S. Craig Renfroe Jr.'s Blog, page 9

How Do I Cite My Comment on LiveJournal?

Did you know there's this thing called Twitter? I know! Right? Anyway, I don't tweet because I can barely semi-monthly blog and my facebook updates have become so obligatory I call my mom more often so I have room for the extra guilt for not facebooking.

Though I'm not a denizen of Tweetville, my friend Jeff pointed me to one that makes me want to join just to follow them: FakeAPStylebook. At Fake AP Stylebook you can find answers to all your unasked style questions and concerns. Here are j...

Sponsor Me in Dzanc Books Write-A-Thon

So I'm participating in the 2009 Dzanc Books Write-A-Thon which will take place December 17th through the 20th. I'll be writing for twenty-four hours over the write-a-thon. That's like a day. Though spread over four days, so not so crazy as writing for twenty-four hours straight which would probably result in my writing even worse than normal.

You can sponsor me by going here. You'll receive updates as to my progress. And I would be gratefully. And thank you.

For those that don't already kn...

How Many Poisoning Stories Can There Be?

So it's Thanksgiving break and I'm with my wife (formerly known here as Heather) visiting the in-laws. And we also visited one of my favorite places on earth: McKay's Used Media (or some such) where you take in the books your tired of and the cd's that no longer have any relevance whatsoever and they give you credit to get more books that you might one day tire of. I'm wandering the creative writing reference aisle, and I see this catchy title Howdunit: The Book of Poisons . It's part of the W...

Me on Necessary Fiction

So my story "Herman and the Elephant" is up at Necessary Fiction. It's about a kid named "Herman." And an elephant. Also, Steve Himmer is a killer editor--he brought the best out of the story.

Nikitas and The Long Division

Over the weekend, the ball and chain and I went to see the Queens production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was a fantastic show. So I'm thinking about Shakespeare. And thinking about as I grow older--now that I'm married I feel older already--I find myself liking Shakespeare. That seems insipid having written it, but before I'd have said, "Of course, I like Shakespeare" because...I mean, you have to like Shakespeare. But what I'm saying now is that I actually like Shakespeare.

Which br...

Me in NewPages

So there's a review of the Spring 2008 issue of roger: an art and literary magazine in NewPages. The reviewer Terri Denton says of my story "The Villain" that "its subtle humor ... brilliantly leaves you feeling just a bit uneasy." I love leaving people uneasy.

More importantly, of the whole issue she writes, "I smiled through every page, and was truly sad when I was done, though I know that I will go back to it again and again, and it will be as old novels, dog-eared pages indicating that...

Readings Not Included in the Wedding

So I got married to the lovely and talented Heather. And people probably thought we'd write our own vows being writerly types--no way, too much pressure, so we went traditional. But we did have ideas about readings. We ultimately decided against them for many reasons. Here are a couple I was advocating for:
From Jack Pendarvis's Awesome, one of the characters says: A few years later I said to Glorious Jones [his wife:], Remember when I rubbed pumpkin pie filling all over my face and nobody...

Me on Flash Fiction Online

So my story "Death Babies" is in the October issue of Flash Fiction Online. It's not what you think--no babies die...well, okay, one dies, but that is beside the point. The issue also includes great Halloween appropriate stories from Kristine Kathryn Rusch and Damon Shaw. And I'm overjoyed that the issue includes an essay from Poe and a story from Lovecraft.

Imaginary Movie

So I was talking to my friend Derek when naturally The Great Space Coaster came up. But he, like so many others, didn't remember a short cartoon where a husband (son?) pretends to be inanimate objects until he disappears into the clutter of the house. It freaked my young mind, but maybe I imagined this existential parable.

Which reminded me, I saw this movie when I was young…how young, I can't say…school-age…I've never left school, but younger than I am now.

I saw this movie…or maybe I imagin...

Chillax Badass

What do people think about the term "badass"? Still cool, right? Let's forgo discussing the relative coolness of using the word "cool." But badass still has some cache, even with the loss of the sting of taboo connected to "ass," which barely registers as a curse anymore. Much more cache anyway than the stillborn "chillax." Can anyone really use this word and not sound like an Arnold Friend-esque poseur or a poor deluded child?

(pictured two badasses chillaxing)