THE OTHER EDGE by Robert Lopresti A few weeks ago I wrote about the only soap opera I enjoyed as a kid, the mystery-oriented show, “The Edge of Night”. Today I want to talk about what the show taught me as a writer-to-be. First and foremost I learned the essence of storytelling. It isn’t plot. […]

A GATHERING OF NO’S by Melodie Johnson Howe Overwhelmed with the demands of my everyday life, and a world I find more and more unnerving (there are no homosexuals in Iran), I decide to plant some snapdragons. While digging my spade into the ground, I become aware that I’m repeating the word “no” over and […]

THE SOT-WEED FACTOR by James Lincoln Warren   We had each of us Stuck in our Mouths a lighted Pipe of Sotweed. (1698)   The sot-weed factor; or, a voyage to Maryland. (1708)   To add a small Composition of high-flavoured Sot-Weed. (1747) My chief vice is smoking. In these health-conscious days, this is not a small fault. […]