Category: Writing
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The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journo
Finally got around to seeing this sucker and I was pleasantly surprised. We’ll break this one up simply, the bad news first then the good. The bad news? There were moments where my secondary belief (for Tolkienites) or my suspended disbelief (for Coleridgers) completely quit and I was left in a dark theater saying, “Seriously?!”…
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May the Epic Freelance… Commence!
Let EPIC Free Lance Friday BEGIN! A few quick notes: Thanks to everyone who entered. If you didn’t win a free consult or edit or proposal, let me know and I’ll try to give you a discount if you contact me next week. For those that did win, please be patient. I cram way more work into today…
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26 Practical Things My Inner Kid Needed to Learn
Often in the course of a week, I find myself thinking, “Man, I wish I’d have known that when I was ten.” I’m jotting down those tidbits that came to mind: 1. Always fill up your gas tank. It took my wife’s habit of creating peace of mind to drill this into my head, but…
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Why Nonfiction Writers Need Style Editors
Let’s face it: most nonfiction sucks. And let’s face it, this seldom comes from bad content. If you hope to publish in the nonfiction world, they keep a not-so-best-kept secret called “the book proposal.” I write proposals for nonfiction writers and the gist goes: “if you have a nonfiction book idea, never write the manuscript.…
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Kinnaston: A Serial Story at the Hub of the World…
You guys know that I reblog about as often as politicians tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help them God. However, I find it VERY important to shamelessly plug writers I invest in, especially when I consider them close friends. That said, were I searching for an entertaining serial story by…
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Why I, an Adult, Believe in Santa
As you prepare your Christmas lists, let me tell you a story… A long time ago in an oppressive empire far far away, there lived a Saint known to all as Nicolas. We know that Nicolas oversaw the diocese of Myra in Lycia (south-western Asia Minor) during the fourth century. Story goes that he rescued three…
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The Strain of the Mockingbird
for him who has ears to hear I’m a mockingbird with no new song to sing said Webb. I wanted not to mock, but to mimic the mockingbird, mimicking-mock her when I over heard her song ring through the vale: I have no meteres, fresh offrians, nothing neowe for you to sing save patches of…
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Why I Never Try to be a Dark Person
Many of the people I know, whether friends or acquaintances or neighbors, automatically give greater credibility to films, literature, plays, TV shows and the like when these things are filled with darkness. I don’t. These people, whether local or national or international, tend to say things like, “Man that was good. It was so dar-har-har-hark.…
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Self-Abuse Series featuring Brian DeMint
There comes a time in every young writer’s life when he must stop talking about half-bit philosophy, inspirational posters and greeting cards. In the words of Frank Norris (via Stephen King), “What should I care if they single me out for sneers and laughter? I never truckled, I never lied. I told the truth.” I’m about to…
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On Reflection
I’ve never been one to slog through enormous philosophical tomes, but were I to ever trudge through something that thick, I think I’d pick Aids to Reflection by Coleridge. Don’t get me wrong, I would probably enjoy a conversation with diehard fans of Kierkegaard, Wittgenstein, Barth. However, I’ve merely sampled them like most of us—I’m…
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On Good Catastrophes
Pneumonia. Turns out, something does beat the shingles and it comes in the form of a needle thick as an IV and full of muscle-maddening antibiotic. That was last week, who knows what adventures this one will behold? Anyways, sorry to hide under a wet, cold dishrag all week but I’m back in the space-saddle editing…
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The Other Side 002: The Love Rally
As I carried our folding chairs, quilts and hummus down the hill into Landreth park’s outdoor amphitheater, multiple colors snagged my attention. Everyone who threw this party had stitched together a tapestry of sheets Technicolor and spray-painted with four red letters: L.O.V.E. What followed was the outworking of what I mentioned a few weeks ago,…