I DIGRESS by Melodie Johnson Howe By the time I was twenty-one I was married with three children (my husbands) and under contract to Universal Studios. I was also going to UCLA at night to take creative writing courses. Oh, and did I add it was the sixties! Well, for some anyway. Backstage at the […]

INFORMATION, PLEASE by James Lincoln Warren It’s been a while since I stood on my educational soapbox, so here’s a fine diatribe to start your week off with on the subject. The other day, a young man of my acquaintance trying to make a name for himself as a producer in the film industry asked […]

CAT GOT YOUR TONGUE by Leigh Lundin French kissing I like (a lot). British kissing, well… A trial is proceeding in Newcastle upon Tyne in the UK. Tracy Davies of Gateshead is accused of deliberately enticing her boyfriend, Mark Coghill, to kiss her and then biting off his tongue. She’s being compared to Mike Tyson, […]

WHAT’S IN IT FOR ME? by John M. Floyd To all of you who read short stories (and novels too), I’d like to pose a question: Why do you do it? Most of the reasons are obvious, and have been covered to some degree in past columns: We read for entertainment, illumination, escape, mental stimulation, […]

LOVE AND THE MAD TEA PARTY by Steve Steinbock For those of you who didn’t visit me over in Murdurati-land last week, you can still take a look at the wild discussion there. At last count there were thirty-five comments. Can you imagine? Here at Criminal Brief, we get thirty-five comments in a good week! […]

PROS and CONS by Deborah Elliott-Upton “If ‘pro’ is the opposite of ‘con’ what is the opposite of ‘progress’?” – Paul Harvey I don’t know about you, but I already miss Paul Harvey and the rest of the story. His broadcasts always led us down a path where we thought we knew how the story […]

GET A CLUE by Rob Lopresti I have a great idea for a story. In fact, I’ve had it for years. I love the characters. I know about the big final confrontation between good guy and bad guy. I have the clever twist at the end ready to go. I’m all set. But I’ll probably […]