fiction with a dark edge
Dead in 70 years anyway. So reads the Instagram tagline of someone I know well, like a self-referential epitaph. This person is a teenager every bit as tormented, apparently, as I was at his age. The difference is that today the world can know your torment, which is not confined between the cardboard covers of... Continue Reading →
It's no secret that the Internet has changed pretty much every facet of our lives over the last twenty years. That's just as true for writers as for everyone else. And it's true not just in terms of how we research, write, and edit, and how our readers find and read our work, but in... Continue Reading →
I have been happily crafting short stories for the last couple of years, in between finishing my last novel and weighing publishing options. Some stories have even been published. This has been immensely satisfying, especially in contrast with writing long-form fiction. It’s like the difference between adopting a dog and raising a child, where the... Continue Reading →
The human mind is one of the few places where two opposing things can be true at the same time. The tension between opposites gives rise to what's exciting about life. Control – Surrender Momentum – Stasis Intellect – Heart Masculine – Feminine Strength – Flexibility Communal – Individual Gravity – Laughter Life – Death... Continue Reading →
We've all heard the cliché "Write what you know." Perhaps it’s a useful instruction to beginning writers so they don’t get distracted while learning the basics of craft. Beyond that, it seems silly. My journalism training gave me the confidence to write about almost anything, as long as I was willing to do research. I... Continue Reading →
AUDREY KALMAN 