OK, this is so unbelievable I had to include the absolute proof that it happened – on the radio. In fact, I had to go back and listen again just to make sure I understood what I heard. No mistake, I heard what I heard. The show was Ask Me Another, segment “Like A Confused Boss“, on NPR. A contestant was a college student, apparently graduating, asking her professor for help with her C.V., and annoyed with his advice. But listen for yourself. This post is definitely open for your comments!   Please click on the arrow below to listen.    

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HOKAIC (“hawk-ache”) by Jason Brick HOKAIC. It sounds like a Klingon curse word, but actually it’s the most important concept for success in any writing endeavor. It’s an acronym that stands for Hands On Keyboard Ass In Chair HOKAIC is absolutely the key to success as a writer because writers…well, we write. Maybe not for pay. Maybe not for publication. But we write. So at the end of the day, you’d better have spent some time with your hands and ass in the right place. It’s not always as easy as I’m making it sound, but it’s exactly that simple. Kick writer’s block where it hurts, then get busy writing. This is just part of the day for most people who make a living at our craft. For folks who still struggle with this, here are…

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My nephew Luther, who lives in Chicago, is a really creative, ingenious, and funny guy. I love him a lot and follow his interests with great interest because they’re always so interesting. Like his handmade Christmas cards. Like his recent project to build a motorized volume control for his antique Marantz receiver [for those of you who don’t know what a receiver is, click here]. But I am not here to tell you about his retrofitted volume control, but to pass along another of his interests more in keeping with our own: coffee. Specifically coffee cup butts. Yes, you read that correctly. Luther has discovered the coffee equivalent of tea leaves. It hardly makes sense for me to attempt to describe what a coffee cup butt is. You’ll have to find out for yourself my clicking…

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Why do I get these completely random Twitter notifications about people, places and things I don’t know, would never wish to know, and confound my sense of what’s spam? This is ridiculous. Google does a better job of targeting me with adverts that are at least within my interests or peer group[s]. Call it machine intelligence. Naw, call it machine irrelevance. The computer version of robocalls. And yeah, I know I can log into my account and change my preferences, but clicking the garbage can icon is quicker and more satisfying. Twitter Goes BIRDBRAINED! Tweet! Tweet! Wheeeeeeee!

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Some people write. Some paint. Some people take photographs. Some take photographs of themselves. Do you take pictures of yourself? Do you have your own selfie stick? Sure looks like it’s become popular, as this photo attests. All sold out. Tell us about photos you like to take.

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Happy 2015 everybody! This year’s a big year for me in terms of publishing and writing and all that jazz. I don’t say that to brag, but rather because the experiences are going to be a great opportunity to learn about what’s going on with writing and publishing today. I will definitely take the time to share that learning with all of you, because if you don’t share what you learn what’s the point? By coincidence stemming from a little bit of design, I’m going to have a total of six projects coming out this year. All of them are releasing via different methods. Self-Publishing My vulgar and (I think) hilarious Farkas Foxtrot series goes live next month, self-published via Amazon, Kobo and all the other big boys. They’re novellas, and I plan to release them…

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Hello everyone, we apologize for the lapse in updates as we continue working on our new site design. We are very excited for the changes in store for the website and for Fictional Cafe this year and promise it will be worth the wait. In the meantime, we welcome you to tell us which of our member contributions from 2014 was your favorite. Please write your choice in the comments section below.   “The strongest of all warriors are these two – Time and Patience.” – Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace  

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