Pros and Cons of Short Story Writing

5 CommentsWriting

As the title indicates, I’ve had short stories on my mind of late. On the one hand, they’re an excellent way to hone the craft of writing, develop the back history of a world, experiment with different styles and sub-genres, and get the author some name recognition in the field. On the flip side, the

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Blogging For the One-Year-Old B-Day

1 CommentBlogging

I noticed last night that I’m approaching the three-hundred-posts mark, and this got me thinking.  Seeing as this blog is the closest thing I’ll ever have to an electronic child, perhaps a celebration of some kind would be in order.  It would be extra memorable if I could have an average of a post a day

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Ambitious Bacteria Making In-Roads

Speculative Science

Have you ever noticed how lots of ‘futuristic earth’ sf stories and some fantasy stories have these long, and virtually indestructable, roads winding their way through them?  Left behind by a fallen civilization and reeking of mystery, tourists of fantasy-land and visitors from space are just grateful for the smooth traveling. Well, the road just got

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Submission Milestone

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I sent out two more stories today, and noted that this brings my total active submssions up to ten.  Not an earth-shattering record, but a new high for me.  Now if only I could get the other twenty or so stories waiting on my hard drive out the door before these start coming in!

Craft – Truth wrapped in a Joke

Crafting Pieces, Just for Laughs

Ryan stopped as he walked by the kitchen door.  Was that the smell of pizza?  He took two steps back, so he could see into the room. In the middle of the table was a box of Meat Lovers pizza.  Kyle sat on the kitchen counter with a large wedge in his hand, while Todd was leaned over the table to get

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My Place of Importance

Home in the Rookery, Just for Laughs

My five-year-old is learning to buckle her own seatbelt reliably, and is also eternally curious, so she asked me what would happen if she didn’t buckle up. I explained that I could be fined, lose my license, or even possibly go to jail. (Maybe a bit extreme, but I wanted her to buckle up). She thought about that

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When Your Writing is a Crime

Rumblings

The first of the fallout from the Va Tech shooting has hit the field of writing.  A high school student in Cary, Ill. was arrested for a creative writing essay that his teacher found ‘disturbing’.  The essay has not been released, so far as I know, but some of the content has been reported in

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