Writing And Waiting For Winter

November 30, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

Weather forecasters on local television are saying that over the next few days the Pittsburgh area could see snow.

The Old Soldier is mentally ready for snow.  After all, this is Pittsburgh in December.  When I was an innocent child, you could bet there would be snow on the ground in Pittsburgh by October.

And the beat goes on.

*****

Hello, my brother and sister bloggers, readers, writers and my Flash Fiction Fanatics.  I truly enjoyed my visit to the public library today.  I think I’ll work it into my daily routine, getting in a good walk at the same time.

*****

Today there are four short stories on the Home Page.  That seems to be the right number considering that the Home Page is made up of 20 postings.  So that will be the usual set up for the Home Page from now on.  One story will be mine and three will be from Guest Writers.

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.

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Celebrating The Public Library

November 30, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
newsweek-cover-blog

Image by FunnyBiz via Flickr

I wrote this post in my notebook in the main branch of the Carnegie Library which is in the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh.  I sit at a long wooden table in the Browsing Journals Room on the second floor.  It’s around 1:00 in the afternoon on a cloudy day of rain drizzle in Pittsburgh and the high will be only around 40 degrees.

I just got finished reading several articles in a Newsweek Magazine.

It’s nice and quiet here.  The lighting is good for reading.  The people in the library, the public and staff, speak in low voices when they do speak.

The Old Soldier has just reintroduced himself to the public library.  It’s a great place to hangout.

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.

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The Occupy Movement Steadies Itself For Winter

November 30, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
Occupy Pittsburgh

Image via Wikipedia

Charlie Rose had another awesome show on public television last night.  Part of the show was about the Occupy Movement in general and Occupy Wall Street in particular.  There is an Occupy Pittsburgh in this city.

Charlie interviewed two reporters from the mainstream print media who cover the movement.  The reporters agreed on several issues.

The occupiers would eventually lose all of their encampments, but that this would have the effect of freeing up their energy from defending ground to concentrating on their message.

That poll after poll shows that a whopping 75% of Americans agree with the message.

That the message is, corporate funders and Big Money have corrupted the American Democracy to such an extent that our government can no longer govern and that it has become unresponsive to the needs of the vast majority (99%) of the voters.

The reporters also agreed that whether or not the Occupy Movement is just a moment in time or goes on to play a role in representing the 99% who are not big funders, the issues that gave rise to the movement are not going away.

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.

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Read, Study And Write

November 29, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
 
The model is writing postcards

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Spank my bare bottom and call me a nudist.  The Old Soldier has a new saying: read, study and write.  It’s a motto that every writer can live by.

You have to read to know what good writing is.  You have to study to know how to write; and then you have to write to be a writer.

No, no don’t thank the Old Soldier.  Just get busy.

*****

Well, it’s after 11:00 AM and Charlie Rose is on public television and he is going to be interviewing a couple of people about the Occupy Movement.  So, I’m going to finish up and I will see you tomorrow.

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.

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Debbie Gibson And Blogging: Put Your Passion Into Words

November 29, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
Debbie Gibson

Image via Wikipedia

What are you passionate about?  Gardening?  Politics?  The environment?

A lot of writing skill goes into being the best blogger that you can be.  Every blogger wants an audience.  That’s why we blog, to connect with other people.  I would argue that if you are good at written language you will find an audience; but it will be the passion behind your words, your passion for what you blog about, that will allow the readership of your blog to grow.

For when we are truly passionate about a subject we want to learn everything we can about it.  Your readers will sense and appreciate this commitment to excellence.

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.

*****

How’s everyone doing?  The Old Soldier is at his workstation blogging away and beep bopping to a Debbie Gibson video on the local music television station.  Remember Debbie Gibson?  Whatever happened to Debbie Gibson?

Now she’s only in my dreams.

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Writing: Family And Friends Make For Great Fiction

November 29, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

It’s a fact of life that we writers know more about our families and friends than we know about anyone else (besides ourselves).

Every human being has flaws.  Writers have flaws.  Family and friends have flaws.  We writers, whether we admit it to ourselves or not, base a lot of our characters on our families and friends.  It’s almost impossible not to do it.

Now of course, fiction is not history or a documentary.  We fiction writers reserve the option to change things around.  I’m just saying that when you base a character on a family member or a friend, remember that real people have good and bad traits.  And unless you are writing a cartoon, your readers expect your characters to be real people.  That’s all I’m saying. 

So write about real people, that is if you want your work to be read by more people than just your family and friends.

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.

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Writing: You Must Nurture Your Talent

November 29, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
English: Alexx Shaw, freelance curator and writer

Image via Wikipedia

Nurture: process of bringing up or training, nourishment.

That is how my dictionary defines the word “nurture.”  And that is what every writer must do if he or she is serious about writing.

For a writer, talent is a good thing.  It is a necessary thing; but it is seldom enough.  A writer usually has to train hard and long to get good results.

What the Old Soldier is saying is, don’t take your talent for granted.  Nurture it.  Read.  Study.  Write.

*****

Hey, the Old Soldier has come up with a new saying: Read.  Study.  Write.

That my friends says it all.

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.

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Don’t Let All The Nudity And Sex Fool You

November 28, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

Yes, you will find lots of nude women on this blog.  Yes, you will find a lot of content that deals with sex; but this magazine is about a lot more than female nudity and sex.

Look around.  Be sure to look at the Home Page.  Look at the sidebar on the left.  Look at the tabs at the top of the page.  Look at the sidebar on the right.

Need I say more?

*****

Welcome to the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette, the online Playboy-like Magazine for bloggers and readers and writers of flash fiction.

This is the Old Soldier (Vietnam 1966) blogging near the University of Pittsburgh.  Keep reading and keep writing that flash fiction.

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You Are The Best Source For Your Own Fiction

November 28, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
The Cathedral of Learning as viewed from the F...

Image via Wikipedia

When I taught fiction writing as a graduate student (University of Pittsburgh) in 2005 to undergraduates, some of my students turned in stories full of far-out characters and exotic places.

The problem was that these students did not know such people and had never been to these places; and it showed in their work.

This is not to say that a writer cannot write a good story that is purely made up.

Just know that it’s the story that makes a good story; which means you can write a very good story about the kinds of people you really know and the places you really know about.

Write about what you know.

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.

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Your Work Will Look Great In This Magazine

November 28, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
The first issue of Playboy, published in Decem...
Image via Wikipedia

The Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette publishes fiction, non-fiction and poetry by guest writers.  That’s right.  This blog averages over 3,600 visits every month and that number is growing.  So, people will see your work.

At the top of the page are three tabs: Anything Goes is for non-fiction, Send Poetry is for poetry and Submissions is for flash fiction.

Even though I like to describe this publication as the Playboy Magazine for short story readers and writers, I publish lots of content that has nothing to do with sex.

*****

Hello, everyone.  The Old Soldier is watching the evening national and international news on public television.  Soon the Nightly Business Report will come on.

This is all part of the Old Soldier’s effort to stay informed so that the PFF Gazette will be a publication of wide interest; but first and foremost this is a publication about flash fiction.

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Photography: A Black Woman In Pantyhose

November 28, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

This Is Some Of My Old Photography Shot With A Disposable Camera In My Apartment

There are a lot of photos of women on this blog.  Some of the women are naked and some are not naked.  Some are famous and some are not famous.  Of course, the Old Soldier uses these photos to get more people to visit the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.  The photos bring in men and the photos bring in women.

Men and women seem to like the photos.  The photo included in this post is one of the most popular photos on this blog.

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.

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Writing: This Is How To Keep Your Creativity Alive

November 28, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

For a writer, the world is full of distractions.  There is the bad financial news about the Euro-Zone and gridlock in Washington.  There was the nuclear disaster in Japan and there is the control of the American Democracy by the 1%.  There are the sex and abuse scandals at different universities.

Often jobs, friends and family can also contribute to the distractions.

Let the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette help to keep your creativity alive with great fiction, tips on blogging and writing, commentaries on life and the world we live in and a celebration of sex and the nude female body.

My friends you can’t beat that with a stick!

*****

Hello, bloggers, readers, writers and my Flash Fiction Fanatics.  Today it will be cloudy in Pittsburgh with scattered showers and the high will be around 60.  The Old Soldier has a few cans of Old Milwaukee Beer left but there are not enough funds left from his Giant Eagle pension check for karaoke at Del’s on Friday.

What a pity.

Be sure to read the article “Eating A Woman” stuck to the Home Page.  The article will be there only for a few days.  You don’t want to miss it.  Yes, it’s around 8:30 AM and the blogging day has begun.  What adventures in writing will we explore together today?

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.

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Chillin’ At Sonny’s Tavren Before The Steelers Game

November 27, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

Some Of My Old Amateur Photography

It’s around 7:00 in the evening and the Old Soldier has some fish in hot olive oil in a pan on the stove and he has just come back from Sonny’s Tavern a few blocks away and he is waiting for the Steelers game which begins at 8:20.  Teresa ( I hope I spelled her name right) was behind the bar and Joy came in and Paul, one of the owners was there and Debbie, one of the bartenders, was there.  Matt also strolled in.  There were a few other people there too but I didn’t know their names.

Well the bar is small and across the bar Paul and I got into a discussion about the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.  He was skeptical of my claim that the majority of the readers of this blog are female, especially because of all the sexuality and female nudity here.

My argument was that women have no problem with sexuality and female nudity.  They like sex and it’s their bodies.  The blog celebrates female sexuality and nudity; but I think the main reasons that women like this blog is that it is serious about blogging and writing and life and events in the news and it does not put down women for their sexuality.

This blog celebrates female sexuality.  “Celebrates” is the operative word here.

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.  Your story does not have to be about sex.  It can be a literary, romance or mainstream story.

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Karaoke: Trying To Hold On Until Friday Night

November 27, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette

Medicare keeps taking money out of my Social Security check even though I’ve enrolled in the State Health Insurance Assistance Program which is suppose to reimburse me for what Medicare takes out of my SS check.  Well, the assistance program is a little slow on the draw so my Social Security is always short.

This situation has me trying to hold on to money for Friday night karaoke at Del’s Bar and Italian Restaurant in Bloomfield (Little Italy).

A flash fiction writer does not live by words alone.  I need my karaoke.  Well, the good news is the Department of Veterans Affairs sent me a letter saying it was moving ahead with my application for a military pension.

You can’t beat that with a stick!

*****

Now enough about the Old Soldier.  I will soldier on.  How are all my bloggers, readers, writers and my Flash Fiction Fanatics doing on this football Sunday?  

There is a new editorial change here at the Pittsburgh Flash Fiction Gazette.  I think from now on I’m going to stick three stories to the Home Page.  The stories will be changed periodically.  This should give my readers more exposure to the fine fiction on this blog.

And speaking of fine fiction, there is a Submissions tab for flash fiction at the top of the page.

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Corned Beef Brisket In The Crock Pot

November 26, 2011 — pittsburghflashfictiongazette
a slow cooker Oval Crock Pot

Image via Wikipedia

The Old Soldier tries so hard to eat less meat and to eat more vegetables; but today I broke down and bought some cooked salami for sandwiches, Haddock Fillets for a fish fry and a corned beef brisket.

The brisket is in the crock pot as I post this.  There is no need to add water since the brisket will make its own broth and the crock pot will retain the moisture.  The Old Soldier will have good eating later tonight and tomorrow.

If you do not have a crock pot and you decide to buy one, it will be one of the best investments you ever make.

Trust me on this one.

*****

The Submissions tab for flash fiction is at the top of the page.

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