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 Maybe not for publication.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…
Coffee Cup…Butts?
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…
Book Review: A Hoarse Half-Human Cheer
It was Peter Dexter who wrote, “Keep in mind that a book that entertains without enlightening can still be a guilty pleasure, but a book that enlightens without entertaining is algebra.” Joseph [X.J.] Kennedy’s delightful A Hoarse Half-Human Cheer is, admittedly, intended to entertain, yet it enlightens in being a period piece – après-guerre America, circa 1946 – foreshadowing the sprawling modern era in this country with wit, humor and irony. After you finish re-reading Heller’s “Catch-22,” this is the novel you should begin. Young Moon Gogarty is the book’s Candide, trying to deal with his stultified feelings after having lost his first love to his mortician grandmother, just as he’s about to begin his studies at the infamous College of Saint Cassian of Imola. He’s thrust into a community of 4,500 older men who’ve…
People, Places and Things I Know on Twitter – NOT!
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!
Sign of the Times
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.
Fresh Java! "Armageddon Series" Season 2! By Terry Tibke - is.gd/lhdLeK
"Armageddon Series" Season 2! By Terry Tibke - The Fictional Café
www.fictionalcafe.com
On a planet of feuding dragon tribes, a young dragonrider brings hope to the people of Caball in Armageddon: Whitesteel Peaks!
Check out this fun podcast!
"Punching Out" by Jenni Stukin and Ruby Fink - The Fictional Café
www.fictionalcafe.com
"Punching Out" by Jenni Stukin and Ruby Fink is a dark comedy that combines office humor with a zombie apocalypse twist.
Fresh Java! "Punching Out" by Jenni Stukin and Ruby Fink - is.gd/xvdArW
"Punching Out" by Jenni Stukin and Ruby Fink - The Fictional Café
www.fictionalcafe.com
"Punching Out" by Jenni Stukin and Ruby Fink is a dark comedy that combines office humor with a zombie apocalypse twist.