Stephen J. Matlock's Blog, page 30
May 9, 2018
YeahWrite Super Challenge #8 Round Two Entry
Round Two Entry The Journey over the Mountains Group 1 Prompt: A picture of an open hand reaching out to a misty mountain background + the mandatory first line “Everything I had known was wrong.” Goal: Write a (max) 1000-word story that includes the image as an inspiration while also using the mandatory first line.… Read More »
April 28, 2018
Writing Between the Lines
It’s been a busy week for me. 1. Yeah Write entry turned in last week, with feedback this week (mixed!) and confirmation of entering the second round, starting last night at 7pm Pacific. 1000 words due Sunday at 7. I have two lines! 2. New York City Midnight Screenplay Challenge 2018 due tonight at 9pm… Read More »
April 18, 2018
A Review of “Bearfish: An Almost-History of Southern Livestock”
Wildly audacious and entertaining, and deeply disappointing I would give it five stars for its entertainment and creativity, and one star for its unsatisfying delivery. I truly loved the beginning of this book, which is the alternate history of the United States wherein a President Taft signs a bill to import hippopotamuses from Africa to… Read More »
April 10, 2018
She Who Made the Land Her Home–Now In Print!
My short story, She Who Made the Land Her Home, is included in the anthology “Take a Mind Trip: Book a Fantasy,” now available on Amazon as a paperback. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0985183381 At some point I’m sure it will be available in Kindle format. Enjoy!
March 5, 2018
She Who Made the Land Her Home
Well, surprise, I guess. I had thought this short story was rejected and was getting ready to shop it around to another publisher, but I misread the email I received about the story. Looks like it will be published after all. I would expect to see it sometime in the 2nd quarter of this year.… Read More »
February 18, 2018
The Collector of Dreams
We had a flash fiction contest this weekend, to write 1000 words using the prompt “collector.” I wrote this quickly, thinking about how we treat our children and families. Typically I don’t post my flash fiction as it either is just a work in progress or it is a story I am attempting to sell/market,… Read More »
January 23, 2018
Does White Privilege Exist?
Recently a sincere white American Christian male asserted that there is no such thing as white privilege, that white Christians have no obligation to inquire as to whether there is any such thing as white privilege, that people of color, sexual minorities, and others (including, I’d hazard, women) have nothing to complain about in the… Read More »
The Troublesome Word “Evangelical”
Evangelicals created the word to separate themselves from historic Christianity that they felt was too liberal. Now they’ve ruined Evangelical. I would identify as an Evangelical, having been raised as one and being one for 50+ years. But now, to associate the term “Evangelical” is to stain myself in scandal and moral antinomy. I call… Read More »
January 21, 2018
Public Reading of My Short Story “The Last Trip of the Pearl”
I’ll be reading my short story “The Last Trip of the Pearl” at the Black Dog Arts Cafe, on Friday, January 26th, at the Black Dog Arts Cafe in Snoqualmie, Washington.
January 17, 2018
Converting the Unconvertable
You cannot change someone’s mind through the presentation of fact. That presentation of fact happens later, after they are willing to be persuaded. What changes people is personal interaction and communication. So outside of any change of mind, connection with people can lead to a chance for a change in direction. It happens very, very… Read More »
