That Old Country Music by Kevin Barry (2020) – A brilliant collection of stories focused on life in small parts of Ireland. Stories of anger and love and betrayal and death and illusion. Barry takes you into the quiet parts of the lives of everyday people. They live everyday lives that are tinged with the... Continue Reading →
A Story For April
Another story with a bit of an open end. Over the years, I've found many mystery sticky notes on my various desks. All of them were in my own handwriting (ooh, should have thought of that for the story! LOL). They were a thought, an idea, a title. The difficulty was that I had no... Continue Reading →
One More Thing by BJ Novak
This is the first in a series of reviews of short story collections. All part of my careful campaign to bring short stories back to the respect they deserve. See "Focus on the Short Story" One More Thing - Stories and Other Stories by B.J. Novak (2014) - Last month's short story collection by Stephen... Continue Reading →
Bazaar of Bad Dreams – Stephen King
This is the first in a series of reviews of short story collections. All part of my careful campaign to bring short stories back to the respect they deserve. See "Focus on the Short Story" Bazaar of Bad Dreams by Stephen King (2015) - A collection of 20 stories and poems that display the author's... Continue Reading →
Focus on the Short Story
Last year I published my first book, a collection of short stories called "Shorts". It was the culmination of a lot of dreams and a steep learning curve. Since then I've learned a lot. One of the least enjoyable bits has been the low standing of the short story. Once upon a time, the short... Continue Reading →
Death of Choice – Book
Death of Choice Eight Tales of Murder, Mayhem, and Mystery Compiled by Micheal Maxwell (2015) Kindle E-book When you grab a book with this kind of title you are expecting murder to figure heavily in the stories. In fact, it figures in about half. The real problem here is that there's not much effort put... Continue Reading →
Super Bowl Ads, Remakes and Just A Little More Media
"The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY. It can be heard Monday through Friday around 7:30 AM. The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program. Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moment's notice. WRFA-LP is... Continue Reading →
TVFTP podcact week of 3/14/16
Podcast for the week of March 14, 2016 This week on the TVFTP podcast: I love short stories. They hold a very special place in my reading and writing. So discovering that an unexpected source was going to provide a new outlet for them got me excited! Reality TV is generally pretty stupid. A&E is... Continue Reading →
Lane Bryant, 60 Days In, Short Story
"The View From the Phlipside" is a media commentary program airing on WRFA-LP, Jamestown NY. It can be heard Monday through Friday around 7:30 AM. The following are scripts which may not exactly match the aired version of the program. Mostly because the host may suddenly choose to add or subtract words at a moment's notice. WRFA-LP is... Continue Reading →
Book Reviews – No Return, Analog Memory andThe Chronicles of Mark Johnson
The following books are available only as e-books as near as I can tell. The Chronicles of Mark Johnson by Alan Place (2014) - Mark Johnson was a sought after fashion photographer who turned his back on the shallowness of that world. Now with the help of his friends Mark chases ghosts and fights demons... Continue Reading →
Stories Are My Life 