New House Call Drop-Box

And A Quiz Coming Next Week

Thank You to Levi for This Remarkable Portrait of Egg

My Photo Does the Painting No Justice

It really is superb. Worked into the image are the words “Egg Forever.” It will always hold a place of pride wherever we live, probably alongside the watercolor Kerri sent me of Egg in 2021(?). And the exquisite drawing by Cheap & Crass.

If you want to explore “Vertical” in a story, an animal is almost always pure Vertical, i.e. emotion. “It made the children laugh and play to see a lamb in school.” A pet makes even the worst psychopath seem relatable. Whether it’s true or not, we want to believe the story of the Turin horse. We might not care about callow Holly Golightly, but we can’t look away when the cat is lost. And while Lt. Ellen Ripley is no Audrey Hepburn, she’s still saving the cat.

Also note, in every Amy Hempel story the animal creates the verticality. The gorilla expresses the emotion the narrator cannot. Or the dog does, or the cat.

When you meet someone who’s carrying flowers or a baby, or walking a puppy, you’re hooked by emotion. When the mouse dies in Of Mice and Men or The Green Mile, it’s pure vertical.

Here’s the New Place to Post Links for a Possible House Call

As before:

• Do not offer up your solid-gold story idea. At most offer up a scene or chapter or passage, but never risk putting up something worth stealing.

• Make sure the link works. If I hit a firewall, that’s where I stop.

• Make the writing sample as clean and clear as anything you’d send an editor. I’m not here to correct spelling errors, nor do I want to showcase something that might embarrass you.

• You might use AI, but how’s that going to help you learn or experiment? Or even have fun? To date, I’ve never seen anything written by AI that’s been well plotted — or even slightly plotted. If it smells like AI, I’m going to look for a different sample.

• If your sample looks good I’ll contact you in private, at your site, and we’ll discuss what works well and what could work better.

• When looking for a sample I’ll consider how often each writer has offered feedback on earlier House Calls. There’s nothing more tedious than a writer who only shows up to workshop when he/she has work to share.

• Any questions? Ask me in the Comments, please.

A Big Added Bonus This Week

The author Eric Larocca made horror history with a short novel called Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, and his newest novel goes on sale Tuesday, March 24th. On that day I’ll post a Q & A with Eric, and Eric will return the favor by asking YOU a question. A horror-based question, that is. The first person to answer the question — again, horror related — correctly, will win a copy of the book and a letter from the author.

The new novel is Wretch, and Brian Evenson calls it, “… a chiaroscuro masterpiece that captures the nature of what it means to be longingly, abjectly human.”

For now, post your samples for a possible House Call. Come Tuesday, be ready to put on your thinking caps and win a book.