PERFORMANCE PIECE by Janice Law I made the happy discovery recently that I have a “performance piece.” Normally I don’t venture into such high flown territory, confining myself to novels, short stories, articles, these blogs, and the occasional splenetic letter to the editor. “Performance pieces” are for folks with artistic pretensions and deep thoughts about […]

PRESSING MATTERS by Leigh Lundin Web pages of the British literary magazine Granta carry a comment I respect in this new age of eBooks: "Granta also comes in multi-leaved rectangular objects made from finely pulped wood (no back-lighting or charging necessary)." I’m also pretty sure it doesn’t run out of batteries. But take a peek […]

A STORY BY ANY OTHER NAME by John M. Floyd One of the few unpleasant things about writing fiction is that editors and publishers sometimes choose to change the title of an author’s short story or novel before publication. I’ve not met many authors who feel that the changed titles of their own stories are […]

AROUND THE BLOCK by Steven Steinbock Those who know me well know that I’m a longtime admirer of Lawrence Block and his writing. In the early 1980s I discovered his fiction column in Writer’s Digest, and kept a subscription to that journal until his column disappeared from its pages. I quickly began seeking out his […]

SHORT, SHORTER, SHORTEST by Deborah Elliott-Upton The shortest story I’ve heard was the famous Hemingway’s six word story. For sale. Baby shoes. Never worn. There is speculation as to whether the account of the six word story is true or not. Supposedly, Hemingway bet a table of writers dining at the “famous round table” at […]

MY MUCH-PUBLISHED FRIEND by Rob Lopresti You might say I was cleaning out my files at Criminal Brief Headquarters when I found this scrap. The important thing to remember is that neither of the characters represent any real people. It is just a meditation on the writing life. My much-published friend has a complaint. His […]

Melodie wrote me to tell me that she’s not able to make her deadline today (her reasons were good ones), and asked me to select a past column for our readers. This post first appeared on July 24, 2007, and is still one of my favorites. —JLW SUSPICIOUS MIND by Melodie Johnson Howe I was […]