Guest post: written by Dreanne X Where do you see yourself in ten years? Do you see yourself sitting at a kitchen table in a new house with a steaming mug of coffee? You may be conquering the writing career of your dreams. Or maybe you want to be respected or financiallyContinue Reading
Part IV /surreal comedy/ Written by Dany Tanner Fake passport in hand, Bobby “Nikolai” Petrov made his way to customs, sweat beginning to form on his hairline. Do I look nervous? He wondered. OMG, I’m starting to sweat! I’m probably turning red! I look suspicious, and this is the country that tried toContinue Reading
B. Shaw said, “People always blame their circumstances for what they are.” Today was a crazy day: your boss was a real jerk, your parents wanted you to help them with the garden, your friend decided to visit you without any arrangement, plus, your arthritis got worse, you were too tired inContinue Reading
Absurdism is, in a philosophical sense, the idea that there are no gods, higher purpose, or order to things. At least, that’s what Wikipedia told me. With that in mind, it’s pretty easy to find humor in the mundane. For example, consider a rubber duck. Humans tend to be highly sociable butContinue Reading
We used to believe that Dostoevsky had always been the beacon of Russian literature. How else could it be? He’s always belonged to the pantheon of great Russian writers: Tolstoy, Gogol, and Chekhov. Well, not everything is as it seems. Great recognition only came to Dostoyevsky and his books after a delayContinue Reading
We don’t choose what interests us. It just grips our attention, calls to us, and controls our thoughts, dreams, decisions, and behavior. We don’t have any clue why it chooses us, why it moves toward us with incredible speed, destroying everything in its path, and we are suddenly filled with a desireContinue Reading
#Keytakeaways from the book “BECOMING a WRITER” by Dorothea Brande (first published in 1934, currently republished) Dorothea Brande was teaching a creative writing course. Her focus was: a) the imaginative power of the writer’s mind; b) the belief that “genius can be taught.” PART II #1 On Imitation You can imitate butContinue Reading
Alexander Raphael discusses his new (third) book, his place in the literary world, the power and challenges of writing daily. His first book of short stories – THE SUMMER OF MADNESS – is famous for moving, funny, heartbreaking, informative, and utterly captivating plots. His second book – ILLUSIONS, DELUSIONS – is famousContinue Reading
We chatted with John W. Howell about his new novel Eternal Road: The final stop, the transformation of the heroes, and the meaning behind historical and supernatural elements. 1. What is the significance of the book’s title Eternal Road? The title came to me one day while I was writing one ofContinue Reading
No book worth its salt is meant to put you to sleep, it’s meant to make you jump out of bed in your underwear and run and beat the author’s brains out. Bohumil Hrabal, Czech novelist There’s a book called Aspects of the Novel, a series of lectures from E. M. Forster,Continue Reading