But What About the Mouse?

The Night Before Christmas, one of the world’s most popular Santa Claus stories, prominently mentions a mouse in its opening sentence… but leaves it at that. Not satisfied with that ever-so-brief reference, cherylone decided to add some backstory to this holiday classic, and A Christmas Mice Story was born. We hope you enjoy this special…

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Tips on Managing Literary Influences

Are you nervous about letting your favorite authors color your writing? Don’t be! In this Online Writing Insider podcast (Tips on Managing Literary Influences), Pia Chatterjee and I discuss the issues surrounding literary influences- from plagiarism and intimidation and inspiration and progress. You’ll quickly find that there’s nothing to fear! This podcast is inspired by one…

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Smurf Smuggling

Carolus may be one of HubPages’ newest fiction authors, but he has already written several awesome fiction Hubs. Among them is Smurf Smuggling, a hilarious piece on the illicit and illegal transport and use of Smurfs. As an added bonus, Carolus created this recording of Smurf Smuggling– complete with awesome voices! I love what he’s…

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Theodore Shade

Though known primarily for his Emerland Wells Cafe series on HubPages (which has already been featured in the Fascinating Fiction podcast series), mckbirdbks also writes the occasional stand-alone short story.  One of these is Theodore Shade- a somewhat dark vignette that builds up an impressive amount of tension.  Have a listen! If you don’t have time…

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The Legend of Oomak

Early in September, we had a special two week long Halloween-themed Weekly Topic Inspiration session to prepare for the coming holiday. One of the Hubs shared during those weeks was Scary Halloween Campfire Tales: The Legend of Oomak by RedElf.  It offers a really fun scary story alternative to those fatigued by the typical cliches so…

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