It’s Like Scratching a Spot That Itches The Dog Looks Out For The Writer One of the many reasons I'm a writer stems from how boring I am. Once a departing woman compared me to a sphere, present in life but perfectly featureless. Scathing, but close enough. But other people, now, that's a different thing. People are kaleidoscopic and they don't know it. Locked in despair or apathy, chained to a daily treadmill, they live thoughtlessly. They wall themselves up alive with their

Posted Up On Amazon and titled Brilliant Noir -- Thank you, Dear Reader The Moth, a contemporary noir novel, by Scott Archer Jones, is an unvarnished portrait of a man trying to get by in the unvarnished but compelling world of East Los Angeles. Moth, the man, runs a pawn shop that purveys not only the cast-offs of the desperate, but also the tools of crime. Jones masterfully describes a life spent on the dangerous fringes of a world where no deed—good or bad—goes unpunished.

I found this list of clichés on the web years ago. Don’t use them as a writer (unless it’s in dialogue) and don’t stand for them as a reader. Heard That Before Add insult to injury All else being equal All things considered Along those lines Ample opportunity Armed to the teeth As a matter of fact At a loss for words At long last Awesome Be caught dead Benefit of the doubt Better late than never Bone of contention Break the bank By the same token Calling names Chop up the sma

Let us search the recent winning titles of the Booker, the Pulitzer, and the New York Times Bestsellers (ranked by time on the list) on for those that utilize THINGS.

Place Place: Have You Been There? "The writer operates at a peculiar crossroads where time and place and eternity somehow meet. His problem is to find that location." Flannery O’Conner Let us search the recent winning titles of the Booker, the Pulitzer, and the New York Times Bestsellers (ranketime on the list) on for those that start with Place. A particularly rich list — contemporary writers are still obsessed with Place. Lincoln in the Bardo, George Saunders Elmet, Fiona M

Obscure Titles Tricky Titles And Obscurity What utilitarian role does a book title provide? I would contend there are four that I look for in my own titles: 1. Grab the Reader—choose more like Demon Copperhead than I Was A St. Louis Steampunk Zombie. 2. Portend the Major Theme—if your book is about spies, then choose by global conflict and not by thing (Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy rather than Peanuts and Eggcups). 3. Deliver the Book’s Aesthetic—if you’re writing a book abou

The Song: “ I am a ticket taker, many tickets have I torn” – The Low Anthem The Lyric: Many years have passed in this river town, I’ve sailed through many traps A small city hanging off the bluffs above the Mississippi, where the only place to leave to is worse than the place to leave from . My town, it damns me as much as I curse it. My dreams were lost between middle school and high school, my innocence in the slip between desire and abuse, my virginity in a sexually trans

Visitors Every writer goes down to the DoItYourself for story ideas. For some, it’s the obituaries DYI, for some it’s the Police Blotter DYI, but they come home with a notebook of nuts and bolts, a hammer, a trowel. For all writers, it’s observation that provides the lumber to build the story out. Here’s your observation: You are marching along a suburban street, looking for a house number. When you find it, the house is revealed as a Craftsman style bungalow, very out of cha

“ I am a ticket taker, many tickets have I torn” – The Low Anthem In a small wooden booth at the edge of the fairgrounds, I take the coins and dispense the tickets, regaling those shuffling hoards lined up before me with stories about the attractions they yearn to see, snippets of weather prediction, and praise for the little town and its beautiful women. I am their ticket taker. Come one come all, into the fairgrounds of spectacle, the tents of portent, the cages of an

Every writer goes down to the DIY. For some, the DIY is the obituaries, for some it’s the Police Report, for some it’s the family Thanksgiving dinner. The writer comes home with a notebook of nuts and bolts, a hammer, a sack of nails. For all writers, it’s observation that provides the lumber. Here’s your observation. You’re on the backroad 285 from Tres Piedres, New Mexico to Espanola, bicycling. You’re near a place that your phone names as “No Agua.” You pull over to stretc

Feel like the Hottest Couple in Town? Life's sweet, but will it last? You've scribbled down a list of your offsets, the rough that complements smooth, the passive that correlates with the pugnacious. You two resemble a folded inkblot. Delve deeper – we have just the guide. Choose the answer that most suits your personality – and watch your lovie's psyche unfold. My idea of nature is Watching Blue Planet II on TV Weeding the front flower beds Biking on the boardwalk Hiking up