Itake feedback very seriously. Criticism is always helpful and usually beneficial, so I hope I don't offend anyone who makes an effort and personally communicates with me. The last thing I want is to impress anyone I won't answer my phone or read my email. The second to last thing is that I don't want to suggest I close my ears. Bearing that openness in mind, I own my irascible self. I don't know if the character is in my genes or a product of my environment – or even a…

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The short story Truthful Consequence is the first story in my Wister Town short horror story compilation. I considered the story to be one of my poorest, but it's not so bad and is the keystone in the mythology of evil events of a small Southern Wisconsin town. Like Food Poisoning, another story in the…

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Probably one of the most difficult aspects of writing is providing content that your reader can turn into pictures or imagery. You may know exactly what you’re trying to convey, the image you want your reader to see, but does your content translate into effective imagery for your reader?

 

Stephen King discusses this topic in an informative article in the August 2010 Writer magazine. Obviously, any advice from this author is valuable, but I especially like his views on imagery.…

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If You Write It, They will Reject It

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Portal Painter is included with similar weird, short horror stories in Matthew Sawyer's second collection, entitled Cancerous Exodus.…



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Thank you for stopping by to spend a few minutes with the OVERLAND the book blog. Here you can read about various scenarios and paths we take in life and integrate them to certain scenes and points of views with Danny and some of the other characters within OVERLAND.



Some readers of the book might be wondering, what is all the fuss? This book was released last year. It is true, OVERLAND was first published in August 2009....and now re-released in September 2010. Why?



Simply,… Continue

My own writing is driven by my directness and sense of urgency, so getting to "the point" is important. I'm not a professional writer (though I desperately want to be) and I have other things to do - as I expect do most readers, so paving the road for a tale and staying on track are critical aspects for my stories. Besides living in a busy world, distractions offered by technology further constrains the time people spend reading fiction - or doing any genuine reading at… Continue

Abandoned by Matthew Sawyer

Review by: Dana Kerkentzes on Aug. 12, 2010



"Imagination squeezed whatever nightmare the boys concocted, that dwelt in the old house with the hermit-like woman, into sixteen inch boxes." <-- I love this line!



Read it three times before moving on. ^_^



Read the story for free at… Continue

Disaster at Minotaur Meats by Matthew Sawyer

Review by: Lea Ryan on Aug. 012, 2010



"creepy, yucky, morbid. I loved it."



Read the story for free at SMASHWORDS.COM.…



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Imagine meeting, falling in love with, and marrying the biggest pop star in the world only days before he wins an American Idol-type singing contest. This is the story of Jenna Holden and Aidan Price in When I Remember Love by Trish

Silver.…

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It’s been said that knowledge is power, but sometimes ignorance can be a writer’s best friend. For example, I didn’t realize until after selling a story to Proctor & Gamble that “everybody knows” it’s near impossible for freelancers to sell to daytime soaps.



It all started with the Romance Writers of America conference which my dear friend Lee Duran and I planned to attend. Since we were both fans of As The World Turns, we figured it would be fun to visit the set while we were in… Continue

Rugged mountains, lush valleys, and bright red patches of Indian paintbrush that seem to set the land on fire; grizzly bears, outlaws, and the Bear Lake Monster! Idaho’s Bear Lake Valley, located in the tops of the Rocky Mountains, has fascinating history. Here mountain men held many a rendezvous, trapped and hunted. In 1819, Mountain Man “Fats” McKenzie named this area Bear Lake Valley because of the abundant black bears that roamed the Wasatch Mountains and after the most beautiful… Continue

The waves splashed gently upon the shore and the full moon shone brightly upon Bear Lake, making the water shimmer. A deep foreboding was in the air and the fawn, sipping from the lake, could sense it. His ears perked up and he stood still while his eyes searched the area. Only the sounds of nature could be heard, crickets sang and an owl hooted, but the deer sensed that he was in danger and quickly darted away. With great speed, he sprinted gracefully, as if in mid air, toward… Continue

Enter the world of “Make Believe” and read about the legend of the Bear Lake Monster, long family traditions, a tender love story, and a few mysterious events!



Scotland has the Lock Ness Monster and Bear Lake Valley has theirs. Do they really exist? The mystery of the Bear Lake Monster has been an exciting part of Idaho history since the early 1800s. David begins to wonder about this legend in “David and the Bear Lake Monster” (ISBN: 978-1-58982-532-1). As the waves splash gently… Continue

Many times our every day lives can overwhelm us and we desperately need a break. Being a wife, homemaker, and mother can be a challenge and some days we feel discouraged. That’s the time when we would like to enter the world of Make-Believe. Perhaps after we do the dishes, change a diaper, and put our children down for a nap, we may have a couple hours to read a novel and slip into that make-believe world; a world of escape when our frustrations are high and we desperately need a break and a… Continue