Steven R. Southard's Blog, page 42
October 28, 2018
Distraction-Free Writing
As a fiction writer, you know distractions happen. You’re living a life, after all. But so what? Distractions are frustrating, but they don’t actually hurt the quality of your writing, do they?
Yes. According to a George Mason University research team led by Cyrus K. Foroughi, even short interruptions to creative work can worsen the output. As reported in the newsletter Fast Company, the GMU team conducted experiments involving subjects writing essays. Researchers didn’t interrupt Group 1, th...
October 22, 2018
Author Interview — Tonia Kalouria
It’s not every week that I interview a poet, especially one with Hollywood connections. Let me introduce Tonia Kalouria, who has a poem in the anthology Quoth the Raven.
Tonia Kalouria is a former actress, recently returned from L.A. to “The North Coast” (i.e., Toledo), and considers herself a Midwest Gal at heart. Writing poetry helps her maintain her sanity in this topsy-turvy world, and she is a strong advocate for rhyming poetry. Her poetry has appeared in numerous publications, including...
October 19, 2018
Author Interview — Ken Goldman
Just when you thought I’d interviewed all the fascinating authors out there, I found more! Meet Ken Goldman, another writer with a short story in Quoth the Raven.
Ken Goldman, former Philadelphia teacher of English and Film Studies, is an affiliate member of the Horror Writers Association. He has homes on the Main Line in Pennsylvania and at the Jersey shore. His stories have appeared in over 885 independent press publications in the U.S., Canada, the UK, and Australia with over thirty due fo...
October 14, 2018
Do You Semicolon?
Among punctuation marks, the semicolon is the nerdy kid who gets picked on and is chosen last for sports teams. The semicolon goes on to college, of course, and finds steady employment, but never moves up or achieves greatness, and yet falls asleep each night dreaming of a life that might have been.
As a refresher, the semicolon links major sentence elements together. It can keep two related independent clauses loosely joined; it also separates items in a list, especially when some listed ite...
October 7, 2018
Who the Heck is Mynheer Superbus Von Underduk?
Edgar Allan Poe could be just as creative with character names as Charles Dickens, or Dr. Seuss, for that matter. I’ll tell you about Poe’s story first, and then introduce Von Underduk.
Among Poe’s least remembered short stories is “The Unparalleled Adventure of One Hans Pfaall.” Hmm…Pfaall. Would that be pronounced ‘fail’ or ‘fall?’ Both would be apt, and Poe probably intended the ambiguity.
Illustration by Yan Dargent
In Poe’s story, the citizens of Rotterdam were alarmed when a peculiar ba...
Author Interview — Susan McCauley
How do I manage to finagle interviews with the world’s most interesting writers? That may remain among the universe’s most puzzling mysteries. In any case, I’ve done it again. I have the privilege of interviewing another author with a story in the new anthology Quoth the Raven. Let me introduce Susan McCauley.
Susan McCauley is a writer / director / producer / actress who fell in love with writing, theater, and film when she was eight-years-old. That passion inspired her to receive a B.A. in...
Author Interview — Sonora Taylor
You never know who will show up here at the sprawling complex of Poseidon’s Scribe Enterprises. I had the honor of interviewing another author whose story appears in the new anthology Quoth the Raven, a book that just launched today. Let me introduce Sonora Taylor.
Sonora Taylor has been writing for many years. She is the author of The Crow’s Gift and Other Tales, Wither and Other Stories, and Please Give. She is also the co-author of Wretched Heroes, a graphic novel co-written and illustrate...
Author Interview — Emerian Rich
This post continues my interviews of the fascinating authors who contributed to the Poe-based anthology Quoth the Raven. Allow me to introduce Emerian Rich.
Emerian Rich is the author of the vampire book series, Night’s Knights, and writes romance under the name Emmy Z. Madrigal. Her romance crossover, 
Artistic License, is about a woman who inherits a house where anything she paints on the walls comes alive. She’s been published in a handful of anthologies by publishers such as Dragon Moon Pr...
Author Interview — Tiffany Michelle Brown
Maybe you’re not sure you want to buy a copy of the just-launched anthology Quoth the Raven. You will, once you’ve read about the authors who contributed to it. Here’s the second in a series of author interviews. Let me introduce Tiffany Michelle Brown.
Tiffany Michelle Brown is a native of Phoenix, Arizona, who ran away from the desert to live near sunny San Diego beaches. She earned degrees in English and Creative Writing from the University of Arizona, and her work has been published by El...
Author Interview — Sidney Williams
The anthology Quoth the Raven launched today, and I just had the pleasure of interviewing an author with a story in that book, Sidney Williams.
Sidney Williams is the author of several novels including the recent Disciples of the Serpent, the short novel Dark Hours and the thriller Midnight Eyes. He’s also written the horror thrillers When Darkness Falls, Blood Hunter, Night Brothers and Azarius. Additionally, he wrote three young adult horror novels under the name Michael August, and he has...
