Conference with Andy Duncan

June 29, 2004

I still felt pretty lousy after having an equally lousy story critiqued, so I was initially a little apprehensive about my conference with Andy. He started out by telling me that he liked my stories, especially "Uncle Snuffy on Doomsday." He said they were for the most part clear, clean stories about people we care about. "You clearly have the ability," he said. I think I exhaled right then and there for the first time all day. He also said that today's story was my most ambitious one.

One thing he liked about "Uncle Snuffy" was the Southern humor, citing the works of Manly Wade Wellman, Howard Waldrop and Christopher Rowe. (Wellman's works cite actual arcane Southern books, while most other writers just make them up.) "Southern stuff is not so common, but write it. Most editiors will happily look at it."

Even "flat" characters are important. You need a well-populated neighborhood. He gave me some other things to consider in making "Uncle Snuffy" and a couple of other stories stronger.

Again, I felt more encouraged after this conference. Sitting down with Andy was sort of like sitting on the back porch in some small Southern town, sipping lemonade and watching an occasional passing car stir up dust on a dirt road. Very relaxing and very encouraging. I feel better now.