ON BECOMING ILLITERATE by Rob Lopresti I want to talk about something you probably know, but don’t think much about. The person you read about in these pieces is not the person writing them. Not exactly. Everybody who puts themselves out in front of the public creates a persona, if you will. Putting it another […]

BLOG, BLOG, BLOG by Melodie Johnson Howe To see this video in full size, click here. Blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog. Do you think I’m having a problem coming up with an idea for this column? Blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, blog, […]

THE TRICKY ART OF SUSPENSE by Janice Law Joseph Cotton as Howard Graham, Everett Sloane as Kopeikin, and Orson Welles as Colonel Haki in the 1943 film version of Journey into Fear I used to tease some of the less enthusiastic readers in my sophomore level lit course that Jane Austen was one of the […]

FLORIDA CRIME NEWS by Leigh Lundin Naturally my home state, the only state with its own Fark tag, has to outdo the competition in weirdness. Consider this weathercast– some of us are so embarrassed we don’t admit we live here. (tch, tch, alisa, don’t go there.) Number of Wives ___? Who amongst us hasn’t forgotten […]

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, […]

RUNNING FOR THE MONEY by Steven Steinbock When I was a lad in high school, there was this girl I liked. Back then there were a lot of girls I liked. But this one was especially cute. One time when I was dropping her off at her apartment—or maybe I was picking her up, although […]

WORDS WITH AN ACCENT by Deborah Elliott-Upton A commercial for a cable company promises via a friendly-looking female, “I speak with a local accent.” To me, that says this company is not outsourcing their call centers and I can expect to speak to someone who understands my own accent. I am told I do have […]