This is the third column in Bruce Holland Rogers’s new writing series, Technically Speaking. The first column, and the entirety of his Short-Short Sighted columns (dedicated to writing very short fiction), visit his author page. In part one of this article, Bruce explained some theory and then wrote: The title pulls the reader in. Then […]
Sir Charles Wilton had just poured himself a glass of brandy and flipped open a book he’d been looking forward to reading, when a sudden whooshing sound made him look up in time to witness a demon materializing in the library. For a moment Sir Charles considered running out of the house and then down […]
I found Uncle Jim in his workshop at the end of his garden. “Hello, Paul,” he said, “what’s the problem this time?” I blushed at this but he was smiling so I sat on a three-legged stool next to his bench and said, “Julie wants a divorce.” “You’ll have to talk while I work,” he […]
Punch, September 23, 1914 “Everybody’s doing it,” I said, “so as to have more for the Funds. Also for other reasons. The only question is what?” “Well,” said Ursula, “let’s make a beginning.” She produced a silver pencil and some celluloid tablets that are supposed to look like ivory. “What first?” she asked, frowning. I […]
GREETINGS LOWER CASE BOY proud to be at your side captain lets check the grammarphone for messages TROUBLE DOWNTOWN ITS THAT NO GOOD DUO COLON AND SEMICOLON CAUSING MAYHEM AGAIN when will they learn its just not right to conjoin unrelated subjects QUICK TO THE LOGOMOBILE there they are captain and it looks like theyre […]
This is the fourth column in Bruce Holland Rogers’s new writing series, Technically Speaking. For more of his columns, visit his author page. One of the questions often asked of novelists and story writers is “How did you get your start?” The answer I most often give is, “I lied a lot as a child.” […]
When you start this meditation, keep in mind that you’re not doing it to feel alive, or relax, or avoid decomposing. You should simply experience whatever is going on in your corpse. From moment to moment. Gently focus your full attention on your breathing. Maybe you can find a hint of a breeze going past […]
The Sun sucked in her gravity, drawing the planets taut about her waist. It’d taken far too long to bead them all onto her 1-dimensional strings. She wasn’t giving up now. Planets shuddered from the strain, beaded so tightly that they really didn’t fit, bulging on her solar flares. “I think they’re just too small […]
Punch, November 11, 1914 A little humor about civilians in World War I. I had secured an empty compartment. Something in my blood makes me rush for an empty compartment. I suppose it is because I am a Briton, yet it was another Briton who intruded upon my privacy. At the first glance I saw […]
Sammi’s sister sent her a funny email. A funny, funny email, showing crazy Japanese inventions to make things into other crazy things, other crazy shapes they weren’t. All crazy and stuff stuff, like watermelons grown in tempered glass jars, square right off the vine. She clicked a picture of square watermelons, followed link to link […]