Kevin Singer's Blog

The horror world is full of tropes. That’s not a criticism. Not in my opinion. You can make anything old and done before work as long as you nail the basics: storytelling, writing, characterization. Those are more important than whether what you’re writing about has been done before. Undertone, a movie I recently watched, is […]

The challenge: write a short story in 20 minutes using the following: Characters: Deep sea diver and a disgraced teacher Genre: Young adult Setting: The Everglades Trope: It seemed like a good idea at the time POV/tense: 1st/present And the result: He calls me Huckleberry. I don’t think it’s funny. My name’s Finn and I […]

I’ve been on a classic lit kick for some time now. A big part of that is my utter disappointment with books published in the 21st century (with a few exceptions), which seem to either be written by and for fellow MFA grads, or focus too much in the particulars of identity with little regard […]

The challenge: write a short story in 20 minutes using the following: Characters: a fiery redhead, Conor McGregor Genre: family saga Setting: July 4th barbecue Trope: a distracting fake fight POV/tense: 3rd/past The result: “Who invited that asshole?” grandma asked. “Shush, mom,” her son David said. “I think Tina brought him.” “That no good daughter […]

Your life is an accumulation of choices you make along the way, small to large. Some you sense will be impactful. Others you have no idea. And then some things are beyond your control and they set you along a particular course. These things could be curses or they could be blessings. In a sense, … … Continue reading →

Where does artistic inspiration come from? There’s one theory on this for writers. Writers either draw inspiration from their inner worlds, or from the world around them. Why not both at the same time? For my story, Sueños, which was published here in the journal Empyrean, I used my own experience, and the outside world, […]

The challenge: write a short story in 20 minutes using the following: Characters: Haunted house historian, Dumb blonde Genre: Steampunk Setting: A church Trope: Curse of the pharaoh POV/tense: 3rd/future The result: Veronica Cespides will fume with hate for her hair. She’d gotten it dyed by a new woman in her salon, a woman who […]

Obsession is one of the most talked about movies in recent times. What’s left to say about it? I’ve got a couple things… First, the basics. Obsession is an indie horror movie written and directed by Curry Barker, produced for $750,000 that could hit a $300 million gross. Insane. The premise is straightforward and not […]

I’m a fan of short titles. One word is the ideal for me. The reasoning is, if you can boil the essence of your story into as few letters as possible, you’ve got some skill on display. So what explains this story of mine, The History of Value Shopping in 12st-Century America, which is probably […]

The challenge: write a short story in 20 minutes using the following: Characters: Long Island Real Estate Agent, Archaeologist Genre: Comedy Setting: Mount Vesuvius Trope: Talking animal POV/tense: 1st/future And the result: “You can’t go wrong. Seaside views. Beautiful ocean breezes. And look at these vineyards.” Loretta DiChiara will wave a manicured, overtanned, overjeweled arm […]