I see I haven't posted here in almost a year. Like a lot of people, I've been a tad distracted, and not busy enough writing. A quick list of what's happened: 1. Post-election freakout and obsession over the direction my country is headed in. It's been taking up a lot of headspace. 2. Participation in … Continue reading A year of not posting
Writing
Being quiet near a little stream
One of my favorite websites is Maria Popova's Brain Pickings. And an image that frequently pops up on the site is one of a small boy sitting aside a small stream, with the words, "Everybody should be quiet near a little stream and listen." The artist is Maurice Sendak and it appears in the book … Continue reading Being quiet near a little stream
I Only Read It For The Articles
Friend and fellow writer A.M. Moscoso wrote about how Facebook is a creative killer to writers. It’s something I agree with and think you should read…and also that you should check out the rest of her blog for some really fantastic writing, too!
Some of you, who are not pure of heart and spirit, may remember the joke people made when they got caught reading Playboy:
” I only read it for the articles.”
We all knew that was balderdash- people weren’t reading Playboy they were LOOKING at Playboy.
I’m not here to judge- and if you want to look at pictures of naked people be my guest.
What I’m here to do is point out that people are dragging that sold old punch line out and they’ve applied it to…
FACEBOOK.
Facebook is all about the pictures- we just have a hard time admitting that. So we write little quips and string together one liners and call it communication- but really it’s all about the pictures.
I think it’s fine if people are using Facebook as a way to communicate if they’re housebound or in a place where for some reason making actual…
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Another Facebook jumper
I have joined the ranks of people who are dumping Facebook, mostly because it's a major time waste. Recent developments in my life made me realize that I cannot be productive creatively if I'm spending most of my free time on Facebook looking at photos of people's kids or pets, or being horrified or placated … Continue reading Another Facebook jumper
A ghostly byline in the Asbury Park Press
One of the ghost stories that I wrote for Weird Encounters, about the Old Bernardsville Library, was republished today in the Asbury Park Press. It's fun to see my byline there, though the Press is veering pretty far north of their territory for this story. Fine by me! I'm grateful for the exposure. The story … Continue reading A ghostly byline in the Asbury Park Press
The Chill of Moist Snails
I'm just as guilty as the next writer of throwing clichés into my work, especially when I'm writing early drafts. And I'm sure that people can go through my "final" work and find others. That doesn't mean I can't note commonly used clichés that I try to avoid and see being used by other writers who … Continue reading The Chill of Moist Snails
The Mother of Action Park Stories
In 2014 my local newspaper reported on two different television production companies approaching Action Park about doing a reality TV show. (Chances are this link will be dead or under a subscription wall.) Action Park, if you don't know, is a notorious water park located in the Northwestern NJ town in which I live. The … Continue reading The Mother of Action Park Stories
How to navigate my slush pile
I've been doing some slush pile reading for a literary magazine that shall remain nameless, if only because I don't want to advertise that I'm doing slush pile reading for them, hence people trying to find out if I read/passed their work on to the editors in charge. The magazine publishes short stories of 4,000 … Continue reading How to navigate my slush pile
In which I am a whimsical failure, of sorts
In July 2008, I had just finished assembling my second anthology of ghost stories, Weird Encounters. And despite my efforts to complete the book in time for the publisher to get it on shelves in time for Halloween that year, they were all for naught. Thanks to the financial crisis, the publisher said it might … Continue reading In which I am a whimsical failure, of sorts
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