Month: September 2013

The Secret to Collaboration

A couple of weeks ago, the Evil Mastermind wrote a post about collaboration. He said some very nice things about the process and working together. Boy, do I have him fooled, or what?

Yes, it’s true, I did ask him to join the crew of Bad Book. And that has been a great success, if you measure success by tens of dollars.

Bad Book was a spur of the moment concept I hatched during a chat session with Mader and Antrobus in November 2011. As Hise mentioned, we took turns writing scenes and chapters, sometimes leaving a perfect jumping-off point for the next author – or sometimes leaving a challenge. Mader, Hise, and I sped along on it and the end result was published in April 2012. Pretty quick turnaround.

I got the idea for Triple Dog Dare a few years ago. At the time, I had only a few of the key elements pegged; and, I knew I wanted it to be something akin to Mr. Pish meets It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World. I also knew I didn’t have the chops to write that kind of madcap comedy – and my process of percolating plots can take years. So I put it on the back burner. Continue reading “The Secret to Collaboration”

Vote Now for This Week’s Flash Fiction Champ

Who will be the next Flash Fiction Star? It’s time for IU readers to choose. Kudos to the entrants.

Check out this week’s entries here. Vote for your fave then use those share buttons at the bottom of the post to spread the word.

Remember, all our winners will be included in the next edition of the IU Flash Fiction Anthology. So, support your fellow writers and participate in this week’s voting, then spread the word, bang the drums, and share the link to let everyone know the vote is on.

Polls close tomorrow at 5 PM.

 

Who will be the next Flash Fiction Star?

  • Leonard Little (62%, 26 Votes)
  • A.C. Flory (12%, 5 Votes)
  • AL Kaplan (10%, 4 Votes)
  • Cindy Young-Turner (10%, 4 Votes)
  • Rich Meyer (5%, 2 Votes)
  • Faye Hollidaye (2%, 1 Votes)

Total Voters: 42

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NOTE: Entrants whose submissions exceed the 250 word limit are eliminated from the poll.

Introducing the Seasonal Apostrophe

I mentioned my mad summer wasping job last month. I have no particular excuse for doing bonkers things for a living except that sometimes they provide good fodder for books, but I wasn’t expecting this one to introduce me to a whole new concept in punctuation. Maybe being an apostrophile means that you find such joys everywhere but I have to share this one. Here is the story of the seasonal apostrophe.

This is the third summer I have spent killing wasps for a living. And it’s the third year The Boss and I have debated the seasonal apostrophe, proudly invented by The Boss himself. It amuses us but it also creates an annual row about my van’s livery. Continue reading “Introducing the Seasonal Apostrophe”

Playing in the Sand—Or how I Became an Author in one Therapy Session

Guest post
by Stefan Bolz

It all began when my colleague told me about her friend who had computer problems. I have been writing for a while, mostly poetry, a few screenplays and the beginnings of a novel when I was seventeen.

But I never considered myself a writer and I never—never—could have dreamed up what that incidental encounter had in store for me. It all started with a faulty wireless connection and a new printer.

I seem to have good computer karma and my colleague at work thought I could make some extra money by setting up her friend’s, computer with her printer at her home. When I got to her house, she asked me very nonchalantly about the date and time of my birth. As I found out, she is an excellent Astrologer. I gave it to her and, for the next hour or so, she told me all about where my sun is and which house I was born in and the whole problem with Gemini. Continue reading “Playing in the Sand—Or how I Became an Author in one Therapy Session”