Sunday Funnies: Potayto/Potahto

Jukebox Thrillers! Look for my newest story, "Sugar Walls"!

Coming soon from New Legend! Jukebox Thrillers: Solid Hits of the 80's is a totally awesome anthology of short stories by top talents inspired by top tunes from the 1980's. You may be familiar with the songs and even the videos, but you've never seen them like this! Check out this wickedly epic playlist: 

Jim Beard “One Thing Leads to Another”

Jayme Lynn Blaschke “The Old Man Down the Road"

Sara T. Bond "Don't You (Forget About Me)"

John C. Bruening "Only the Lonely"

Darin M. Bush "Cult of Personality"

Ryan Cadaver & Nicole Ghouled Cadaver "No Easy Way Out"

Christopher Collins "Electric Avenue"

A.R. Cook "Danger Zone"

Joe Crowe "Walk Like an Egyptian"

Keith R.A. DeCandido "Road to Nowhere"

Kevin Eldridge "Ride Like the Wind"

Michael Falkner "Stand"

Kelley M. Frank "Automatic"

Nicole Givens Kurtz "Wrapped Around Your Finger"

Michael A. Gordon “Centerfold”

Justin Gray “Valley Girl”

Darrell Z. Grizzle “Time After Time”

Joe Heath “Ghost Town”

Robert Jeffrey II "If This World Were Mine"

Bernadette Johnson “Every Breath You Take”

Dan Jolley “Somebody’s Watching Me”

Darin Kennedy “Only Time Will Tell”

Mike Lyons “Money for Nothing”

Violette L. Meier “Nasty Girl”

Adam Messer “Hungry Like the Wolf”

J.R. Mounts “Round and Round”

Bobby Nash “Running Down a Dream”

Jessica Nettles “Major Tom (Coming Home)”

Kelly Oechslin “Jessie’s Girl”

Mary Ogle “I Ran (So Far Away)”

James Palmer “99 Red Balloons”

Ashley Marie Pauls “Holding Out for a Hero”

Alan J. Porter “Two Tribes”

Sarah J. Sover “Careless Whisper”

Sean Taylor “Sugar Walls”

Vincent EM Thorn “The Number of the Beast”

Kelly Young-Silverman “In the Air Tonight”

Ricky Zero “Where the Streets Have No Name”

and more!!!

Jukebox Thrillers is scheduled to be released in November 2025. More details coming soon!

In the meantime, enjoy this music video playlist.

The Editing Onion

Editing isn't a one-stop shop.

Editing. It's the dirty word of writing. For most, it's the part where the fun and creativity goes to sleep or drives off into the sunset, leaving you with a boring, tedious, time-consuming, and oh-so-not-at-all-fun WORK of finding out just had poorly you can spell and how much you use weak verbs and too many adverbs and why you should just chuck your Creative Writing MFA and go sell... Sorry. Got a little lost in the weeds there. 

But it doesn't have to be. 

Maybe it will never be fun exactly, but it doesn't have to totally suck either. 

And the best thing is that the more you learn to do it effectively, the better you tend to be at it. 

But, at its heart, what is it exactly?

Not That Kind of Onion

No need to cry about it, editing has layers, just like an onion. (I never said my puns were actually funny. Sorry.) Still, just like our sweet Vidalia metaphor, editing gets more specific and more useful the deeper you dig into it. 

When lots of folks think about editing, they are thinking of just one thing. That one thing might be proofreading. It might be copyediting. It might even be concept editing. Some folks might mentally jump straight to story editing. But each one of these isn't just a 'one thing.' They're all just a part of something bigger--the process of editing.

For me, rather than breaking it into categories like those, I prefer to think about the pieces of the story we're editing, hence my onion metaphor. 

Layer 1: Words

The atom of your story (yes, it's a new metaphor, just stay with me) is the individual word. It's the basic building block of your sentences, your paragraphs, your chapters, and your stories. It's the tree that makes the forest possible. And unlike that cliche, sometimes we writers can't see the trees for the forest. We're so busy noticing the sprawling majesty of the story that we can't or don't notice the individual words that created it. 

Seth Tucker's Peanut Butter in His Chocolate

With a dark imagination and a love for action, Seth Tucker likes to think that he has mixed the two together to create a winning combination (much like peanut butter and chocolate). But he'll let you decide.

Tell us a bit about your most recent work.

My most recent release is called Rabenhaus. It's a gothic horror that mixes elements of Poe and Lovecraft. The story centers around a plague doctor that is called to the titular village where a mysterious plague is ravaging the area. He's not alone though as a secretive group of doctors spirits away the sick and dead into the surrounding forest. 

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?

Small-town horror and conspiracies of silence that exist in those communities have been a theme that started cropping up in my work most recently. A distrust of authority has been present from my very first novel. Given the climate of the last few decades, I can't imagine where that comes from. Lately, I've also been exploring loss and grief in my writings, but none of those works have been published yet. 

What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer?

I learned I lacked any talent for drawing. As a lover of comic books, I wanted to tell stories in that medium. When I was 12, I wrote short stories to help me deal with those feelings of pre-pubescent helplessness. It was comforting to have a world where I controlled everything.

Motivational Monday: Focus and Noise

Sunday Funnies: Headaches

[Link] 5 Writing Tips from the Master of Macabre: Edgar Allan Poe

by Sreenidhi Podder

Edgar Allan Poe made a career out of doom and despair, yet today, even a century after his death, he remains one of the most prolific writers the world has ever known. He might not be a textbook role model, but he knew the taste of failure, living a life that was pure chaos (some of it, definitely due to his own choices).

With a romantic knack for the eerie and a pen dipped in melancholy, Poe wrote masterpieces including The Tell-Tale Heart (1843), The Black Cat (1843), The Cask of Amontillado (1846), and The Raven (1845).

Much like his own life, his plots and their worlds are dark and thought-provoking, narrating tales that hit like a freight train.

“Because of his poverty and desperate need for cash, Poe wrote expressly for the market, in commercial genres and, to the extent he could, in a commercial style. He was forced to care about pleasing readers — and to this day, he pleases readers,” said Catherina Baab-Muguira, the author of Poe for Your Problems: Uncommon Advice from History’s Least Likely Self-Help Guru” who did extensive research on Poe for her book.

There is a lot to learn about writing from Poe. In this article, we’ve compiled the best writing tips from the man who won the world with his flaws.

Read the full article: https://nofilmschool.com/edgar-allan-poe-writing-tips

Quincy Harker is back!

Quincy Harker is back, and this time he's really living up to his nickname!

Order the print book, get the ebook free! Remember, all Falstaff Hardcovers and Paperbacks include the ebook at no additional charge!

Mysterious bodies are showing up around Charlotte, bodies of shifters with no discernible cause of death. Harker's investigation leads him to a biker bar, a meeting of lycanthropes at Mort's, a coffee bar battle in a South Charlotte bookstore, and eventually to an underground fight club for paranormal creatures and cryptids.

Who's running the fight club? Who's killing the losers? It's hard to find out, because everybody knows the first rule of fight club, and nobody's talking. So Harker has to go undercover in a series of bloodier and bloodier cage fights until he can figure out the real motives behind this series of dead paras in the Queen City.

And the answer will be something, and someone, he never expected. Bloodshed and betrayal lurk around every corner, and before it's all said and done, everyone will know why they call Quincy Harker Reaper.

Available in hardcover, paperpack, or ebook.

My Dragon*Con schedule!

Title: 15-Minute Mentor Session 2

Description: A chance for budding authors to talk one-on-one with a successful industry professional about business, promotion, the writing process, & career advice. Sign up in the Writer's Track. (Embassy E/F)
Panelists: Sean H Taylor, Robert J. Sawyer, J.D. Blackrose, Jess L. M. Anderson
Time: Fri 02:30 pm
Location: Embassy G Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: Pitch Practice

Description: Unsure whether your book pitch is 'good enough'? Know it could be better, but not sure how to improve? Come to this panel, where you can give your pitch to professionals who will offer suggestions on how to change or improve it to better your odds of a successful pitch! Be brave, young padawans!
Panelists: Sean H Taylor(M), Rachel A. Brune, Steve Saffel, John G. Hartness, Toni Weisskopf, D.J. Butler
Time: Sat 01:00 pm
Location: Embassy EF Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: Reading Session: Sean Taylor

Description: Hear Sean read from his new unreleased mystery novel, Another Dangerous Driver, and from his collection of dark/horror tales, A Crowd in Babylon.
Panelists: Sean H Taylor
Time: Sat 05:30 pm
Location: Learning Center Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: Writing and Selling Short Stories

Description: Writing shorter works can be different from writing novels, with less room for fiddling around with character or plot. Writing must be concise, and each word has to be necessary. Writing short stories can give faster gratification, too. So, how does it all work? Our pros can answer that question!
Panelists: Sean H Taylor(M), Ian Randal Strock, Bethanne Kim, Phillip Pournelle, Kevin A Davis, Violette L Meier
Time: Sat 08:30 pm
Location: Embassy EF Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: Autograph Session

Description: Authors signing books. Yay! Jim Butcher too?! Holy crap!
Panelists: Cassandra Quave, Michael Chatfield, Jim Butcher, Sean H Taylor
Time: Sun 11:30 am
Location: Overlook Westin (Length: 1 Hour)

See ya this Saturday, right?!

 

The theme for this year's event is -- “Ink and Echo: Writing the Stories. Speaking the Truth.” (Preparing the next generation of storytellers—whether spoken or written.)

Here’s the schedule for the day:

10:00–10:45 – Keynote Speaker: Bren McClain (One Good Mama Bone)

11:00–12:30 – Storytelling Session 1 (5 tellers)

12:30–1:00 – Lunch Break (with a special kids’ storytime featuring Will and his guitar in the library)

1:00–2:00 – Storytelling Session 2 (4 tellers)

2:00–3:00 – Panel Discussion: Preparing the Next Generation of Storytellers

For more information:  https://www.facebook.com/events/1386562705862271

Nancy E. Dunne: Never Say That Outside the House

Nancy E. Dunne is a multi-genre fantasy writer who has been creating stories since she was a child. She lives and works in the Upstate area of South Carolina with her husband, Simon, and their terrier mix, Willow-Pickle.

Tell us a bit about your most recent work.

I've started a new series in my story universe, the Orana Chronicles. This is a trilogy (at this point) of novellas that dive a bit deeper into some of the characters from the previous novels. The first one is The Wizard's Bond and it is the backstory of the villain from the Nature Walker Trilogy, Taeben. He gets to share why he became what he became and where he is headed next. I'm bad about spoilers so that's all I can say. This fits in between Darkness (first in the Guardians of Orana series) and Red (second in that series). It is out July 1st. 

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?

I have strong female characters who stop waiting for someone to save them. I have strong found family vibes. Also, in my other life I am a sign language interpreter, so language and how it influences characters and plot fascinates me. 

[Link] Ray Bradbury's Best Writing Advice for Aspiring Writers

by Sreenidhi Podder

From short stories to novels to screenplays, from horror to fantasy to realistic fiction, Ray Bradbury spun gold throughout his career.

He’s a literary sorcerer and, having penned masterpieces like Fahrenheit 451 and The Martian Chronicles, Bradbury’s perspective on writing is holy to me.

His career flourished not only because he was talented but also due to his exceptional diligence and accountability to his craft. His demise is one of the greatest losses in literature and cinema.

If you want to be a writer but often second-guess yourself, check out Bradbury's advice to aspiring writers. Trust me, it will change your perspective about how you judge your work.

5 Literary Tips From Ray Bradbury

Here’s how to embark on your writing journey, Ray Bradbury style.

Read the full article: https://nofilmschool.com/ray-bradbury-writing-advice

Edward McKeown: To See Something Is Possible

Edward McKeown is best known for his Confederation Space Series: the Robert Fenaday/Shasti Rainhell novels of the Privateer Sidhe and in the same universe, the ten books Maauro series (in two cycles of five books each) Maauro Chronicles and Maauro Seachanges featuring a 50,000-year-old android Maauro and her friend, pilot Wrik Trigardt, as they battle governments and the Thieves Guild for their freedom. 

Ed has forayed into urban fantasy in Knight in Charlotte and Knight in Charlotte:Oniichan Ed has also edited six Sha’Daa anthologies of tales of the Apocalypse. He has a wide variety of interests including ballroom dance, martial art,s and weapon fighting.

Tell us a bit about your most recent work.

I have several irons in the fire at the moment.  Currently, we are working on the audiobooks of the Maauro series.  That series which centers on an alien-made AI and the disgraced pilot who finds her, was done in two five-book cycles and we are finishing the fourth book of the second cycle.  I am working with two very talented New York Actors who bring these characters to vivid life, Charlie Keegan James and Brian Kozak.

Most of my sixteen SF books are set in the same universe of Confederation Space.  Rather like what Larry Niven did with his “Known Space” work.  This way the stories can interrelate and even crossover as happened between the Fenaday/Rainhell Chronicles and the later Maauro stories. 

[Link] Ernest Hemingway’s Writing Wisdom in 13 Rules

by Vishal Wagh

In an age of endless words, Hemingway wrote with a rifleman’s precision. Here’s how.

He didn’t waste ink. He stripped sentences down to their bare bones and nerves. His sentences were clean, sharp, and often unfinished.

Today, we scroll past clickbait, skim walls of text, and still crave something that feels real. Hemingway’s advice isn’t just for novelists, but for anyone who writes. Journalists, marketers, copywriters, and even the poor soul drafting emails on deadline.

What made his style revolutionary was the restraint. The trust in the reader. He left room between the lines. You never got the whole story, just the part you needed to feel it.

So, whether you're hammering out a novel or tightening your blog post, the following 13 tips—straight from Hemingway’s philosophy—will change how you write. The Foundations—Hemingway’s Core Principles:

1. Use Short Sentences

Short sentences help you hit. They leave no room for confusion or escape. Hemingway wrote as if he were reporting from the front. No lace. No soft landings.

Read A Farewell to Arms. Then read anything from the Victorian era. One feels like a punch; the other, a parlor trick. He achieved certain effects by keeping his sentences short, clarity, dramatic effect, variety, and melodic quality. They made you choose your words carefully.

Write the sentence. Cut it in half. Then see if it still works. If it does, keep it.

Read full article: https://nofilmschool.com/hemingway-writing-rules

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION PRESENTS BEYOND THIRTY

Airship 27 Production is thrilled to present to today’s pulp readers a long-forgotten tale by the Master of Adventure. In 1915, Edgard Rice Burroughs, the master of adventure fiction, wrote “Beyond 30,” a prophetic vision about our world locked onto a course certain to lead us to a horrendous World War. That global nightmare became a reality in ways the brilliant Burroughs couldn’t imagine and so he never returned to the apocalyptic setting he’d created. This was a rarity for a writer who loved to pen series, ala Tarzan, Barsoom, Pellucidar and many, many others. 

“Given the opportunity to publish a book by Edgar Rice Burroughs was a once in a lifetime event,” declares Ron Fortier, Airship 27 Managing Editor. “There was no way were not going to do this beautiful book. Now Pulp Factory Award Winner and Art Director Rob Davis has embellished this wonderful novella in a brand new, beautifully illustrated edition setting the stage for the proposed sequel coming soon from Airship 27 Production.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION – PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION!

Available now in paperback and soon on Kindle.

My Tentative Dragon*Con Schedule

I will also have a reading and a signing, but they haven't been scheduled yet. I'll have the official schedule closer to the event.

Title: 15 Minute Mentor Session 2

Description: A chance for budding authors to talk one-on-one with a successful industry professional about business, promotion, the writing process, & career advice. Sign up in the Writer's Track. (Embassy E/F)

Panelists: Sean Taylor, Robert J. Sawyer, J.D. Blackrose, Jess L. M. Anderson

Time: Fri 02:30 pm

Location: Embassy G Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: Pitch Practice

Description: Unsure whether your book pitch is 'good enough'? Know it could be better, but not sure how to improve? Come to this panel, where you can give your pitch to professionals who will offer suggestions on how to change or improve it to better your odds of a successful pitch! Be brave, young padawans!

Panelists: Sean Taylor(M), Rachel A. Brune, Steve Saffel, John G. Hartness, Toni Weisskopf, D.J. Butler

Time: Sat 01:00 pm

Location: Embassy EF Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Title: Writing and Selling Short Stories

Description: Writing shorter work can be different from writing novels with less room for fiddling around with character or plot. Writing must be concise, and each word has to be necessary. Writing short stories can give faster gratification, too. So, how does it all work? Our pros can answer that question!

Panelists: Sean Taylor(M), Ian Randal Strock, Bethanne Kim, Phillip Pournelle, Kevin A Davis, Violette L Meier

Time: Sat 08:30 pm

Location: Embassy EF Hyatt (Length: 1 Hour)

Kevin Arthur Davis: Speaking Their Voices

Kevin A. Davis has written three contemporary fantasy series: The Khimmer Chronicles (six books), the AngelSong Series (six books), and his newest episodic series the DRC Files. Award-winning Book One of the DRC Files, Atlanta’s Guide to Cryptids, has elements of horror especially in the opening and has risen to the top 100 best sellers in Contemporary Fantasy in the first month of its launch.

Tell us a bit about your most recent work.

An Arcanist Problem in Reno: Book One of DRC Phoenix is a spinoff from the DRC Files, where Zach Graves joins the DRC team out of Phoenix to hunt down those who took everything from him. Like the DRC Files, it is a paranormal procedural and will be episodic, with each book dealing with a case. 

What are the themes and subjects you tend to revisit in your work?

Characters overcoming flaws and obstacles.

What happened in your life that prompted you to become a writer? 

I read a lot and connected with characters, so when I reached high school, I wanted to speak their voices.

What inspires you to write? 

The characters in my head that I talk with.

Sunday Funnies: 75 Times

[Link] Stan Lee’s 10 Superpowered Writing Tips

Storytelling advice from the man who gave us Spider-Man, Iron Man, and a universe of unforgettable dialogue.

by Vishal Wagh

Stan Lee rewrote the rules of what heroism could look like.

For decades, his pen stitched together flawed characters with cosmic destinies, grounded in everyday problems and elevated by snappy dialogue. He built a supercool universe.

Whether it was Peter Parker sweating over rent or the X-Men grappling with discrimination, Stan Lee’s stories worked because they punched with style and landed with heart.

Writers still quote him and study him because he transformed comic books into a storytelling bible that teaches you how to convey more by showing less, and how to navigate big ideas without ever losing sight of the human beneath the mask.

This article breaks down ten writing principles Stan Lee lived by—just a good old-fashioned advice from the man who turned radioactive accidents into character arcs.

1. Make Your Characters Relatable

Stan Lee wrote larger-than-life people with human problems. Spider-Man could stick to walls and dodge bullets, but he couldn’t dodge guilt or homework. Tony Stark built a suit of armor to protect himself, but couldn’t protect his relationships.

Read the full article: https://nofilmschool.com/stan-lee-writing-tips

Western Tales- Volume 1: 15 Riveting Western Short Stories of Outlaws, Lawmen, and Frontier Justice

15 Gritty Western Short Stories by 16 Rising Star Authors

Saddle up for a raw and relentless ride through the American frontier in Veritas Entertainment's Western Tales – Volume 1—a collection of 15 unforgettable Western short stories from 16 powerful voices in the genre.

Inside these pages, you’ll face down outlaws, ride with lawmen, confront betrayal, and witness justice served under wide-open skies. Each story is a fast-paced, standalone tale packed with gun smoke, grit, and the timeless struggle between right and wrong.

Whether you’re drawn to classic Western themes or hungry for modern takes with sharp edges, this collection delivers:

• High-stakes showdowns and frontier justice
• Iconic Western settings—from ghost towns to bustling saloons
• Bold characters: gunslingers, bounty hunters, drifters, and lawmen
• Tightly written, action-packed short stories you can read in a single sitting

Perfect for fans of Louis L’Amour, Elmore Leonard, Cormac McCarthy, and readers of traditional and contemporary Western fiction.

Featuring stories by: London Baker, Aaron Broadway, Stephen Derek Broadway, Dustin Carter, George Cottonwood, James Dawson, William Hostler, Faith Layhew, R.L. Moore, Ryan Permison, Jeff Pintabona, Slayd Sasser, Paul Skomra, Grayson D. Sullivan, Austin Lee Turner, Sam Whitfield.

Each author brings a distinct voice, delivering tales that are hard-hitting, morally complex, and true to the spirit of the West. Curated by Veritas Entertainment, this anthology celebrates the enduring power of Western storytelling.

This is a must-have for Western readers who crave suspense, heart, and Western action in equal measure.

Buy your copy now and ride into the heart of the frontier.