Recent content by vclouds

I think you're a romantic. That's fine. There's nothing wrong with that, in fact, I think the romantic idea of a writer is beautiful, I just don't think it's accurate. I don't think you're completely wrong, either. Maybe many writers maybe do feel like that. However, I know that some don't...

Well, certainly, but getting things done in timely fashion is necessary to getting published in the first place, I think. If it takes someone twenty years to write a novel because he only works on it when he "feels like it" - well, he'll never publish more than one or two. Maybe "deadline"...

Probably, though deadlines can be tough for anyone trying to write. I feel a bit silly, to be honest, racking up student loans for someone to enforce deadlines for me, but there it is.

It'd been awhile since I read that story, so I refreshed my memory with the link provided in the other thread. After having done so, I'm not so sure that it was directly Queenie and Pals that motivated Sammy to leave his job. Also, there are other things to consider. Throughout the story Sammy...

If you enjoy Sylvia Plath, you might also consider Anne Sexton, another, poetess who wrote at the same time as Plath and also composed poems along the same themes.

The point of The Lover, at least as the book is concerned, I haven't seen the movie, is more about the narrative style than the story itself. The prose is disjointed and jarring, clipped in short sentences as it is, and it's one of the first examples of an unreliable narrator in fiction. Much of...

If you like the Narnia books and don't mind more young adult fiction there's a 5 book series entitled The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper that is reputed to contain Christian themes, albeit muted. I read it when I was too young (7th grade) to notice them, but others say they are there...

That's absolutely it. I recognize the art style of the cover, and the description seems accurate. Thank you so much. I've been trying to find that story for over four years.

The best exercise I ever encountered while in college was a list of first lines my professor would hand out. As an introduction to short story writing, she asked her class to pick one of the first lines and write a story. I don't remember most of them, but though it was years and years ago, I...

If you're in the mood for more "sword and sorcery" type fiction, the Recluce Saga by L.E. Modisett, JR. is worthwhile. The magic system in the series is innovative, and there is more than enough there to keep even the most avid reader busy for a good long while. I thoroughly recommend it. If...

In an odd fact about this novel, a very small portion of it appears in spoken form on the 2000 Poe album Haunted, in the form of a song entitled Hey Pretty. Poe is the author's sister, and the author reads the portion of the book in the song himself. It's an interesting listen for fans of the...

This is a good point. As an aspiring writer myself, recently (May 2008) having graduated from a M.A. program in Creative Writing, I can only realistically say that my master's degree taught me three things, and none of them were directly related to the "creative" aspect of writing. My master's...

I've gotten help here before finding very difficult and obscure stories - you guys are regular story sleuths, so here's another melon-scratcher. I'd appreciate any help. I remember reading this story when I was very young, so I hope it's still recognizable if I flub the details some. The...

Egads, please don't recommend The Wasp Factory. The first 7/8's of the book are indeed creepy and unnerving, but the ending is such a gigantic letdown that it makes the previous parts of the book feel like a waste of time. I wish I'd never read that book. If you want a creepy and psychological...

Thanks so much!