Monday Motivation: TBR of Friends

Sunday Funnies: Three... Two... One... Write!

New appearance announced! Acworth Book & Storytelling Festival

Acworth Book & Storytelling Festival Saturday, October 10
10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Tanyard Creek Overlook

Motivational Monday: Book Recommendations

Sunday Funnies: First Editions

This goes for book authors too. 

THE TERRORS 2 is LIVE!

THE TERROR TWINS ARE BACK!

A forgotten pharaoh revives in Raceway City, announcing his return with a series of grisly murders.

But when the city falls under the Pharaoh's mind control… when his eyes and ears are everywhere… when trusted allies can become enemies… when one of their greatest champions is rendered powerless…

How can the Terror Twins stop an evil older than history itself—and save Raceway City… or the world?

The answer lies in this thrilling sequel to the Pulp Factory Award-winning The Terrors*. Brian K. Morris is back with a menace that raises the stakes with every chapter.

*Best Cover: Jeffrey Hayes/Plasmafire Graphics 

On Amazon. (You can also pick up the first book while you're at it.) 

Motivational Monday: Editing

Sunday Funnies: Walking Into Things

Rest in Power, Jim Ritchey

Notice from Facebook:

It is with heavy hearts that we announce the peaceful passing of our beloved uncle/brother, James “Jim” Ritchey, who passed peacefully in the early morning hours of July 8, 2026.

Jim was a lifelong artist whose passion for comic books and illustration touched countless people. Throughout his career, he published artwork that reached audiences around the world, leaving behind a creative legacy that reflected his incredible imagination, talent, and love for the arts. In addition to his remarkable artistic abilities, Jim was also an avid music lover, finding joy, inspiration, and comfort through music throughout his life. Whether creating art or listening to his favorite songs, Jim embraced creativity in all its forms. He never stopped creating, and those who knew him understood that art wasn’t just something he did—it was who he was.

Jim is lovingly survived by his sisters, Lisa Naffis, Jan Shipskie, and Mimi Ritchey, along with dozens of nieces and nephews who will forever cherish the memories they shared with him.

He was preceded in death by his mother, Patricia J. Chastain; his father, Jim E. Ritchey; and his beloved sister, Lynn Ritchey. We find comfort in knowing they have been reunited.

A memorial service celebrating Jim’s life will be held in the near future. Details will be shared with close friends and family as they become available.

In lieu of flowers, we ask that you consider honoring Jim’s memory by making a donation to one of the following organizations that reflect the passions and compassion he carried throughout his life.

Hero Initiative is a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping comic book creators in need. It provides emergency financial assistance, medical aid, and career support to comic artists, writers, inkers, colorists, and other creators facing financial hardship. For someone who devoted his life to comic book art, this is a meaningful way to celebrate Jim’s legacy while helping fellow artists continue their creative journeys.

Donate in Jim’s honor:

https://www.heroinitiative.org/hero-initiative-merchandise/donation-certificates/honoree-donation/ 

You may also choose to donate to Atlanta Mission, a nonprofit organization that has served the Atlanta community for more than 85 years by providing emergency shelter, nutritious meals, addiction recovery programs, job training, housing assistance, and long-term support for men, women, and children experiencing homelessness. Every donation helps provide hope, healing, and a path toward a fresh start for those in need.

Donate in Jim’s honor:

https://give.atlantamission.org/give/227142#!/donation/checkout?c_src=site&c_src2=main_nav

Thank you for keeping Jim, his artwork, and our family in your thoughts and prayers. His creativity, kindness, and passion will continue to live on through every life he touched and every piece of art he shared with the world.

Work from things Jim and I collaborated on:

Motivational Monday: A Story Lies

A Story Lies

William Blake said

In every spark,

A story lies,

And he was right.

Every story lies,

Not only hiding

In every spark,

But in telling true untruth.

The colorfulness

Of language allows

Both to exist

In the shifting of meaning.

And that, friends,

Shines brighter

Than any tyger's

Symmetry could frame.

(c) 2026 Sean Taylor

Motivational Monday: Book Buying

Sunday Funnies: Drinks and Canapes (and Books!)

My Brothers Have Not Read Little Women (poem by Scarlett Curtis)

Progress Report

Currently at appr. 28k words on this one. 

What's it about? 

A medium detective, a yurei, and an escapee from a mental hospital walk into a mystery. Blah, blah, blah, a cursed postcard collection that could trigger the arrival of apocalyptic evil.

How to Write Powerlessness

Motivational Monday: If I Were a Book

If I Were a Book

If I were a book

And not a man

I would like to be

An exciting one.

I would also

Like to be true

In the way that

Only stories can.

And I would wish

To be hollow in parts,

Incomplete without

Communion with a reader.

(c) 2026 Sean Taylor

Sunday Funnies: Writer Questions

[Link] New literary podcasts to add to your queue

by Brittany Allen

Say you’re no newb to the literary podcast. You’ve got Brad Listi’s “Other Ppl,” “Between the Covers,” and “The Maris Review,” sitting pride of place in your digital library. And—perhaps inspired by this very website—you’ve been tickling your cochlea lately with episodes of Merve Emre’s new show, “The Critic and Her Publics.” But maybe these offerings are but a first course to what might ideally be a banquet. After all, if you can’t actually be reading every hour of the day, listening to smart people talk about reading may be the next best thing.

In case you agree with the previous statement, I’ve rounded up a few literary podcasts to add to your radar. You can check out these fine shows on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or your own sneaky means.

Read the full article: https://lithub.com/new-literary-podcasts-to-add-to-your-queue/

AIRSHIP 27 PRESENTS BARRY BASKERVILLE AND THE RARE COIN

BARRY BASKERVILLE AND THE RARE COIN

By Richard Kellogg 
Art by Gary Kato

Airship 27 Production is proud to present the 10th adventure of Barry Baskerville, the boy who wants to group to be Sherlock Holmes. While at a carnival fair with his parents, Barry saves his father from being swindle by a man fraudulent attempting to sell a worthless coin as something valuable. The story is by Prof. Richard Kellogg with art by Gary Kato and book design by Rob Davis.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION – PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENEARTION!

Available now from Amazon.

Motivation Monday: So I wrote it.

Sunday Funnies: Details & Devils

[Link] How librarians saved the day in World War II

by Brittany Allen

In her new book, Book and Dagger: How Scholars and Librarians Became the Unlikely Spies of World War II, scholar Elyse Graham explores the secret history of U.S. intelligence and lays out yet another reason why you should thank a librarian today: their top-tier spywork.

The nascent Central Intelligence Agency—then called the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)—had a lot of high profile help during World War II. Actors like Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant, and Josephine Baker worked their connections to gain information for the Allies, ferret intel through Vichy, and tamper with German morale.

Ian Fleming, author of the Bond books, pioneered the nutty Operation MINCEMEAT while serving with MI-5. And Julia Child, who you may know better for her butter addiction, helped develop a recipe for shark repellent in her first life at the OSS.

But the intelligence game didn’t start so glamorous. Well before the organization got into fancy “operations,” an initial fleet of motley pencil-pushers were tasked with analyzing raw data. And as Graham’s book shows—and contra to Hollywood’s determined interventions—this kind of spy work was generally low octane. More puzzle-solving, less planting of bombs.

In a New Republic review of Book and Dagger, Greg Barnhisel observes that “humanists and their comma-hunting, cross-referencing, collecting, and cataloging ways” were especially suited to this kind of spying. Which is why the OSS sought out “librarians, archivists, mathematicians, and anthropologists” to do its first dirty work.

These were the so-called “chairborne,” of the Research and Analysis division. Hitler called them the Tintenritter, or “ink knights.”

Read the full article: https://lithub.com/how-librarians-saved-the-day-in-world-war-ii/

Levar Burton Reads 11 of the Most Beautiful Sentences in the English Language

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION PRESENTS JAMIE RAMOS’ STREETS OF GOLOGTHA

The word Golgotha means "the city of skulls," and "the place of Christ's crucifixion.” Late editor Jaime Ramos thought that a city based on this meaning, which was founded by French monks in the 1800s, would be an interesting place to set noir and detective stories. Ramos wanted the city to be hard-core, filled with dirty cops, the Mafia, corrupt religious figures, and a TV psychic named John Normandy. He wanted the city to be laid out with French catacombs underneath and urban Gothic design on the surface.

Designing landmarks for the city, Ramos had a friend create a map, placing the city in upper Wisconsin, where it always seemed to be raining or snowing or both. Crime would be mixed with mysticism and darkness. Inviting several author friends to contribute, Ramos created an omnibus of collected stories about the city of Golgotha. Assembled here for your enjoyment is the fruit of his editorial desires and the loving labors of Jaime Ramos' friends: Teel James Glenn, Nancy Hansen, Lee Houston Jr. Wayne Carey and Bobby Nash. Illustrations by Rob Davis and cover by Adam Shaw. Take a walk down the shadowy, dangerous, and mysterious STREETS OF GOLGOTHA.

PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION!

Available now from Amazon and soon on Kindle.

Shakespeare & Co., the best little bookstore in the world!

 I was able to visit the coolest and most awesome bookstore in the world while in Paris.

Walking where Hemingway walked

 When I was in Paris I got to visit several of Hemingway's haunts. Somewhere along the fourth floor of this place is where he lived.

It is an hotel though.

And according to what I've read, these are two of the places he liked to drink.

The Chateau of Edmond Rostand

Well visiting the best region of lower France, my wife and I were fortunate enough to visit the home of Edmond Rostand, The author of Cyrano de Bergerac and Chanticleer, among others.

Rostand's library

His writing office

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION PRESENTS SINBAD THE NEW ADVENTURES VOL.9

Sinbad and his international crew of hardy sailors seek out high seas adventures aboard the Blue Nymph.  In two brand new novellas, Henri the archer from Gaul, Rolf the Viking and Tishimi, the female samurai battle alongside their captain against foes both familiar and supernatural. In the first tale, they led by a mysterious woman into the desert to find the lost city of Umar said to contain untold riches. While in the second, Sinbad finds himself trapped between two battling wizards on a far-off island. Can even he and his intrepid band survive dueling magicians? Once again, the Blue Nymph sails into exotic thrills pulp fans will love.

Writers Richard C. White and Fred Adams Jr. spin these two fantastic yarns, with artist Gary Kato providing the twelve interior illustrations and Michael Youngblood the cover.

AIRSHIP 27 PRODUCTION – PULP FICTION FOR A NEW GENERATION!

Available now from Amazon in paperback and soon on Kindle.

Writing Short Stories

Okay, last week we covered series writing. This week is for the opposite end of the spectrum writers. This one's for the folks like me who love to write short.

What is your ideal length for a short story? How do you make sure that you're able to get one full story in that length?

Rosemary Claire Smith: The bulk of my published fiction consists of short stories. They were where I began my writerly journey. I still love them and just finished one yesterday. I don’t have an ideal length, but the ones that garnered the most attention are the longer ones: 8,000-14,000 words. I love the challenge of flash fiction and find the 1,000-word limit great inducement for cutting every extraneous word and sentence. Those left are expected to do double and triple duty.

Sheela Leyh: I know that it's more than 1000 words. Anything 1000 words or less gives me a major headache to write. I do write poetry from time to time. I do comb through my words for more impact when writing shorter.

John Morgan 'Bat' Neal: The most recent story I have written is 806 words. It doesn't need one word more.

Mari Hersh-Tudor: Went to Penguicon, a great one for writers. One of the panels was about How To Keep Your Short Story from Turning Into A Novel. Some of my notes from the panel were:

• The formula is 1/4 setup, 1/2 meat, 1/4 wrap/ twist
• Stay on task, make a plan, and stick to it
• Give yourself a word count and stick to it
• Make every word count
• Short stories do not have subplots,
• Don’t write to cut down, write light to add later,
• No backstory, use efficient descriptions,
• Economy like poetry

Jessica Nettles: I don't have an ideal length. Each story has a way of finding its length. I know that sounds metaphysical, but that's how it works in my world. Sometimes, I am writing to a specific word count, and I work hard to get to that word count and make the story work in that frame. That's good exercise for me. Other times, I'm writing for me, so I can go as I feel like going and let the story find its way.

Motovational Monday: Just Read It