WHO IS THAT MASKED MAN? Deborah Elliott-Upton Tell the truth: If you saw someone on a television news program wearing a ski mask, bandana covering his face or even a Halloween mask when it isn’t Halloween, would you question his honesty? What if he tries to cover his face with either a jacket or his […]

IT’S WONDERFUL TO WRITE by Robert Lopresti I’m sitting at the keyboard        with a frown across my face Just wishing this first draft of mine        would tumble into place. I sing the song of everyone                                        the writing bug has bitten: It’s wonderful to write        but it’s better to have written.                                                                     The storyline keeps stretching […]

CUT IT OUT by Melodie Johnson Howe I am in the middle of teaching at the Santa Barbara Writers Conference, so this will be a short column. My workshop is on “editing your novel or writing is rewriting.” The writers read five pages of their manuscripts aloud and the others critique it; then I give […]

POST SUBMISSION BLUES by James Lincoln Warren Before Criminal Brief got off the ground, “The Scribbler” had two previous incarnations as an independent blog. As far as attracting readers goes, they were both dismal performers, but I did occasionally stumble upon a topic that resonated with my friends and stimulated a lot of conversation amongst […]

NO FILM at 11 by Leigh Lundin Government authorities want the right to spy on you, but they don’t want you to record them. Some officials claim public scrutiny is espionage, even hinting at terrorism and criminal mischief. Indeed, the Cook County State Attorney’s office now wraps itself in the cloak of homeland security for […]

ADVICE COLUMN? by John M. Floyd According to Wikipedia, an advice column is, appropriately enough, “a column in a magazine or newspaper written by an advice columnist (colloquially known in British English as an agony aunt, or agony uncle if the columnist is a male).” If you regularly visit this blog, you might already know […]

PORTMANTEAU MANIFESTO by Steven Steinbock Last week, while following on the (high) heels of Melodie’s WORDY column, I mentioned that I found the word “fanzine” to be awkward. As unpleasant-sounding as it might be, at the time I could think of no better alternative. The term “fanzine” was coined in 1940 within the science fiction […]