The Writing Show 2006 Archives

If you've ever thought about becoming a technical writer, this is the show for you. This week, we get the straight scoop from two who've practiced the profession for a long time and love it.

In this comprehensive discussion, Vicki Davisson and Thomas Thompson explore what it's like to be a technical writer, including:

* What technical writing is

* What types of skills and educational background you need to do technical writing

* What sorts of personality traits good technical writers possess

* How tech writers learn about the technology they're writing about

* What working with programmers is like

* What makes for good technical writing

* What they do when they just can't understand the software they're supposed to be writing about

* What sorts of deadlines they face

* What sorts of conventions are involved in the writing itself

* What a tech writer's duties are

* How technical writing has changed over the years

* What it's like to be a contractor vs. being an employee

* Where you can get training

* How to get jobs in technical writing

* How technical writers are compensated.

"I was born in 1967, in Gary, Indiana. My father was killed by a stray bullet when I was just a baby, but my sister Nicole's father was like a phantom that no one would dare mention. Regarding Nicole's father, there was a rule similar to the military's "Don't ask, Don't tell." Our rule was "You better not ask, 'cause nobody's telling." That rule also applied to any inquiries about the reason for Nicole and me living with G-ma while our mother lived in an apartment across town.

My sister and I grew up without a real father figure until Mitchell came into the picture. And from the moment I laid eyes on him, I knew Mama was making a big mistake. A knot the size of my fist formed in the pit of my stomach when Mama strolled in G-ma's house and introduced Mitchell Donnovan as her fiance. Fiance? Hell, we hadn't even known she was dating somebody."

From Alethea Pascascio's debut novel, Bag Lady.

The cover of Alethea Pascascio's first novel trumpets "Abuse, secrets, lust, low self-esteem, lies, deception, molestation, rejection, unforgiveness." If that isn't a way to get a potential reader's attention, I don't know what is.

But these grabbers don't represent mere hype. This debut novel is as gripping as they come. Crack it open, and I guarantee you'll be mesmerized.

After being an avid reader for many years, Alethea Pascascio began writing short stories for her own enjoyment. That all changed after she told some of her co-workers about one of the stories. To her surprise, they all began urging her to write a book. After a few months of deliberation, Alethea penned her debut novel, Bag Lady, a story of redemption.

Alethea holds degrees in electronics engineering and telecommunications management. She recently became a full-time mother after ten years as an engineer with a major telecommunications company.

"Drawing on Dead Air was written specifically for The Writing Show's Halloween extravaganza. It is an experiment, put forward by the author, in which we can all take part as listeners. The author/narrator hopes that it will prove to be a fulfilling experience."

Welcome to day 7 of the 7 days of Halloween 2006. Today Stephen Studach reads his short story "Drawing on Dead Air." After the reading, Stephen joins us for a talk about writing.

Stephen Studach is a short story, novel, and screenplay writer based in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales, Australia. He focuses on speculative fiction of a dark cast.

Stephen has had works published in Australia, the UK, and the U.S., including a number of anthology appearances. His premier collection, Penumbra, was released in 1998; three of its stories have appeared on The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror recommended reading lists. In 2003 Paroxysm Press published his controversial novelette A Thing of Beauty as a chapbook. He was a finalist in the Australian Horror Writers Association's short story contest for 2006 with his tale "Rubber Monsters."

Stephen is also a published poet, book and cinema reviewer, and editor. He was co-editor of The Australian Horror and Fantasy Magazine, Australia's first ongoing horror zine. He has qualifications in film production and direction.

The idea of a radio show appeals to him because, in his own words, "I have a great head for radio. One day you might let me bring it in and show you it; floating there in its preservation jar. Pretty bubbles, pretty, pretty bubbles."

"Ray Kilworth, photographer, sets out to find a Cemetery Rose at the ghoulish Rookwood Necropolis in Sydney. Little does he know he will find far more than he bargained for: rare roses of unexpected kinds, including the rare Black Rose, and its supernatural guardians. His life will be irrevocably transformed by the encounter."

Welcome to day 6 of the 7 days of Halloween 2006. Today Leigh Blackmore reads his short story "Cemetery Rose," and then joins us for a talk about writing.

Leigh Blackmore is a writer, editor, manuscript assessor, and occultist who lives in Wollongong with his two partners, several cats, and a personal library of 15,000 volumes.

He published and edited (with B.J. Stevens and Chris G.C. Sequeira) Terror Australis: The Australian Horror and Fantasy Magazine from 1987 to 1992 and edited Terror Australis: Best Australian Horror. The MUP Encyclopedia of Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy says that his name is "now synonymous with Australian horror."

His weird fiction has appeared in the first two Agog! anthologies ("Uncharted" was a Ditmar nominee for Best Novella in 2003) and at various places online, including www.ligotti.net. He has contributed to many scholarly works on supernatural fiction including Supernatural Literature of the World (edited by S.T. Joshi and Stefan J. Dziemianowicz, Greenwood Press, 2006). He is a co-editor (with chief editor Benjamin J. Szumskyj) of the biannual journal Studies in Australian Weird Fiction and regularly contributes to the zine Mantichore. He deals out-of-print weird and occult fiction under the name Raven Books.

Leigh regularly lectures on magick and the esoteric mysteries in the Illawarra, and co-facilitates MoonSkin, a ritual working group, with his magical partner Margi Curtis; their regular column on matters magical appears in the internationally distributed magazine Spellcraft. Leigh's Yahoo discussion group on ceremonial magick, Aurora Australis Thelemic Temple, can be found at groups.yahoo.com/group/aatt. He is currently undertaking a BA Creative Arts (majoring in Creative Writing) at the University of Wollongong.

"Even the Great Old Ones need pepping up once in an age"

Welcome to day 5 of the 7 days of Halloween 2006. Today an ebullient Chuck McKenzie reads his short story "The Shadow Over Bexley" and then joins us for a talk about writing.

Chuck McKenzie was born in 1970, and still spends most of his time there. He writes stuff, and sometimes people publish it, which is nice. One day he may grow up and get a proper job. Or not. For more information, check out The Official Chuck McKenzie Infosite,the only infosite maintained entirely by NASA-trained chimps.

"Dark secrets are brought into the light when an ancient enemy returns to threaten the women of the Winters family. For struggling photographer Emily, mastering her hidden powers of witchcraft is not enough to protect the people she loves. Emily must decide who is friend and who is foe, not an easy task when the darkness lies not just without, but within as well."

Welcome to day 4 of the 7 days of Halloween 2006. Today Jason Nahrung reads chapter 1 of his first published novel The Darkness Within, which he co-wrote with Mil Clayton. After the reading, Jason and I talk writing.

Jason Nahrung works as a journalist at one of Australia's largest newspapers. In 2005 he shared the William Atheling, Jr. award for his coverage of speculative fiction. He is a member of Vision Writers Group and the Writers on the Edge. His latest published short story appears in Agog! Ripping Reads. His debut novel, a supernatural thriller called The Darkness Within, was written with his partner Mil Clayton when they were living two states apart. It is due out in early 2007 through Hachette Livre.

"Foreign correspondents Don and Rick are lured up Sikaram mountain, deep in Afghanistan's badlands, by the promise of an exclusive interview with one of the nation's most feared warlords. When an avalanche traps the two men in a bunker, their gruesome fight for survival begins."

Welcome to day 3 of the 7 days of Halloween 2006. Today Gary Kemble reads his short story "Feast or Famine." After the reading, Gary joins us for a talk about writing.

Gary Kemble has been published in Borderlands, Shadowed Realms, The Specusphere, Espresso Fiction, Ripples, The Devil in Brisbane (anthology), Cafe Doom, Dark Tales, and London at Dawn (anthology). He lives in Brisbane, Queensland, with his wife and son.

"Mr. Martin's aunt died on the gibbet, hung as a witch and left till she rotted. Why is the handle of his bell made from the wood of that gibbet? And why is he so terrified to ring the bell?"

Welcome to day 2 of the 7 days of Halloween 2006. Today Kaaron Warren reads her short story "The Gibbet Bell" and then settles in for a talk about writing.

The Grinding House, Kaaron's collection of horror, science fiction and fantasy short stories was published in 2005 by CSFG and will be released in North America in 2006. Kaaron has been writing since she was seven, and has produced about 150 short stories. She lives in Canberra, Australia, with her husband, her children, and a very old cat who, at least once, has had another cat die in his place.

What strange and deadly horrors lurk among fallen leaves down the back of this shadowy suburban yard? Come with Robert Hood as he investigates "Peripheral Movement in the Leaves Under an Orange Tree", though you may not survive what you find there!

Welcome to day 1 of the 7 days of Halloween 2006. Today Robert Hood reads his short story "Peripheral Movement in the Leaves Under an Orange Tree," which was first published in Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine. After the reading, Rob joins us for a talk about writing.

Robert Hood has been writing stories within the horror/SF genres for several decades. Among his books are the short-story collections Day-dreaming on Company Time (FIP, 1988) and Immaterial: Ghost Stories (MirrorDanse Books, 2002), as well as a number of novels. In 2005, he co-edited Daikaiju! Giant Monster Tales (with Robin Pen, Agog! Press), a unique collection of original stories from around the world inspired by the Japanese tradition of giant monster films (the book is now available in the U.S.). Two sequels are on the way.

Upcoming stories include, among others, monstrous tales in the U.S. anthology Monster Noir, the Dr. Who anthology Destination: Prague, Borderlands magazine, and the webzine Shadowed Realms, along with several nonfiction critical pieces. A new collection of horror stories is also on the horizon.

"I lifted the glass to my mouth, and slowly let the liquor slide over my tongue. My head was full of conflict. I knew right from wrong, but I told myself it would only be this one time and no one would ever know. My mom and dad, God and the church, my friends: I wondered what they would say. My mouth stung and my throat burned, but, as the alcohol filled my belly, I was overcome with a sense of relief. It was wonderful. It was a combination of pain and pleasure that I had never before experienced. All the fears in my head dulled as the warmth in my stomach grew. I felt incredible.

Nothing was ever the same after that night."

From The Lost Years: Surviving a Mother and Daughter's Worst Nightmare by Kristina Wandzilak and Constance Curry.

Imagine becoming an alcoholic at age 13 and losing your teen years and beyond to substance abuse, homelessness, and worse. Then imagine the havoc that life wreaks upon your family. This week, we talk with a mother and daughter who lived through that nightmare and found strength and redemption on the other side.

Kristina Wandzilak has worked in the chemical dependency field since 1994 as a counselor and interventionist. In 1998, she opened the doors of Full Circle Intervention with the vision of bringing respectful intervention to families in need. She is an international speaker and well-known expert on drug addiction and intervention.

Kristina's mother, Constance Curry, is a businesswoman and educational speaker on the subject of addiction and family recovery. She started the first women's golf tournament to raise money for the children's center at the Family Service Agency. She has been in co-dependency recovery for many years, studying and trying to understand the disorder that took over her life and the lives of those she loves.

The Lost Years is a brave story about personal disaster, recovery, forgiveness, and redemption. Highly recommended by The Writing Show.

Please join us for this moving interview, in which Connie and Kristina discuss:

* What happened to them

* What went wrong in their lives that led to these things happening

* How they decided to write the book at all, and how they came to write it together

* How they sparked their memories

* How their editor helped them pare down their manuscript and write a tight, focused story

* How the people they mention feel about being in the book

* How they feel about baring these difficult, private facts about their lives

* What they wish had made it into the book

* What they've learned from writing and promoting the book.