CLICK TO TAKE THE SURVEY

This week’s survey:
What’s your favorite type or genre of book to read? Multiple answers okay.

I’m entering a short story competition for the first time in many years. It’s being held by the Hunterdon Libary System (LINK HERE), primarly through the main branch where I conduct workshops. I also run an adult writers group at the Clinton, NJ, branch. I don’t think it’s appropriate to share more than an excerpt before the competition (and I’m honstly not invested in winning – this is just me doing something I haven’t done since my 40s or earlier). You CAN listen to the audio version at the link above.

It’s called ‘God’s Teeth,’ and it’s about a woman who’d had a lifelong belief in God, only to see it shaken after the death of her husband. It’s one of my favorite stories, and I hope you’ll enjoy it. Once the contest is over in November I’ll offer the entire piece.

GOD’S TEETH 

Miriam had always believed in God. His presence in her life had been a fact since she was a small child barely able to speak. She remembered looking up from her crib—she could not have been more than a year old—and seeing his face shimmering in front of her as he looked down and smiled, showing his magnificent teeth. She’d made the mistake of telling a friend about it once in high school, and the girl had laughed at her, saying it was her dad or her uncle or big brother she’d seen. There could be no other explanation. Miriam said, No, it was God, and her friend asked how she would know the difference when she was only a baby then.

“I just knew,” she said. “I knew my father’s face, and my uncle’s face and my brother’s face, and this was not it. This was bright and . . . what’s the word? . . . luminous, self-luminous, illuminating. It made its own light, his face, and the smile was so big I was part of it, like it covered me, and I reached up —”

“This is pretty detailed for a baby’s dream,” the friend said.

TAKE THE SURVEY HERE

I’m inviting people to let me know which workshops they might be interested in taking, then I’ll arrange them online via Zoom, or in person. I have a wonderful workshop space available to me in Lambertville, and I’m more than happy to offer these in other venues (libraries, private spaces, and even homes!). If you’re interested in one or more workshops, just fill out the survey, provide your name and email, and look for something as soon as October. – Mark

Fiction Writing Essentials
They’re Alive! Creating Vivid Characters
Self-Publshing with KDP (Kindle Direct Publshing)
2-Hour Autobiographical Journaling Introduction

Join co-hosts Mark McNease and Rick Rose in this post-Provincetown recap. We talk drag, the Cracker Barrel uproar nobody cared about, and enoy another great review from Emma Zoe Lyons.

Narration provided by Wondervox.

By Mark McNease

I’ve written in several genres, formats and mediums over the years. Each has its own requirements, expectations and parameters: short stories, novellas (generally under 40,000 words), novels, poetry, screenplays, television scripts, and stage plays. For now let’s focus on some working definitions for genre fiction, nonfiction, and biography/autobiography.

For that past 15 years I’ve written primarily mysteries, thrillers, and some horror/supernatural fiction. I’ve also written countless blog posts, columns and articles, but that’s for another day and would require more words than most people want to read on this, so let’s narrow it down. Note that a lot of these apply to the genres in any form: movies, stories, TV shows, books  and more.

Horror

Horror is designed to evoke fear, dread, and a sense of the uncanny. Horror as a literary and cinematic form explores the boundaries between safety and danger, reality and the supernatural. There are also degrees of horror, from the everyday to the gruesome, from blood splatter to something simple but startling. We can be horrified without being repulsed.

FICTION WRITING ESSENTIALS
Thursday, October 2   10:00 AM – 12:00 PM  Via Zoom
REGISTER HERE: 2 Hour Fiction Writing Essentials October 2 | October 02, 2025

THEY’RE ALIVE! CREATING REALISTIC CHARACTERS
Thursday, October 9   10:00 AM – 12:00 PM  Via Zoom
REGISTER HERE Character Creation: They’re Alive! Creating Realistic Characters | October 09, 2025

SELF-PUBLISHING WITH KDP (KINDLE DIRECT PUBLISHING)
Thursday, October 16 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM Via Zoom
REGISTER HERE 2 Hour Self-Publishing Workshop (with KDP / Kindle Direct Publishing) (copy) | October 16, 2025

TAKE THE SURVEY

Which animal friend would you most like to share your life with or already do? Mulitple answers okay.

Dogs
Cats
Birds
Fish
I don’t like animals
Other (list below):
Which animal not listed would you like to share your life with or already do?

Narration provided by Wondervox

By Mark McNease 

I’ve always had a stubborn refusal to admit experiencing this dreaded thing called writer’s block. I worry that confessing to it reveals a certain creative weakness, even though I know that’s not the case at all. It sounds too much like a wall, or some obstacle I can’t overcome. I’ve preferred to use words like “stuck” to refer to the state I find myself in when I can’t get past the next plot point, or figure out where to take a story, or what the central building blocks are of something I’m writing.

At the same time, when I take out my trusty egg timer, set it to 45 minutes and start typing, something always comes out. It could be the outline of a next chapter, or story notes, or even working on a character biography in an attempt to understand why someone is killed in service to the story, and who killed them! Lately that’s been one of my biggest problems: until the last couple of books I always knew who the killer was and why the murder was committed. Now I find myself repeatedly stuck. But is this a self-fulfilling prophecy? Am I unable to move forward because I tell myself I can’t? And how do I get out of it? Let’s take a look at this thing called writer’s block, this goblin, this bogeyperson who always seems to be lurking in the doorway waiting to keep us from walking through.

I’ve attended Act 2 Books‘ Flemington Book Festival twice in the past few years, and this year they’re offering something special: Scary Story Fest, for authors in the horror and supernatural genres. I’ve written a few books myself under the name M.A. McNease (it’s my initials, not really a pen name), and I’ll have a booth among the tombstones. I’ll also be able to promote my writing workshops, as well as the audiobooks for A House in the Woods, narrated by Daniela Acetelli, and A House in the Woods 2: The Devil’s Due, narrated by my own Wondervox

It’s been a nice boost, too, for finishing Spellbound, the second book in my duology that began with I, Warlock: The Warlock Wars Book 1.

It’s my favorte time of year, in one of my favorite locations, offering books in my favorite genres (after mysteries, of course). Hope to see you there!

Yes, we’ve been married for 12 years! We’ve been together for almost 19. This is for my husband Frank, all the memories, and the adventures yet to come. – Mark

Welcome to a new feature at LGBTSr, and big thanks to Rick Rose and Emma Zoe Lyons for sharing this here as well as at The Twist Podcast. Reel Talk with Emma Zoe Lyons’ is Emma’s insightul and often delightful reviews and analysis of movies, TV, documentaries and more. This week she talks with Rick about the PBS documentary ‘It’s You I Like’, a look at the venerable and beloved children’s television icon Mr. Rogers.

About the documentary:

“Mister Rogers: It’s You I Like pays tribute to Fred Rogers and the nearly 900 episodes of the children’s television program. Hosted by award-winning actor Michael Keaton, enjoy memorable segments, archival performances, and lots more!”