THE SINCEREST FORM OF FLATTERY by John M. Floyd As writers, we know we have a “voice.” I don’t mean a set of opinions that need to be heard, I mean a fingerprint of style and content that identifies each of us. Or at least identifies our work. It consists of many things (structure, rhythm, […]

CURRYING FLAVOR by Steven Steinbock Words intrigue me. Food sustains me. Words about food take me to the supernal heights. The word “epicurean” has become synonymous with food, which is unfortunate. “Epicurean” has a long history that I won’t go into, but for more than two millennia it implied hedonistic gluttony. That’s also unfortunate, since […]

CONNECTIONS by Deborah Elliott-Upton I’ve been researching and it involves me living in my car. Not totally, but this is exactly what I’ve done from 8 to 5 for several days. It’s an interesting turn of events for someone like me who isn’t into “roughing it.” I did find you can camp out in your […]

ISLAND OF SPIKES, WORLD OF COPS by Rob Lopresti I discovered James McClure in college when I took a course on mystery fiction. The professor used him as an example of one type of mystery: the one that tells you about some culture or occupation. We read The Steam Pig, the first in McClure’s series […]

MELODIE’S MEDLEY by Melodie Johnson Howe Not to beat a dead horse (what a terrible expression) or a dead Mildred Pierce but the HBO series is sloooow and shot in amber or dark shadows. I feel like I need a flashlight to watch it. The director Sidney Pollock invited Billy Wilder to see his version […]

LITTLE THINGS by James Lincoln Warren Last November, I wrote a column about finding characters’ voices. You can find it here. In particular, I discussed a problem I was having in finding a particular character’s voice in a Work In Progress. Erica H. Wooding, my heroine, is young and sassy and extremely female. I, on […]

BONFIRE of the VANITIES by Leigh Lundin Two weeks ago, the world of self-publishing witnessed an authorial meltdown. I won’t mention the writer’s name (though readily apparent in the links) who received more than enough torment. Beyond feeling a modicum of sympathy for her, I don’t believe this article is worth writing if we can’t […]