifty miles northeast of […]

THE CUSTOMER IS ALWAYS (?) RIGHT by John M. Floyd A lot of writers will tell you they like writing, but they don’t like marketing. I’m an author, not a salesman, they say, usually with a haughty lift of the chin. Well, the truth is, if we write for publication and not just for fun, […]

FUN AND NAMES by John M. Floyd Tom and Ray Magliotti of NPR’s Car Talk These days we all do a lot of driving, to work or play, and almost everyone listens to music or books-on-tape or radio news programs somewhere along the way. As for myself, my wife has converted me to National Public […]

A LITTLE HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS by John M. Floyd A couple days ago I got a message on Facebook from my old writing buddy Fran Gatewood. She told me her husband Larry had just returned from a business trip and brought her a copy of John Grisham’s collection of short stories, Ford County. Reportedly, […]