tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post914128406825000189..comments2024-03-27T23:53:59.771-04:00Comments on SleuthSayers: Open Your Heart and BleedLeigh Lundinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-41694375682994846262019-10-09T19:26:00.257-04:002019-10-09T19:26:00.257-04:00Unknown, you might first with to join the SMFS'...Unknown, you might first with to join the SMFS's Yahoo Group: https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/Shortmystery/info<br /><br />On the other hand, if you're Paul Sholtz from Australia, I think you figured it out before I noticed your comment to respond.<br /><br />Thanks for your comments, Vicki!Michael Brackenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01072019804281421944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-12648237120341563052019-10-09T10:42:40.911-04:002019-10-09T10:42:40.911-04:00Hi, Michael! My heart bled for you not being able ...Hi, Michael! My heart bled for you not being able to say good bye. Obviously, very traumatic for you as you use this in your writing. I tend to use people aren't what they seem in my theme.Vicki Batman, sassy writerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13846704675542248648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-30927103012452759592019-10-09T00:17:34.549-04:002019-10-09T00:17:34.549-04:00G'day. Wanting some info on joining the FB SMF...G'day. Wanting some info on joining the FB SMFS group. I've applied several times, but I don't know how to turn FB completely to public. I'm not a bot (checks, no, not yet anyway).<br />I'm not a writer, but a reader of short mysteries from AHMM and EQMM Magazines.<br />Would love to chat with others who also read. Short fiction only.Mystery Loverhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07211853586401525953noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-85154126190700500352019-10-08T21:30:00.876-04:002019-10-08T21:30:00.876-04:00Leigh, sometimes a memory—good or bad—is best left...Leigh, sometimes a memory—good or bad—is best left as a memory.Michael Brackenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01072019804281421944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-11435658963229561512019-10-08T21:05:57.458-04:002019-10-08T21:05:57.458-04:00My grandmother used to hum a sad, sad song, After ...My grandmother used to hum a sad, sad song, After the Ball. For some reason Vickie's and your story makes me think of it.Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-5628927333105242082019-10-08T20:54:49.494-04:002019-10-08T20:54:49.494-04:00As your article opens and queries writers' the...As your article opens and queries writers' themes, I was thinking of what James Lincoln Warren said about my work. And then, as I continued reading, the poignancy of your early relationships seemed far more personally significant.<br /><br />I'd like to think Vickie figured it out and I bet Yvonne knew. Wow, those are touching. Kids don't know what they're doing to begin with, and boys have such trouble opening at the right moment. It's amazing we survive at all.<br /><br />How would you feel about contacting them now?<br /><br />Shrinks say people tend to repeat bad relationships– alcoholics, abusers and users– in an unconscious effort to get things right the next time. Maybe some smart writers work it out on paper to make things right.<br />Leigh Lundinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07921276795499571578noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-10576027021802721702019-10-08T16:15:57.283-04:002019-10-08T16:15:57.283-04:00Robert, "Chase Your Dreams" is a clear e...Robert, "Chase Your Dreams" is a clear example, and one of the the best examples, of how the theme informs my stories, and thanks for remembering it!<br /><br />You're right, Paul, about how themes seep into our work, and it's only when we look back at what we've written that we begin to realize how often some themes recur.<br /><br />Eve, I hadn't noticed that about Steinbeck...but it's been quite a while since I read any of his work.<br /><br />Janice, O'Neil, thanks for your comments.Michael Brackenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01072019804281421944noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-49881766393724626132019-10-08T11:10:18.141-04:002019-10-08T11:10:18.141-04:00Funny thing, Michael, is when I was reading your p...Funny thing, Michael, is when I was reading your piece I immediately thought of your story "Chase Your Dreams," another about lost love. <br /><br />It is interesting to think about recurring themes. In my early writing years a lot of my stories involved threats to or actual violence to old men. Don't know what that was about. Eventually I wrote as story in which the old man did the killing and that seemed to have ended that pattern...Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-30523315740217522062019-10-08T10:57:58.300-04:002019-10-08T10:57:58.300-04:00Occasionally the Blogger software decides it hates...Occasionally the Blogger software decides it hates someone and won't let them comment. This happened to Josh Pachter today. This is what he tried to write: <br /><br /><br />Josh Pachter I tried to comment on SleuthSayers, Michael, but for some reason the system wouldn't let me. (Have I been exsleuthmunicated?) Anyway, this is a powerful piece. Thanks for sharing these personal stories and thoughts!Robert Loprestihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08844889305615182897noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-25714011985775467532019-10-08T10:45:49.524-04:002019-10-08T10:45:49.524-04:00Oh, old heartbreaks last a long time. Did anyone ...Oh, old heartbreaks last a long time. Did anyone but me ever notice that in almost every novel Steinbeck wrote, a man (usually a minor character) can never forgive himself for (inadvertently) causing a woman's death by not getting her to a hospital soon enough? We keep trying to work it out.Eve Fisherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03015761600962360110noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-88938056841199639732019-10-08T08:10:41.149-04:002019-10-08T08:10:41.149-04:00I think it's hard for us not to revisit certai...I think it's hard for us not to revisit certain themes from our lives in our stories, Michael. They just sort of seep in, even if we're not consciously aware of it.<br /><br />And congratulations on your story/stories in the Best American Mysteries series.Paul D. Markshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15466234708772287399noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-47750074199666028292019-10-08T07:42:03.460-04:002019-10-08T07:42:03.460-04:00Lot to think about here. Heartaches. Like the Will...Lot to think about here. Heartaches. Like the William Faulkner quote, “the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself which alone can make good writing because only that is worth writing about, worth the agony and the sweat.”O'Neil De Nouxhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03142721824657611738noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3119105822589181967.post-88636970064485671942019-10-08T07:41:59.031-04:002019-10-08T07:41:59.031-04:00Wasn't it Freud who said that lies ( ie fictio...Wasn't it Freud who said that lies ( ie fiction for us) were more revealing that truth? You are absolutely right, good stories reflect our lives even if they are in a certain format, whether genre mysteries or sonnets.janice lawnoreply@blogger.com