  Short Stories
This week: Tell Me a Tale to Remember Edited by: Shannon  
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Welcome to the Short Stories Newsletter. I am Shannon and I'm your editor this week.
Make sure you read all of this week's edition for your chance to win one of five merit badges!
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Tell Me a Tale to Remember
I've been told that my bookcase is ridiculous, but I think it's wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling goodness, chock-full of interesting people, exotic worlds, and infinite adventures. The shelves are loaded, so I stack books on top of books on top of books. There isn't much room left. The last crannie in the last nook will soon be occupied. What can I do to further indulge my obsession?
I considered the Barnes & Noble Nook, researched the Amazon Kindle, but have you seen the new Apple iPad? Did you know that thing holds thousands upon thousands of titles? And in color!
I usually have three (sometimes four) books going at a time. I keep several on my nightstand, a few on my end table, and at least one on my person at all times. When I'm traveling, I listen to audio books (audible.com is fantastic!), I subscribe to several magazines, including Tin House, The Writer, The Sun, and Writer's Digest, just to name a few, and I read them all cover-to-cover. I can't get enough of the stuff! The written word is my one true passion--my bone-deep addiction.
I generally don't go to the bookstore with a particular title or genre in mind. I walk through, browse at the jacketed stacks, and if a title or cover interests me I stop, flip it over and read what it's about. If it sounds interesting, I buy it (I've found some wonderfully obscure treasures this way).
As a child I loved the Winnie-the-Pooh books, Where the Wild Things Are, and anything by Dr. Seuss. I read everything I could get my hands on. Then when I was fifteen my family and I moved from Alaska to Montana, and the lady my parents bought their house from left behind paper bags full of books. It was like Christmas! As I rifled through the bags, one book in particular caught my eye. It was a thick, well-read paperback romance, its pages yellowed with age. A long-haired, shirtless man (Is that you, Fabio?) graced the cover. Anyway, I read it at night by flashlight, well after my parents went to bed. Oh, how delicious and exciting it was to read about all the naughty, grown-up things the characters did ... until I got caught. "What the heck are you reading?" my mom asked, flipping through the pages. "This is complete trash. Utter garbage! Where did you get this?"
Needless to say, I never got to finish that book (I think my mom had a ritualistic burning in the back yard--a burning that included each and every book found inside those brown paper bags), but it didn't matter; my imagination concocted the rest of the story.
In the book On Writing, Stephen King says, "So we read to experience the mediocre and the outright rotten; such experience helps us to recognize those things when they begin to creep into our own work, and to steer clear of them. We also read in order to measure ourselves against the good and the great, to get a sense of all that can be done. And we read in order to experience different styles.
"You may find yourself adopting a style you find particularly exciting, and there's nothing wrong with that. When I read Ray Bradbury as a kid, I wrote like Ray Bradbury--everything green and wondrous and seen through a lens smeared with the grease of nostalgia. When I read James M. Cain, everything I wrote came out clipped and stripped and hard-boiled. When I read Lovecraft, my prose became luxurious and Byzantime. I wrote stories in my teenage years where all these styles merged, creating a kind of hilarious stew. This sort of stylistic blending is a necessary part of developing one's own style, but it doesn't occur in a vacuum. You have to read widely, constantly refining (and redefining) your own work as you do so. It's hard for me to believe that people who read very little (or not at all in some cases) should presume to write and expect people to like what they have written, but I know it's true. If I had a nickel for every person who ever told me he/she wanted to be a writer but 'didn't have time to read,' I could buy myself a pretty good steak dinner. Can I be blunt on this subject? If you don't have time to read, you don't have the time (or the tools) to write. Simple as that. Reading is the creative center of a writer's life."
I read because I love it, but reading has definitely made me a better writer. If you don't "read widely," how will you know good writing when you see it? How will you know bad? How will you recognize either in your own work?
Anton Chekhov once said, "Don't tell me the moon is shining; show me the glint of light on broken glass." Ah, Chekhov. Amazing how he could make a simple 16-word sentence about descriptive writing sound so incredibly beautiful, isn't it? Now that's what I'm talking about!
Don't read something just because it's a classic or because it's on the best seller list (although you probably wouldn't be disappointed if you did)--read it because it interests you. If I pick up a book and it doesn't grab me in the first few pages, I put it back and move on to another. Finishing a rotten book (we've all done it) is torture. Torture! There are too many great books out there for me to waste one extra moment on a bad one.
So how do you know which book(s) to read? I told you my very scientific fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants method.  The other day I told my husband, "You should read this book when I'm done with it (The Collector). I think you'd like it." He said he might, but that he was still working on a book a friend of his loaned him ... back in 2009! He said, "I told him I'd read it. I feel obligated." I said, "You're reading the wrong book."
If you have to force yourself to open it--if you'd rather undergo a root canal without anesthesia than read one more dreadful page, you're reading the wrong book.
Now here's your chance to tell us about that one right book. Respond to this NL with your favorite passage (one paragraph or less) from your favorite book, and remember to include the title and author. All of your responses will be featured in next month's newsletter, but my five favorites will receive a READING merit badge ... and those who include a description of how reading has made them a better writer will receive a gift point bonus to boot!
I'll start things off by sharing one of my favorite passages from Truman Capote's In Cold Blood: "Except for taking off his boots, he had not troubled to undress. He had merely fallen face down across the bed, as though sleep were a weapon that had struck him from behind."
Brilliant!
I look forward to reading your entries. Good luck!
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| | Possession (18+)
In an asylum for the criminally insane, a young orderly discovers true possession...
#1028269 by W.D.Wilcox  |
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#1022376 by Not Available. |
And check out last month's Short Shots winners.
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I included a merit badge contest in last month's newsletter. To win one of five merit badges, readers were challenged to answer one of the following questions:
 What are 10 of The Office employees' character names (first and last)?
Identify two not-so-obvious but often-used examples of Office phraseology (hidden in plain sight within this newsletter).
What is Andy's nickname for Jim and its origin?
What is the name of the company The Office employees work for and where is it located (city and state)?
What is the title of Dwight Schrute's favorite television program?
And the winners of last month's MB challenge are:
 Job Well Done MB: Pepper 
Attention To Detail MB: No one  (the answer is: "That's what she said" and the very title of last month's NL itself, "Question." Dwight Schrute always says, "Question," prior to asking the question like a normal person.
Detective MB: James Heyward 
Travel MB: Than Pence
Science Fiction MB: Brooke Whittier
The following is in response to "Short Stories Newsletter (April 28, 2010)" :
James Heyward says, "Andy Calls Jim 'Big Tuna' because Jim brought a tuna sandwich for lunch on the first day that they worked together." Yay! That's exactly right, James. And because you are the first person to respond with the correct answer, you are the winner of the DETECTIVE merit badge. Congratulations!
Pepper says, "10 Employees of The Office: 1. Michael Scott 2. Karen Filippelli 3. Jim Halpert 4. Dwight Schrute 5. Pam Halpert 6. Andy Bernard 7. Stanley Hudson 8. Angela Martin 9. Oscar Martinez 10. Kevin Malone." Correct, Pepper! You win the JOB WELL DONE merit badge!
Fyn  says, The Michael Scott Paper Company, Scranton, Pa. Fun newsletter even if I do not watch The Office. I watch 24 ... that is some awesome writing." My mom LOVES 24 . I tried watching it a few times with her, but I got confused about whether I was watching 24 or The Terminator. I swear, that guy is indestructible. And thank you for taking the time to read and comment, fyn! At one point Michael DID open his own paper company (Michael Scott Paper Co. Inc.) in his own home, then he found out it was against his CC&Rs, so he moved it into a closet at Dunder Mifflin. The company didn't do very well, so Dunder Mifflin bought him out and gave him back his job. Sorry you didn't win a MB, but thank you so much for participating!
Joshiahis says, "Dexter? The cartoon series or the sci-fi series? I'm more a cartoon Dexter fan. Ten Employees of The Office: Michael Scott, Karen Filippelli, Jim Halpert, Dwight Schrute, Pam Halpert, Andy Bernard, Stanley Hudson, Phyllis Lapin-Vance, Angela Martin, Kevin Malone." Excellent work, L.D.! You are correct. Unfortunately someone else answered first, but thank you so much for participating! Oh, and I mean Dexter the Showtime series about Dexter Morgan (a blood spatter analyst by day, a vigilante by night).
Than Pence says, "The Office is set in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The name of the company is Dunder Mifflin Paper Company." Yay! Correct. You win the TRAVEL merit badge!
JACE  says, "The company's name is Dunder Mifflin, located in Scranton, PA. Is that good?" Oh, it IS good Jace, but unfortunately Than Pence beat you to it ... and only by eight minutes! Thank you for participating though!
Mark says, "I think if you examine most any enduring serial you will find characters that are ripe. One doesn't do it, a couple usually does, but what I always find interesting is that the lessor characters play an important role in revealing who the main characters are. Without them, the main characters are flat. Without Carla Tortelli, or Cliff Clavin, Sam Malone isn't Sam Malone. Without Michael Stivic, Archie Bunker isn't Archie. The action, dialog and circumstance that we witness these characters in is what makes them who they are. Lines mean nothing without the interaction. BTW: Oscar Martinez, Angela Martin, Meredith Palmer, Kevin Malone, Stanley Hudson, Ryan Howard, Pam Beesly-Halpert, Jim Halpert, Dwight Schrute, Michael Scott." I couldn't agree more. Thank you for participating!
newwriter  says, "Hi Shannon. The Office is hilarious! I've stopped watching it as much lately, but now I think I am going to catch up on the recent episodes after reading this newsletter. I'd like to enter your contest as well because I think Dwight's favorite television program is Lost. I hope I am the first one!" Hi, Matt! Dwight's favorite show is Battlestar Gallactica, but thank you for taking the time to participate in this week's Office challenge! 
Jeff  says, "Andy's nickname for Jim is Tuna (or Big Tuna). Great NL this week, Shannon! I love television characters. Some of my favorites currently on TV are Barney Stinson from How I Met Your Mother, Seeley Booth from Bones, Sheldon Cooper from The Big Bang Theory, Michael Westen from Burn Notice, Shawn Spencer and Burton Guster from Psyche, and Richard Castle from Castle. And boy, could I go on and on about beloved characters from television's past. " I have never seen any of those shows, Jeff! Heck, I've only heard of two of them. Seems I'm missing out, eh? And you are correct about Jim's nickname. Someone answered before you, but I appreciate you taking the time to participate!
Just an Ordinary Boo! says, "Nicknames. Hmm, was it 'Big Haircut' or 'Big Tuna'? He named Jim 'Big Tuna' because he ate a tuna sandwich on his first day at Stamford. After Jim gets a haircut, Andy announces that Jim's new nickname is 'Big Haircut' and not 'Big Tuna'. (I did not know that, jyo!  ) The phrases: "that's what she said" and ... ? And the company is originally the Stamford, Connecticut branch of Dunder Mifflin Paper Company, which merges with the Scranton branch, Andy is the only 'old employee'." Oh, you were SO close with the Office phraseology!  You are 100% correct: "That's what she said" is one, and the title of the NL itself, "Question", is the other. Dwight Schrute always says, "Question," prior to actually asking a question. I'm sorry you didn't win, but thank you so much for taking the time to respond to this week's Office challenge!
selo says"I've only caught bits and pieces of The Office, but television characters can be so intriguing and inspiring. Personally I think Hugh Laurie on House plays one of the most unique, interesting, and complex characters on all of TV. The entire cast is so well-rounded, but he seems to have no limit to how deep and mysterious he gets. His brilliant one-liners are only scratching the surface, and I adore seeing his intricacies every week." Yet another television program I'm not familiar with. LOL Sounds like I'm missing out on some great TV moments. Thanks for the feedback!
msdee says, "Hi Shannon. My submission for The Office characters is as follows: Michael Scott, Karen Filippelli, Jim Halpert, Dwight Schrute, Andy Bernard, Stanley Hudson, Angela Martin, Kelly Hannon, Kevin Malone, Pam Halpert. Company Name: Dunder Muffin, currently Scranton, PA." Thank you, DollyRae! I'm glad you enjoyed this week's newsletter. And although someone else responded to the questions before you, I very much appreciate your participation!
Venton says, "Although someone probably already won, the employees of the office work in the Scranton, Pennsylvania branch of Dunder Mifflin with a corporate headquarters in New York City. In addition, although I haven't seen alot of episodes, I know that Jim temporarily worked at another branch, though I can't recall which one." You are correct! Dunder Mifflin is in Scranton, Pennsylvania. You are also correct about someone else responding first. But thank you so much for participating!
Brooke Whittier says, "Dwight's favorite TV show is Battlestar Gallactica. Whoo-hoo! You are correct! Hope you enjoy that SCIENCE FICTION merit badge! 
EarlyHours-A Vigilante Ranger says, "Hi! Love the newsletter! Dwight Schrute's favorite television program is Battlestar Galactica! Keep up the great work!" It is! I'm sorry you didn't win a MB, but thank you so much for participating!
Christine Cassello says, "That was a long story to make your point, but you got it across. I will be asking myself when I watch my favorite TV shows or movies now, why do I like or dislike that character and how can I use that to help create mine." Thank you! I'm glad you found it helpful, and thank you for taking the time to read and comment!
Free_Rip says, "Hi, Shannon! Great newsletter I'm going for the travel badge. Dunder Mifflin Paper Company in Scranton, Pennsylvania." You are correct, but unfortunately someone else responded first. Thank you for playing, though!
Rahul says, "Well i agree to the part that character should be such that the person can relate to themselves and can believe them to be true so that they can hate or love him/her. But something in me tells me that the character should be a bit unique too so that reader is interested and thrilled in knowing more and more about him/her. Your views??" I agree ... but be careful. If the character is so far out there that he/she doesn't ring true, then the reader won't be able to suspend disbelief and quit reading altogether. Excellent point!
WistyOne says, "Good evening Shannon. I am forwarding my ONE answer from the questions posed in your newsletter about The Office: Dunder Mifflin, Scranton Pennsylvania. I am not a watcher of The Office, but after reading the newsletter, I think I should give it a whirl! Thanks so much! Great Job on the newsletter!" Ah, thank you, Wisty! I appreciate that, and although your answer is correct, someone else beat you to the punch. Thank you for playing my Office trivia challenge, though!
jaya says, "The name of the company: Dunder Mifflin Paper Company. Location: Scranton, Pennsylvania." That is the correct answar, jaya! And although someone else responded first, I appreciate you taking the time to participate in this week's challenge!
Lorien says, "Did I already miss out on the prizes? Eek! Here are my answers.
1. Michael Scott, Dwight Schrute, Pam Beesly, Jim Halpert, Andy Bernard, Kelly Kapoor, Creed Bratton, Stanley Hudson, Oscar Martinez, Phyllis Lapin-Vance.
2. 'That's what she said'
3. Andy calls Jim Big Tuna because when Jim started at the other office, he ate a tuna fish sandwich the first day.
4. They work at the Dunder Mifflin office in Scranton, Pennsylvania (although Jim briefly worked with Andy, Karen, etc.) at the Stamford branch.
5. Dwight's favorite show is Battlestar Galactica. ('Bears eat beets. Bears, beets, Battlestar Galactica.')" You are correct on all counts! The only thing you missed was one of the two aforementioned Office-isms. The title of the article itself, "Question," is how Dwight Schrute prefaces every question he asks rather than just asking it like a normal person. And although others responded before you, I very much appreciate you taking the time to particpiate!
LJPC - the tortoise says, "Here in Egypt we don't get The Office, so I haven't a clue what you're talking about. However, the general idea of the NL was great. It's too easy to write stereotypes because we know the reader will 'get' them right away. That's the lazy way. It's much harder and takes courage to come up with characters so bizarre that people scratch their heads and go, 'Huh?'. But it does lead to low rates." Oh, you're missing out girl! If you ever make it to the states you have an open invitation to come to my house for an Office party. Refreshments are on me.
scribbler says, "You should really try to look at more current TV before losing all faith. Sure, most of it is junk, but there are some gems. I highly suggest It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia and 30 Rock to anyone who likes The Office. And try the original British version of The Office (it's better)!" Most of it just seems to be such a waste of time. I mean ... it's time I could be reading or writing, but I suppose I don't mind sacrificing thirty minutes every now and then. Thanks for the info!
Thanks to everyone who participated in last month's Office challenge!
Submitted Items
| |  | Coin (ASR)
The story represented of two sides with two ways in two different dimensions.
#1668442 by Rahul |
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| ASIN: B000FC0SIM |
Product Type: Kindle Store
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Amazon's Price: $ 12.99
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Short Stories: May 26, 2010 Issue [#3703]
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