A Woman You Should Know: Elizabeth Gurley Flynn (1890-1964)

By Kelly Florence

George Grantham Bain Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Digital file no. cph 3a48983)

Elizabeth Gurley Flynn was a labor organizer, author, and speaker that traveled all over the country helping to organize workers into unions.  She traveled to the Iron Range in Minnesota to help organize miners in the strikes of 1907 and 1916.  She may have been considered controversial but her life and the time period in which she lived explains the differing views of her. Flynn was born in 1890 in Concord, New Hampshire.  She was of Irish descent and grew up aware of her ancestor’s struggles for freedom. She suffered from discrimination because of her ethnicity but her mother always made sure she was respectful of other people’s nationality, language, and religion. Growing up, she saw people’s struggles for better living and working conditions and for better education.  In one town where she lived she saw children, not much older than she was, having to work in mills to support their families.  Some of them were forever scarred or maimed because of the lack of safety regulations in the workplace. This had a tremendous impact on her.

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In Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning performance in his portrayal of Batman’s most notorious villain in The Dark Knight, he said, “As you know, madness is like gravity. All it takes is a little push.”

The film, the actor, and real life orchestrated a cacophony that sends a chill up my spine to this very day. When I used to run the ScHoFan Critique Group in the Greater Los Angeles Writers Society, I remember a time when I introduced a story with a suicide narrative. It was then that I learned how using the wrong language could trigger a negative response.

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Spaceship Design – The Miren Star

The Miren Star is the flagship of the Fortuna Corporate Fleet and a showcase of everything that the Fortuna Development Yards is capable of. It was designed to ferry the leadership and esteemed guests in over-the-top opulence. A large sailer, the ship can harness the energy of solar flares for interplanetary travel.

All spaceflight in The Northern Route follows newtonian physics. For the Miren Star, this means that the most practical layout is a stacked-deck configuration, somewhat like a skyscraper. Thrust gravity is utilized for guest comfort during voyages. All guest accommodations and leisure facilities are located around the ship’s center of mass so that any centrifugal forces are minimized when the ship reorients during flight.

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It’s that time of year again! So drink up your pitch-black coffee, get out your holiday shopping lists, and venture out into the cold, cold, world to buy your gifties for all your gruesome ghouls!

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A Night of Literary Horror: Hosting a Spooky Book Dinner Party

Now is the perfect time to host a horror-themed book dinner party. Your guests will love getting dressed up for the big night and you’ll enjoy playing the part of the charming, somewhat sinister host. 

Ensure that the night is a success by pairing spooky reads with an appropriately interesting menu. Consider planning some engaging activities, too, as this will get folks invested in the revelry and build excitement for a night of literary frights. 

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The Pros and Cons of Gore in Horror Fiction

When writing horror, there are several elements to consider in addition to setting, character, plot, theme, and conflict. For many horror writers, gore is often a topic of debate. Is there such a thing as too much of it? Does a story even need tons of bloodshed and brutality to disturb or frighten its readers?

In this post, I’m going to explore the pros and cons of adding gore — which includes blood, violent acts, and vile imagery — to help you decide whether to incorporate it into your own writing.

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Fear Fiction – The Branches of Horror

by Rachel Knightley

Twenty and a bit years ago, I was an English Literature BA student at the university where I’m now a visiting lecturer. Authors were not human beings like me, but grown-ups like my lecturers. Oh yes, and I didn’t like horror. 

Sure, I loved gothic literature: that was different. I loved nineteenth century novels full of literal and psychological ghosts, locked rooms, hidden histories, imprisoned wives, questions of identity and alternate versions of self. But horror? Horror was people’s limbs falling off. It was gore. And I was squeamish. So no, I didn’t like reading horror. And I certainly wasn’t going to write it either. Definitely not.

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GHOSTS WITH THE MOST!

Five tips to make your ghost stories truly haunting

With the evenings drawing in and a chill sneaking into the air, we’re starting to enter spooky season – that time of year when thoughts turn to the ghostly and supernatural and we can cosy up around the fire with a good book, a good audiobook or even a classic movie chiller.

Of course creating a great ghost story is no simple matter, and if you wanted to turn your hand to writing your own this winter, then here are five tips to help you develop a tale that will stay with your reader long after they have put it down..
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