October 2005
LOCK THOSE DOORS
"I'm not exactly writing about writing this time because, recently, it seems that every time I turn around a writer or editor of my acquaintance is suffering from severe computer and/or Internet frustration." (More.)

November 2005
GROWING IN THE FAITH
"I'll bet few writers around these parts have read things they've written in the past and not yelled "PHEW! YUCK!" loud enough to frighten their children (or their neighbors' children) slap to death." (More.)

January 2006
ALL YOU DO TO ME IS TALK, TALK...
"Just over a decade ago, I wrote a story ('Petey in La-La Land') that featured two characters whose dialogue I patterned after a couple of quirky fellows I occasionally worked with." (More.)

March 2006
BILGE
"I consider every story, every novel, every piece of prose I write an exercise with a lesson to be learned somewhere in the process." (More.)

April 2006
THE SHORT OF IT
"At RavenCon, in Richmond, VA, this past weekend, I took part in a panel discussing whether short stories should be considered the building blocks of a writing career or a dead end for someone striving to become a professional writer." (More.)

May 2006
THE HIGH WIRE
"There are day jobs and then there are day jobs." (More.)

June 2006
SHORTCUTS TO OBLIVION
"This one goes out to all you writers of scary stories who are just dying to get that inside track to publication." (More.)

August 2006
SHADES OF INTENSITY
"A good many years back, I was an intense little kid, seemingly much moreso than all the kids around me." (More.)

September 2006
TROPOPHOBIA?
"When is the last time you went into the kitchen; spent most of a day preparing an exquisite dinner, complete with salad, side dishes, a fabulous entree, and a luscious dessert; arranged it all meticulously on your finest china; and then before serving it, threw three-quarters of it in the trash can?" (More.)

October 2006
THE FUGUE DEVIL
"I figured for this month's Halloween treat, I'd post an excerpt from my mostest favoritest of my tales, 'Fugue Devil,' written in 1991, based on the most terrifying nightmare I ever had a kid." (More.)

November 2006
COMMITTED
"If you write for money, you know what it’s like waiting for the check to arrive." (More.)

December 2006
THE LITTLE THINGS
"And then there's that old adage about dealing with life’s pressures that goes, 'Don’t sweat the small stuff.'" (More.)

January 2007
TARGET ACQUIRED
"Since James Joyce came up in several comments over the last few days, I thought I might mention here that, back around 1978, he was damn near responsible for getting me booted out of college lit class." (More.)

Stephen Mark Rainey is author of the novels Dark Shadows: Dreams of the Dark (with Elizabeth Massie), Balak, The Lebo Coven, Blue Devil Island, and The Nightmare Frontier; the short story collections Fugue Devil & Other Weird Horrors, The Last Trumpet, Legends of the Night, and Other Gods; and over 80 works of short fiction. He achieved questionable infamy and absolutely no fortune as editor of Deathrealm magazine, and has edited the anthologies Deathrealms, Song of Cthulhu, and Evermore (with James Robert Smith).