Murphy Writing of Stockton University Presents This entry is part of Getaway Reads, an e-mail series curated by Kendal Nicole Lambert that features the writing of the Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway faculty. The Need for Character by Richard K. Weems Until this morning, my story was the same as any other yokel leaning on the brass rail at 9 a.m. Until this morning, there was no reason to tell my story to anyone but the tenderer of the booze and every-goddamn-one else like me: hiding in the dark in broad daylight, feeling safe with those who ... Read More...
Getaway Reads: The Sea Crest by Jeff Bens
Murphy Writing of Stockton University Presents This entry is part of Getaway Reads, an e-mail series curated by Kendal Lambert that features the writing of the Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway faculty. The Sea Crest by Jeff Bens I’d moved to Atlantic City to take care of my father. My sister Daphne had called from Tampa Bay to say that his number was up. “What are we going to do?” she asked me, like we talked all the time, like we was a thing. “How bad?” “He wouldn’t say.” I didn’t have anywhere else to go. Jillian had ... Read More...
Getaway Reads: Fifty-Fifty by Roberta Clipper
This entry is part of Getaway Reads, a weekly e-mail series curated by Stephanie Cawley that features the writing of the Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway faculty. Fifty-Fifty by Roberta Clipper That’s what I call myself. My mother’s a mongrel. That’s what she says: ancestors from so many different parts of Europe that she can’t tell where she got the same name as Dad’s. It’s true! It’s on her birth certificate—Gillian Ann Gill. As southern as the William Williamses and Jo Ann Joneses of the West. I tease her: “If you’d hyphenated it, you’d be Jill ... Read More...
Getaway Reads: The Need for Character by Richard K. Weems
This entry is part of Getaway Reads, a weekly e-mail series curated by Stephanie Cawley that features the writing of the Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway faculty. The Need for Character by Richard K. Weems The virtue of hope, in Enoch, was made of two parts suspicion and one part lust…He wanted, some day, to see a line of people waiting to shake his hand. --Flannery O’Connor, “Enoch and the Gorilla” Until this morning, my story was the same as any other yokel leaning on the brass rail at 9 a.m. Until this morning, there was no reason to ... Read More...
A vacation-inspired writing prompt
Here's a vacation-inspired writing prompt for you to try from one of the Atlantic City Shore Thing Writing Getaways. Consider it an Autumn gift! It includes options for writing fiction, nonfiction and poetry, and of course one of my "Challenges for the Delusional." Have fun and be daring. You won't break anything, except, perhaps a mild case of writer's block. "For a while we pondered whether to take a vacation or get a divorce. We decided that a trip to Bermuda is over in two weeks, but a divorce is something you always have." ~ Woody Allen "No man needs ... Read More...
Getaway Reads: “The Book of Roger” by Richard K. Weems
This entry is part of Getaway Reads, a weekly e-mail series curated by Stephanie Cawley that features the writing of the Winter Poetry & Prose Getaway faculty. The Book of Roger by Richard K. Weems Of course, near this tale’s end, the Book of Roger—that narrative of third person limited omniscience—is suffering an unexpected twist, isn’t it, Roger? Thus far, the tale of hardworking, bring-home-the-bacon Roger and his darling, quiet Rhonda, who experienced loss and more than their fair share of turbulent times in their ... Read More...
Getaway Reads: Bulldog by Paul Lisicky
Bulldog By Paul Lisicky The bulldog kept the woman alive, but the woman didn’t know that. She had other problems on her mind, such as where did she put her keys, and what was her car doing in Florida when she’d parked it in Tennessee? The bulldog got very still when the woman started shoving her fingers into bowls. He figured he could make the earth spin a little slower if he were sitting on its axis, so he’d quiet his panting. He’d look straight ahead, neither left nor right. The woman would trip on him, wince at him for being in her way, then lean down ... Read More...
A hurricane-inspired writing prompt
"...Love, if you love me, lie next to me. Be for me, like rain..." From “The Rain” by Robert Creeley Writing Prompt Drive a storm into a poem that explores a devastating romantic relationship, current or past. Requirements Begin with a line or two of pure description of Hurricane Sandy or its aftermath. Argue for or against one of Dr. Phil’s "Ten Relationship Myths." Tell a secret, tell a lie and never tell anyone which is which. Surprise yourself! Fiction Alternative Write a dialogue-driven story about a chance encounter between two ... Read More...
How “true” is your fiction?
I have a journalist friend who does not read novels. "Why should I waste my time," he told me, "reading about something that never happened. "I've heard this before. Over my 30 years teaching literature to high school students, I always had a few who mistakenly believed that fiction is "fake." Having them read works like Of Mice and Men, The Sun Also Rises and Romeo and Juliet helped convert them, but there were those students that would not succumb to my charms. No matter what they read, they would not allow what Coleridge described as the "willing ... Read More...