Book Recommendations: Read Plays

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

Inspired by a classroom visit this week to chat playwriting and the brightness of the students in the class (thanks for great questions), my book recommendations for this week are semi-books. They are published plays, which means they… Read More

Book Recommendation: Wonderbook

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

Wonderbook: the illustrated guide to creating imaginative fiction, by Jeff VanderMeer Full disclosure: I have not read Jeff VanderMeer’s fiction, though I’ve been meaning to read The Southern Reach Trilogy for years. His work, as I understand it,… Read More

Spooky Books and Some Advice

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

I know Halloween is over (there’s a decaying pumpkin at my front door, and probably a squirrel eating it), though I have enough candy in my house to help my short-term gratification problem and threaten my health and… Read More

Alchemy Quiz: Sheridan Acronym, Or Text Message Abbreviation?

What is your teenager talking about in text messages? What are we talking about at work? Which one should you be more worried about? Half of the items on the following list are Sheridan; half are TXT MSG… Read More

On Disagreement and Everyone Being Real

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

It pretty much goes without saying that these are difficult times. There is almost no direction to face in without seeing something appalling. There is a temptation to despair. Especially in the past week, I’ve been feeling the… Read More

On Being Done, and Other Excellent Unanswerable Questions

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

Q: Does your writing process look different for different genres? A: Yes and no. I always, always set myself a quota or a “to do” list in relation to the work of that day or that week. Often… Read More

Book Recommendation: Her Body and Other Parties, by Carmen Maria Machado

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

This short story collection is perfect for anyone who doesn’t like distinctions. It’s literary fiction that romps through horror, pop culture, and ghost stories, and revels in the strange, the grotesque and the just gross. I was fascinated… Read More

Announcing: The Fall CW&P 3×3 Screenplay Competition!

Sheridan is in search of very short screenplays that can be used by students in the new Virtual Production program!  If selected, your screenplay will get made by Sheridan students, and you can be involved in the process… Read More

Questions and Answers

Kate Cayley. Credit: Livia Ambrose

The question box has debuted, and there are questions in it. Heartfelt thanks to those of you who took the time. Keep at it. Nothing is too big, nothing is too small, nothing is too specific, and, because… Read More

Alchemy Announces the Fall 2023 WRITE LIKE A HUMAN Contest!

In 2011, after attending an annual Turing test competition, journalist Brian Christian wrote: “I think that while the first year that computers pass the Turing test will certainly be a historic one, it will not mark the end… Read More