I had the pleasure to attend Whidbey Island MFA program with Stefon Mears. Stefon’s writing is laced with humor and talent. His piece “How Narcissistic am I?” will soon be published in the lovely print journal The Bacopa Literary Review.

I present the author Stefon Mears:

Do you specialize in any genre?

In terms of genre, my specialty is fantasy. My interest in fantasy stories began as a small child when my mother read Greek and Norse myths to me. I particularly remember the tales of Theseus and Baldur.

Theseus provided a marvelous introduction to fantasy story structure – his quest and obstacles leading up to the labyrinth and the minotaur, even his eventual fall brought on by hubris. Go through his whole story and you’ll see many of the elements present in later fantasy novels.

In the case of Baldur, we have the foreshadowing dream and the great villain played by Loki (also an example of the villain threatening to steal the story). But the story does not end with Baldur’s death nor Frigga’s failure to raise him by persuading every living thing to cry. Baldur returns in a sequel — after Ragnarok, he will return to lead the next generation of Aesir.

I fell in love with mythology, and eventually got my Bachelor’s Degree from U.C. Berkeley in Religious Studies, with a double emphasis in Ritual and Mythology.

But I did not restrict my fantasy influences to myths. I also read extensively in folklore and fantasy novels, and developed a strong interest in magic as it has been practiced in our world, especially in Europe. I’ve read the obvious stuff, like Aleister Crowley and S.L.M. Mathers, but also older works like Francis Barrett’s “The Magus” and more recent writers like P.E.I. Bonewits, Peter J. Carroll, Jan Fries, and Stephen Mace.

I find that these works provide me not only interesting possibilities for how to develop a magic system, they provide me with insights into power and its application.

Magic must not only serve the story and the world, it must also serve the psychology of the wizard. These are elements I try to keep in mind for my storytelling.

“Do you offer any literary services?”

I consult as a grant writer. I have been considering starting up a six-week writing workshop in the Portland area, once I’ve finished settling into the new house.

“Anything else you wish to share?”

There’s an odd disconnection in writing. Writers are storytellers, but unlike the ancient bards or our ancestors around campfires, we don’t get to see the reactions of our audience. So every once in a while, when you read a story, take a moment and let the author know what you think about it — send an e-mail or post a review. You just might make a writer’s day.

WOW.  Thank you Stefon.  Let’s watch this author as he’s going lots of places fast.

www.stefonmears.com

If you have any questions for Stefon, leave them in your comments and I will post his answer.

THE PROMPT FOR TODAY:

Prompt for today:  Your flashlight dies inside a cave. You are now in darkness and lost.   What happens now?

Write a short story from this prompt and remember the story arc.  Create desire (needing to get out) conflict and a change in the character.

→ Leave a comment

Posted on March 15, 2012 by Kaye Linden

Make broken rules work

Does the short story work?

Did you break the rules?

That’s ok if the reader is satisfied and the piece works.

I love flash fiction.  It thrives on rule bending.

Here are some rules to follow or bend:

“Avoid run-on sentences that are hard to read

No sentence fragments.

It behooves us to avoid archaisms.

Also, avoid awkward or affected alliteration.

Don’t use no double negatives.

Kill all exclamation points!!!

Never use a long word when a diminutive one will do.

Avoid cliches like the plague.”

Some “Fumblerules” adapted from “Mistakes that call attention to the rule by William Safire.”

I add my own fumberule:   Adverbs are clumsily thrown into narrative.  Don’t use them.

Remember – all writing rules are meant to be bent, twisted, broken and distorted.  As long as the narrative works.   That’s the rule!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(oh, dear…)

→ Leave a comment

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Kaye Linden

My wonderful colleague Joe Ponepinto is the go to man for writing mentorship.  We endured the MFA together and Joe was always available to help answer questions or offer an astute critique.

Read all about my colleague, Joe, the services he offers and how you can learn from him. Go ahead and sign up for his blog.

Joe Ponepinto is the Book Review Editor for the Los Angeles Review. He was the winner of the 2011 Springfed Arts Writers Contest (Michigan) in fiction, and was a finalist in Black Lawrence Press’s 2011 St. Lawrence Book Award contest for his short story collection. He has been published extensively in literary journals.

Joe teaches fiction for a local arts organization. He also mentors individual students or small groups in a 12-week, intensive writing course. He provides critique and editing services for writing from short stories to novel length works. For full details, please visit his site at thirdreader.com.

Joe believes in creating a literary relationship with his clients—one in which they work together to achieve a finished manuscript that truly communicates the writer’s intent, and has the potential to be published.

Two mentors: Bruce Holland Rogers(shortshortshort.com/aboutbruce.html) and Kathleen Alcála (www.kathleenalcala.com/)

→ Leave a comment

Posted on March 9, 2012 by Kaye Linden

Thank you to one of the readers of my blog, Bonnie Ogle, who has captured some nice images with her response to the topic “concrete language.”  Nice work, Bonnie.  As promised, I have posted a slice of her story and will do so for others whose response to the blog topics merit posting.

Souvenir

by Bonnie Ogle

 I stole a slice of the land and it hangs in my den now. I have my pieces of wood, boomerangs scattered among wallabies, painted by artists who don’t know they’re artists, Aborigines sharing their dreams, ink spotted sand, evoking outback, legends too sacred for words, lying flat, in two dimensions on a square of cardboard mounted on my wall, like a fish caught in the river of my youth, a trophy, but dead now. A dimension lost.

→ Leave a comment

Posted on March 8, 2012 by Kaye Linden

My first short story collection is based upon Australian aboriginal mythology.  Therefore, my blogs are a smattering of aboriginal culture and short story craft elements.

Today Aboriginal people and scientists work together to record knowledge passed down for thousands and thousands of years.  One aspect of this work involves the medicinal qualities of plants. Paintings by aboriginal artists (Mick Namerari Tjapaltjarri) record such medicine tales and the search for cures.  One painting by Louisa Napaljarri Lawson, an acrylic on bark, honors the “Medicine Vine Dreaming.”

The medicine vine, Tinospora smilacina, consists of a woody stem that curls around tree branches.  It has cream colored flowers and a  green fruit that turns red upon ripening. The heated leaves draw out infection from lesions, are used to cure headaches (poultices) and sore throats when chewed. If pounded into pulp and shaped, the vine offers a sticky bandage for open sores.

Prompt for today:

Write a flash fiction or a prose poem about an imaginary plant that can cure an imaginary disease.

Send the piece to me on this blog site as a comment and I will post the best one in the next blog.

→ Leave a comment

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Kaye Linden