That moment when your editor gives you an extension on your short story deadline, not because you asked for it but because it happens to work better for his production schedule — and you were ready to make the original deadline work but you’re relieved as hell to have the extra time.
#amwriting
This week marks filmmaker Roger Corman’s centennial (April 5, 1926). I share a little bit in my blog about my earliest memory of Corman’s work and his impact on American film in the latter half of the 20th century.
jcbruening.com/roger-corman...
#RogerCorman #independentfilm
This guy essentially owes his existence to a mistake in public perception, and yet he’s figured out a way to stick around for 95 years. My blog post about the hasty, somewhat backward origin of “that Shadow character.”
jcbruening.com/a-shadow-tak...
#TheShadow #pulpheroes #pulpfiction
After several weeks of researching and wordsmithing, the 3K-word magazine article (3,335, to be exact) is in the hands of the editor. Tomorrow I dive back into the other three or four projects that are due in May and June.
#amwriting #writinglife
Mail call! The complete television series (119 episodes, 1959-1963) on DVD. This is actually part of some research for a writing project that will get into high gear later this year. (Sometimes the research can be the most fun part.)
#TheUntouchables #RobertStack #EliotNess #classicTV
The first installment of my interview with Grace Ximenez has been posted on her Pulp Underground discussion forum. This was a lengthy but fun Q&A.
#writing #amwriting #writinglife
pulpunderground.proboards.com/thread/503/i...
It’s been a while since I’ve tossed this one out to the #writingcommunity, but what’s everyone working on this weekend?
Me: A novel, a couple short stories, a magazine article, some editing, a blog post that will go online in a couple days.
You: ???
#writing #amwriting #writinglife
Flinch Books, the small press I co-founded, will be a sponsor at this year’s ShortCon, a one-day conference in Alexandria, VA, for writers of short crime fiction. To register for the June 6 conference, follow the link below.
www.eastcoastcrime.com#/
March is International Small Press Month. Show some love to the smaller and lesser-known publishers that are operating outside of the mainstream to create engaging and entertaining books that deserve your support.
#NationalSmallPressMonth #smallpresspublishing #indiepublishing #amwriting
“Bye Bye Blackbird” was written 100 years ago by Ray Henderson and Mort Dixon. It has since become a jazz and pop standard that’s been reinterpreted by hundreds of artists. Check out the link for a bit of musical history.
jcbruening.com/the-long-goo...
#ByeByeBlackbird #jazz #GreatAmericanSongbook
This weekend I’m writing about a 100-year-old jazz standard, a writer who turned pseudoscience into a cottage industry, and a masked hero who takes on an army of giant robots. If you’re looking for some kind of thread to tie all that together, don’t bother.
#amwriting #writingcommunity #writinglife
Question for the writers as we head into another weekend: Are you generally more productive during long stretches of extreme weather, or do things like crippling cold temps or suffocating heat and humidity tend to shut you down?
#amwriting #writingcommunity #writinglife
I’m a little late to this party (it originally aired on Hulu in 2016, but I’m watching it on Netflix), but I’m three episodes in and really enjoying it. I already want to read the 2011 novel by Stephen King (who was one of the executive producers).
#11.22.63 #StephenKing #JamesFranco
Born 120 years ago today (January 22, 1906): Pulp writer Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan the Barbarian, Kull the Conqueror and other fantasy heroes. This month also marks the 30th anniversary of the REH biopic, THE WHOLE WIDE WORLD.
jcbruening.com/hollywood-ho...
#RobertEHoward #TheWholeWideWorld
Every day. All of us. Preferably toward a better place.
#MartinLutherKingJr
I’ve registered for ShortCon in Alexandria, VA, again this year. Looking forward to connecting with other short story writers, and hearing presentations by Stacy Woodson, Michael Bracken, Gary Phillips, Art Taylor and Michele Slung.
#ShortCon #ShortCon2026
Novelist, short story writer and journalist Jack London, born 150 years ago today on January 12, 1876. His well known quote about inspiration has always been a motivator for me (and yeah, an inspiration too).
jcbruening.com/celebrating-...
#JackLondon #callofthewild
Good question. I’d say the closest thing I have to a strategy (if it’s a strategy at all) is best summed up in one of the last lines of the blog post: Roll up my sleeves, put my head down, lean forward and go.
Table has been purchased. The 2026 edition of this event (now in its fourth year) will likely be the largest yet. If you happen to be up in the NE corner of Ohio (or up in the NW corner of Pennsylvania) at the end of April, stop in and say hello.
#writing #amwriting #indieathor #smallpresspublishing
I’d say the novel is the highest priority (because it’s late), but the deadlines for a lot of what’s on that list are in the first half of the year, so the months from January to June will be a sprint.
First week of 2026, and the to-do list is already crowded. One writer’s plans for the new year.
#amwriting #writingcommunity #writinglife #FlinchBooks
Happy New Year!
#NewYearsDay #NewYearsDay2026 #HappyNewYear
About six hours left in 2025.
#NewYearsEve #NewYearsEve2025
12/21/25
Winter solstice.
#WinterSolstice #WinterSolstice2025 #Winter
@writerjimbeard.bsky.social and I recap ten years of Flinch Books in the latest installment of @tlayhew.bsky.social’s Suit Up! podcast.
#FlinchBooks #SuitUpPodcast #smallpresspublishing #indiepublishing #amwriting
Gil Gerard (1943-2025)
He’s made the jump to light speed and he’s out on the edge of the cosmos now.
#GilGerard #BuckRogers
Jane Austen, born 250 years ago today on December 16, 1775. English author of six novels that have rarely (if ever) been out of print in the 200+ years since they were first published.
“I was quiet, but I was not blind.”
#JaneAusten #BritishLiterature
Joe Ely (1947-2025)
Not a good week in the entertainment business (and it’s only Tuesday).
#JoeEly
The slow, incremental process of setting up my new office space took a leap forward this past weekend. Behold my new desk, courtesy of IKEA (and an assembly instruction book consisting entirely of pictograms and not a single word of English or any other language).
#writing #amwriting #workspace
Rob Reiner (1947-2025)
An enormous talent in film and television, on both sides of the camera.
#RobReiner