All writing advice should be taken with a grain of salt, because what works for one person may not work for another. But I do like what Hemingway says about writing “one true sentence.” (I also like what Joyce Carol Oates says, that Hemingway was only able to sit in the cafes of Paris drinking wine and writing because his wife was back in the apartment taking care of the baby.) Here’s the quote from Hemingway:
Sometimes when I was starting a new story and I could not get it going, I would sit in front of the fire and squeeze the peel of the little oranges into the edge of the flame and watch the sputter of blue that they made. I would stand and look out over the roofs of Paris and think, “Do not worry. You have always written before and you will write now. All you have to do is write one true sentence. Write the truest sentence that you know.” So finally I would write one true sentence, and then go on from there. It was easy then because there was always one true sentence that I knew or had seen or had heard someone say. If I started to write elaborately, or like someone introducing or presenting something, I found that I could cut that scrollwork or ornament out and throw it away and start with the first true simple declarative sentence I had written.
Hope to see you at DragonCon! August 28 through September 1, 2025, in Atlanta! This is my TENTATIVE schedule (everything is tentative at DragonCon until 5 minutes after it happens). I will be updating this post throughout the con itself. I am very proud to be on panels and events this year on the Horror, Urban Fantasy, and Writer’s Tracks.
Thursday 7:00 pm: Dark Academia, Chastain 1-2 Westin Our panel will take a deep dive into this fascinating and very popular literary subgenre, where magic practitioners of various types with often differing goals operate within schools, libraries, and other academic institutions. Panelists: K.A. Linde, Diana Peterfreund, Darrell Z. Grizzle, Mari Mancusi, Carol Malcolm(M), Ingrid Seymour.
Three of my favorite Dark Academia novels
Friday 11:30 pm: Scary Tales and Spooky Music, Chastain 1-2 Westin Our popular event returns: authors reading scary stories with musical underplaying by Charming Disaster, who will then play a short concert afterwards. Panelists: Charming Disaster, Darrell Z. Grizzle, Leanna Renee Hieber, Beth Dolgner. RESOURCE: My 99%-true ghost story “Knock Five Times” is in YAY! ALL QUEER, an anthology of queer fantasy and urban fantasy.
Saturday 2:30 pm: A Cozy Conversation About Cozy Horror, Peachtree 1-2 Westin The term “cozy horror” has gained traction in literary circles in recent years. But what is cozy horror? Let’s find out as we explore the emerging genre’s quiet menace. Panelists: Darrell Z. Grizzle, Jessi Ann York(M), Clay Gilbert, T. Kingfisher, Leanna Renee Hieber, Bill Bridges. RESOURCE: My cozy horror story “Monsieur Marais at the Puppet Museum” is in the new anthology EFFIGIES AND INCANTATIONS, edited by D.C. Phillips.
Saturday 4:00 pm: She’s Alive! The Bride of Frankenstein at 90, Peachtree 1-2 Westin Director James Whale’s “The Bride of Frankenstein” turned 90 years old in 2025. We’ll celebrate this milestone for the classic Universal Monsters film. Panelists: Crystal Cleveland(M), Cash the Composer, Darrell Z. Grizzle, Bill Bridges, Mark Muncy.
Saturday 10:00 pm: The Other Side of the Veil: Ghosts & Spirits in UF, Chastain 1-2 Westin Ghosts and spirits in Urban Fantasy take many forms and have a variety of goals and purposes. Our panel will discuss those they employ in their work, as well as others they admire. Panelists: Delilah S Dawson, Darrell Z. Grizzle, Beth Dolgner, Leanna Renee Hieber, Ashley Poston, Carol Malcolm(M).
Sunday 10:00 am: The Haunted Mind: Mental Health Through the Lens of Horror, Peachtree 1-2 Westin Our panelists will look at how mental health is portrayed in horror literature: the good, the bad, and the scary. Panelists: Brent Abell, Nat Cassidy, Jessi Ann York, Erika Lance, Darrell Z. Grizzle, Bill Bridges(M). RESOURCE: How Horror Movies Taught Me Empathy, a TEDx Talk by Mark Gunnells
Sunday 11:30 am: Out of the Ashes: Queer Stories in the Apocalypse, Chastain G Westin Explore the vibrant presence of queer representation in apocalyptic media! This panel celebrates uplifting LGBTQ+ narratives, authentic characters, and the resilience of love and identity amidst chaos. Dive into the stories that prove hope and humanity shine brightest in the darkest times. Panelists: Birma Gainor (M), Laura Smith-Brese, Deborah Ulmer, Daniel Alexander Lyman, Darrell Z. Grizzle. RESOURCE: My queer Appalachian apocalypse story “Ephriam” is in WE BITE BACK: A Queer Charity Anthology to benefit the Human Rights Campaign.
Sunday 1:00 pm: Bringing the Scary: Crafting Monsters, Embassy EF Hyatt What makes a good monster? Our panelists will delve into this topic and discuss the types of monsters, whether human, animal, or supernatural – how to create them, and how to make them scary. Panelists: Trisha J. Wooldridge(M), Darrell Z. Grizzle, Tony Sarrecchia, Tamsin L. Silver, Jason Cordova, Madaug Hishinuma. RESOURCE: My werewolf story “Need to Know” is in DON’T ASK, GHOSTS TELL: An LGBTQ+ Horror Anthology.
DragonCon 2023 is in the books, and it was awesome as always! I was on five panels and one reading event, on the Horror, Urban Fantasy, and Writers’ Tracks. By Friday night I sold all the copies of Lonely Hollows: 15 Tales of Folk Horror and most of the copies of I Never Meant to Start a Murder Cult that I brought with me. Here are some pics and some highlights of the con:
Here I am with Victorian gothic author extraordinaire, Leanna Renee Hieber. We were on a Folk Horror panel together on the Horror Track, and we both read from our stories in Lonely Hollows at the late night Friday event on the Urban Fantasy Track, “Spooky Tales and Haunting Music.” This is the Folk Horror panel (L-R): Darrell Z. Grizzle (Moderator), Leanna Renee Hieber, Kenneth Hite, Violette L Meier:
I got to attend author readings from friends and fellow authors Charles Gannon and Clay Gilbert. Both reading events were awesome!
I was very happy to be on the Dark Academia panel on the Urban Fantasy Track (L-R): Carol Malcolm (Moderator), K.N. Lee, D.R. Perry, R.R. Virdi, J.M. Paquette, Darrell Z. Grizzle:
Here I am, getting ready to moderate the Edgar Allan Poe panel on the Horror Track (L-R): me, Gail Z. Martin, John Hartness, Jessi Ann York, and Sarah Black from my favorite Victorian gothic metal chamber ensemble, Valentine Wolfe:
And here are pics of me as Macabre Coffin Ken (wearing my Barbie movie shirt!); me signing books after the “Spooky Tales and Haunting Music” event (my cap says Ghosts Are Real); and a pic with Michael Varnum getting our morning coffee at Buffalo Bayou Coffee, next door to our hotel during the con.
More pics: with another of my favorite authors, Gail Z. Martin (who also writes MM romance as Morgan Brice); attending a panel on the Diversity Track; and giving blood in the annual Robert A. Heinlein Pay it Forward Blood Drive.
I was especially happy to be a blood donor since this is the first year I’ve been eligible to donate.
I was truly honored when my friend Carmen Acevedo Butcher wrote about me recently in her blog. Carmen is an author, teacher, poet, and award-winning translator of spiritual texts. I fell in love with her dynamic translation of the Middle English classic The Cloud of Unknowing when it was first released back in 2009. Carmen wrote about our friendship in her blog post, Red Dirt, Rilke, & The Sidney Psalter:
“Thankful for these poets, I reflect. I also do not consider myself writing alone but in the company of others, readers and writers, present and past, connecting these diverse strands: Grizzle, Rilke, VanderHart.”
This is the first time I’ve ever been mentioned in the same sentence as the poet Rainer Maria Rilke! I’m grateful for my community of readers and writers, past and present, a literary “cloud of witnesses” that enrich my life as well as my writing efforts.
I’m looking forward to reading Practice of the Presence, Carmen’s upcoming translation of the classic text from 1692 by Brother Lawrence. You can pre-order it here.
Shadow Haunted 