Drunken Pen Writing Podcast

Classic Reading #1: Ulalume By Edgar Allan Poe

Written in 1847 by Edgar Allan Poe, this poem takes place on a night in the "lonesome October" with a gray sky as the leaves are withering for the autumn season. In the region of Weir, by the lake of Auber, the narrator roams with a "volcanic" heart. He has a "serious and sober" talk with his soul, though he does not realize it is October or where his roaming is leading him. He remarks on the stars as night fades away, remarking on the brightest one, and wonders if it knows that the tears on his cheeks have not yet dried. His soul, however, mistrusts the star and where it is leading them. Just as the narrator calms his soul, he realizes he has unconsciously walked to the vault of his "lost Ulalume" on the very night he had buried her a year before.

Unlike Poe's poem "Annabel Lee", this poem presents a narrator who is not conscious of his return to the grave of his lost love. This reveals the speaker's dependence on Ulalume and her love; his losing her leaves him not only sad but absolutely devastated and, by visiting her grave, he unconsciously subjects himself to further self-inflicted anguish. The poem has a heavy focus on decay and deterioration: the leaves are "withering" and the narrator's thoughts are "palsied". Like many of Poe's later poems, "Ulalume" has a strong sense of rhythm and musicality. The verses are purposefully sonorous, built around sound to create feelings of sadness and anguish. The poem employs Poe's typical theme of the "death of a beautiful woman", which he considered "the most poetical topic in the world". Biographers and critics have often suggested that Poe's obsession with this theme stems from the repeated loss of women throughout his life, including his mother Eliza Poe, his wife, and his foster mother Frances Allan.

The identity of Ulalume in the poem is uncertain. Poe scholar and distant relative Harry Lee Poe says it is autobiographical and shows Poe's grief over the recent death of his wife Virginia. Scholar Scott Peeples notes that "Ulalume" serves as a sequel to "The Raven". Poetically, the name Ulalume emphasizes the letter, a frequent device in Poe's female characters such as "Annabel Lee", "Eulalie", and "Lenore". If it really stands for a deceased love, Poe's choosing to refer to Ulalume as "the thing" and "the secret" do not seem endearing terms. In one possible view, Ulalume may be representative of death itself.

If you want, you can read the poem at https://drunkenpenwriting.com/?s=ulalume

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BOTM #4: Tower Of The Dead

For October's Book Of The Month we review Tower of the Dead by Ray Wenck. Here's a synopsis of the book:

"Five years after the still-unexplained event that altered the world, killing millions, the residents of what is now known as Tower Island, go about their lives with an uneasy, but confident feeling of safety. The zombies, or 'crits' as they have become known, are no longer a danger to the community, thanks to the efforts of Captain Evan Stewart and his troops. But something strange about the crits recent behavior has him on edge. Though the crits are massing near the gate, they make no effort to gain access to the island.

Attending a party in the elite Tower, a twenty-six story apartment complex, Evan notices muzzle flashes near the perimeter gate on the causeway leading to the island. Fearing an attack, he attempts to contact his troops, but finds the breach has reached to the island, crits are roaming the streets. Unable to reach the island defense forces, Evan tries to get to the ground to lead the fight, but discovers the Tower is already overrun. Unarmed, with thousands of somehow organized crits between him and escape, Evan must find a way to lead the tower residents to safety. As the muzzle flashes of his troops diminish, he realizes the battle is lost—no help will be coming. With the tower overrun, Evan decides there is only one way down. They must descend the tower from the outside."

We had a lot of fun reading this book and recommend it to all fans of the zombie genre. If you want to check out this book or more of Ray's work, you can find him at www.raywenck.com

You can also follow him on Twitter @RayWenck

Or check out his Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/authorraywenck/

#36: Classic Short Horror Stories You Must Read

We talk about movies for the first ten minutes of this episode, but after that, we get into a great discussion on some classic short horror stories that we think everyone should read at least once in their life. Then we end the episode with some brainstorming on how to branch out on social media by starting a DPW Instagram account.

If you want to read some of the stories mentioned in this episode, head on over to https://theweek.com/articles/458068/9-classic-horror-stories-read-right-now

Or you can check out the growing number of horror classics at DPW by going to https://drunkenpenwriting.com/category/classic-literature/classic-horror-stories/

You can also follow us on Twitter @drunkpenwriting

Or check us out on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/drunkenpenwriting/

#35: How To Write A Good Sex Scene

We start the episode off with a quick discussion on outrage culture getting people fired from their jobs, then we go into a great conversation about how to write good sex scenes. We break things down in a fun way by describing the right—and wrong—ways to write a sex scene.

If you want to check out the article that this episode is based on, you can read it at https://drunkenpenwriting.com/2017/05/25/lets-talk-about-sex/

You can also follow us on Twitter @drunkpenwriting

Or hit us up on Facebook at www.facebook.com/drunkenpenwriting

BOTM #3: The War Of Art

For our newest Book of the Month review, we are covering The War Of Art by Steven Pressfield. We also discuss a few other wacky topics, briefly talk about our current projects, then end things with a few announcements. 

Check us out at www.drunkenpenwriting.com

Twitter: @drunkpenwriting

Facebook: www.facebook.com/drunkenpenwriting

DBS #11: 25 Of The Best Modern Comic Book Writers

Spencer starts to get itchy if we don't discuss comic books for a while, so we take a laid back approach in this episode as we talk about 25 of the best comic book writers from the last 25 years.

If you want to check out what we've been up to, head on over to www.drunkenpenwriting.com

You can also follow us on Twitter @drunkpenwriting

Or check us out on Facebook at www.facebook.com/drunkenpenwriting

#34: When Can You Call Yourself A Professional Writer?

We decided to have a short, relaxed episode for a change. So instead of a long educational episode or one breaking down our favorite books and movies, we take things easy and have a simple discussion on what we think makes someone a professional writer.

If you want to check out our work you can head on over to:

www.drunkenpenwriting.com

Twitter: @drunkpenwriting

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drunkenpenwriting/

DBS #10: Giveaway And Movie Talk

It's giveaway time! In this Drunken Bullshit episode, we go over the rules to our giveaway, which is a sweet vegan leather DPW journal. We also discuss John Travolta, go into some hot movie takes on IT Chapter 2 and Doctor Sleep, and cover a few other random topics. But here's what you came for!

If you want to enter the giveaway you have three options:

1. Send us a funny name for Spencer. We give Spencer a funny name every week using alliteration. Such as "The Manitoba Mauler" or "The Babbling Brute of Baghdad." Just make sure to use a real city, state, or country in the name.

2. Send us a flash fiction story on any topic or theme of up to 500 words. 

3. Send us a funny name for Spencer and a flash fiction story to double your chances of winning.

We're keeping things simple and pulling names out of a hat. If you send us a funny name you get your name entered one time into the hat. If you send a flash fiction story you get three names entered into the hat. And if you send us a funny name and flash fiction story, you get your name entered FOUR times in the hat. That's four whole chances to win the sweet DPW journal!

You can DM us funny names on Twitter @drunkpenwriting or on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/drunkenpenwriting/

DO NOT SEND US FLASH FICTION STORIES ON TWITTER OR FACEBOOK

You can send your flash fiction stories in the body of an email by going to our contact page at https://drunkenpenwriting.com/contact-us/

You can also send your funny names, or funny names and flash fiction together in an email. This would be most preferred.

We will let the giveaway ride out until we have a decent number of submissions. We will announce the winner on the podcast as well as contact the winner privately.

#33: How To Write A Good Story

In this episode we have a special guest, Ash Caton from the Ear Read This Podcast, and he helps us go over the essential rules of how to write a good story. We also break out into a few ridiculous discussions about classic writers, Ernest Hemingway fighting Orson Wells, and the weird differences between England and the US.

If you want to read the article this episode is based on, head on over to http://www.aaronshep.com/youngauthor/elements.html

You can check out the Ear Read This Podcast on:

Podbean: https://earreadthis.podbean.com/

Twitter: @earreadthis

Instagram: @earreadthis

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/earreadthis/

If you want to check out our work you can go to www.drunkenpenwriting.com

Twitter: @drunkpenwriting

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/drunkenpenwriting/

#32: Going African

Our white American ignorance shines extra bright in this episode as we cover ten of the best African writers and their amazing work. We also have a discussion on the differences between African fiction and American fiction, cultural appropriation in literature, and how writing has become somewhat segregated as of late.

We struggle to pronounce some of the names on this list so you should definitely check out the article at https://theculturetrip.com/africa/articles/the-top-10-contemporary-african-writers-you-should-know/

You can also check out our work over at www.drunkenpenwriting.com

Follow us on Twitter @drunkpenwriting

Hit us up on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/drunkenpenwriting/

And if you enjoy the podcast please feel free to donate to help keep the lights on by going to https://drunkenpenwriting.com/about/donations/