Category: Writing

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On Writing

I don’t spend too much time writing about the way I write and why, but if I did decide to take a minute to analyze my work I would probably say I’m an unconscious writer. I’m sure you’ve heard writers talk about how the words just came to them. Well, I’m generally one of those … Continue reading On Writing

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Genre Hopping

I was perusing Freshly Pressed this evening when I came across a blog post that features an interesting question that I’ve never really thought about before, but also one that I want to explore. So, at the risk of being a copycat, I want to write on the same topic. Please forgive me if I … Continue reading Genre Hopping

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Dear E-mail

I love that Vincent guy

Dear E-mail;

I have been instructed that I need to use you more often for things that resemble letters that I must send out to my friends, far and wide. About fifteen years ago I used you in the form of AOL’s free month of service. I remember they had all these amazing chat rooms and things called groups that I could join. It made me feel like part of a community, and everyone had these really cute e-mail addresses that ended with @aol.com. Even cooler was if I sent another AOLer an e-mail I could leave off that last part and just send it to sensualkitty, or to newyork69. That made things tons easier.

And then in college I had that super-cool @temple.edu address that was pretty easy to remember too, even though that’s also when I started getting something called Spam. I didn’t know what it was at first. I mean, the people who sent it knew my name, and the sites I would visit most. It was almost like they were psychic. “Hey Sam!” they would start, but then there were things about erectile dysfunction and applying to distance learning programs instead of the personal e-mail message I thought I was getting from innocuous names like Cindy, Bill, and Jennifer. Continue reading “Dear E-mail”

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Sam McManus: Writer

Image of Sam McManus
Sam McManus: Writer

I know, it seems so obvious, but then again maybe it’s not. If you first met me on the street, or if we met at work, or if it was at a wedding, or heaven forbid a funeral, wherever we met, unless it was at a writer’s conference, or at my book signing (July 13th is right around the corner), you would have no way of knowing I was a writer. You would see that I’m tall, that I’m black, that I have short hair, that I’m sporting a mustache, and that I prefer wearing jeans, but your first thought probably wouldn’t be “writer.”

And that’s okay. I know why that is. Writers are a varied group of people who can look like ANYONE, and who can sound like ANYONE. We are short, tall, rich, poor, long-haired, short-haired, black, white, good speakers, bad speakers, and everything in-between, or outside of those labels. The point is that a writer can’t be labeled, so why would you automatically label me one if we first met? Continue reading “Sam McManus: Writer”