What Google Doesn’t Know About Matthew Schramka
Posted by David Duhr in 
(Schrammy, full knuckleball follow-through)
You’ve probably heard the call of the void. It’s what you might feel if you’re standing near the edge of a tall building and have the sudden, nearly overwhelming urge to jump. It’s not necessarily that you want to jump. It’s not a death wish. It’s more a “What would it be like? Feel like?” It’s a what-if.
An alarmingly tempting what-if.
For me, it comes with a dizzying rush. Whenever it happens I grab onto the nearest fastened object, shut my eyes, and squeeze.
In a journal of mine from almost exactly twenty years ago you’ll find this note: “A guy contacts all of his friends and family to meet him at a particular spot in front of a particular building at a particular time. They all arrive to discover each other, but he’s not there. They wonder what’s going on. Then the guy jumps to his death and lands among them.”
The call of the void, answered. read more
Micro Fiction Challenge: Famouser Last Lines
Discussion question: Using fifty words or fewer, write a line following the famous last lines of one, two, or all three of these beloved novels. read more
Micro Fiction Challenge: The Spiral-Cut Ham
Discussion question: Using fifty words or fewer, write a short story, scene, aphorism, snippet, etc., that includes the line “The spiral-cut ham was alright.” Write or paste your story into the comments. read more
Book Launch: Public Comment, by S.L. Jacobs
We’re excited to announce that S.L. Jacobs’s Public Comment is now available from Tucker DS Press. Book 1 in the Debra Wolfson series, the novel follows the murderous misadventures of Wendell Williams, a groundskeeper at the local golf course whose sociopathy just might remind you of someone we’re all familiar with.
His foil is Debra Wolfson, family-law mediator, local selectwoman, renowned cookie lover, and — as S.L. and I discuss in the Q&A below — originally a minor character who makes a brief appearance in Act III. read more
Book Launch! Don’t Never Give Up, by Rich Simms
Rich Simms’s debut novel, Don’t Never Give Up, is now available in e-book and paperback. In this week’s post, Rich and I have a wide-ranging conversation about the book’s origins, his experience writing and publishing it, and our shared love of the St. Louis/Southern Illinois region.
The first chapter and a half are available to sample at the link above! The e-book is only $1.99, and $14.99 gets you a hot-off-the-presses paperback. read more
Beckoned and Bound Bookary
A few weeks ago we asked about your ideal bookstore, and Lily McSweeney’s response was so charming and imaginatively detailed that I thought it was worth sharing in a blog post. Enjoy reading about Lily’s ideal bookstore, Beckoned and Bound Bookary. Share your thoughts — or your own ideal bookstore — in the comments below. read more
“Will Get Back Soon”: Stop Waiting, Start Writing
Discussion questions: What keeps you from telling your story? What’s your most vicious procrastination method? Would you ever hire a ghostwriter to tell your story on your behalf? If there were a film adaptation of your life, who would play you on screen? Let us know in the comments!
Writing Conferences: Free Margs, Costly Advice
Discussion questions: This week we’ve got a special treat for you: WriteByNight’s own David Bushman, renowned true crime author and founding editor and publisher at Fayatteville Mafia and at Tucker DS Press, reports to us from Killer Nashville.
So… writing conferences: Yes or no? Pros and cons? Your favorites and your least favorites? How about the silliest panel discussion you’ve ever attended? The most useful? Let’s talk writing conferences in the comments below! read more
Great Beginnings: Marlena
Discussion questions: Does the opening paragraph of Julie Buntin’s Marlena (below) make you want to read further? Why or why not? What kind of opening lines grab you, and what kind immediately turn you off? Let’s talk about it in the comments. read more
Writing Prompt: Why Read?
Discussion question: In a culture where visual entertainment is never more than a click away… why do you still read books? Is it for escapism only? Is it to keep up with what your fellow writers are putting out? Do you read because you believe those studies that say it makes us more empathetic as humans? Let’s talk about it below. read more
The Best Passage You Wrote in 2022
Discussion questions: What is the best thing you wrote last year? A line or passage that made you sit back and think, “Wow, I’m a talented writer!” And are you willing to share it with us? If so, copy/paste it in the comments below. Provide some context if you want, or let your words speak for themselves. Fiction or non, poetry or screenplay, even text message or email, let’s see an example of your best work of 2022.
Op-Ed: Everything Sucks
There’s a scene in Cormac McCarthy’s The Road where “the man” finds some slow-flowing water. In this dry and ashy post-apocalyptic landscape, it’s a potentially life-saving discovery. I pictured myself diving headlong into the water, splashing around and taking immoderate, choking gulps and probably screaming and peeing from the excitement and relief. But the man is more measured: “He got a cloth from the cart and a plastic jar and came back and wrapped the cloth over the mouth of the jar and sank it in the water and watched it fill.” Then he holds the water to the sunlight: “It didn’t look too bad.” The man and his son, “filtering the ash from the water,” drink until they’re full.
Nearly subconsciously I looked around for something to write with, wanting to scribble a note, something like “filter water through a cloth!”
It struck me then: Though I’d started this book out of obligation (Yak Babies group discussion, episode TK) and hoping for entertainment and escape, by the end I was reading for tips. For prep. You know, for the coming dystopia.
When The Road came out in 2006, the kind of future the man and his son roam through felt far off, kept away by a long line of horrifying but foundationally stable dominos.
Here in 2022 that future feels much nearer. read more