![\"Connolly](\"https:\/\/lawrencecconnolly.com\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/Connolly-Wytovich-Arnzen.jpg\")
<\/a>Sorry. Couldn\u2019t resist the alliteration, but it\u2019s as good a way as any to summarize this month\u2019s events.<\/p>\nThe Madness<\/strong><\/p>\n That’s madness<\/em> of the fun variety, of course. Earlier this week I joined\u00a0Raw Dog Screaming Press<\/a> authors Stephanie M. Wytovich<\/a> and Michael A. Arnzen<\/a> for a reading at Rickert & Beagle Books<\/a>. That\u2019s the three of us on the left, standing beneath the store\u2019s Horror sign (although it does seem as if Mike is actually standing beneath the\u00a0Mental Health sign).<\/p>\n Stephanie opened the reading with the poem \u201cDaddy\u2019s Little Grave Digger,\u201d from her new collection Mourning Jewelry<\/em><\/a>. It\u2019s the second time I heard her read it, the first being earlier this summer at the Pennsylvania Literary Festival<\/a>. At both readings I was impressed with her ability to deliver the poem in a tone that conveyed both a sense of dread and whimsy. Great stuff.<\/p>\n She also read excerpts from last year\u2019s Bram Stoker nominated Hysteria: A Collection of Madness<\/em><\/a> and a few new poems \u2013 indicating that a new collection may be on the horizon.<\/p>\n Titled \u201cA Check-Up for Mr. Bangles,\u201d the story about a father performing a medical exam on his daughter\u2019s toy is at once creepy and hilarious.<\/p>\n This weekend I\u2019ll be teaming up with Duane Davis (long-time bassist for the Laughrey Connolly Band) and Lauren Connolly Moore for a show under the big tent at Riley\u2019s Pour House<\/a>.<\/p>\n As always, we’ll start with ballads and build to a raucous finale.\u00a0The show will run from 8:00 to Midnight, and the weather looks like it\u2019s going to be perfect for an outdoor show.<\/p>\n Really looking forward to this one!<\/p>\n The Mannequins<\/strong><\/p>\n This month\u2019s Storytelling Night at Riley\u2019s<\/a> will feature our first thematic double bill:\u00a0Mannequin Tales and Back to School Adventures.<\/a><\/p>\n We’re currently taking advance signup for storytelling. If you have a story about mannequins or a memory about returning to school, we\u2019d love to add you to our growing roster of storytellers.<\/p>\n Please note, your stories do not need to include both themes. For this event, we’ll be presenting two sets of stories on a double-bill program reminiscent of the heyday of drive-in cinema.<\/p>\n Please check out some of the stories featured on our previous storytelling nights The Writing Life<\/a>, Stories from the Theatre, and Midsummer Night Stories<\/a>\u00a0for an idea of what we’re looking for.<\/p>\n That\u2019s a summary of the big events for this month. Updates coming soon.\u00a0Until then, scop on!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Sorry. Couldn\u2019t resist the alliteration, but it\u2019s as good a way as any to summarize this month\u2019s events. The Madness That’s madness of the fun variety, of course. Earlier this week I joined\u00a0Raw Dog Screaming Press authors Stephanie M. Wytovich and Michael A. Arnzen for a reading at Rickert & Beagle Books. That\u2019s the three […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"single-cat-21st-centuryscop","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[694,8,693,698,700,25,691,692,410,690,260,701,250,50,699,697,695,696],"class_list":["post-5588","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-21st-centuryscop","tag-brainstormer","tag-horror","tag-hysteria-a-collection-of-madness","tag-laughrey-connolly-band","tag-mannequin-tales-and-back-to-school-adventures","tag-michael-a-arnzen","tag-mourning-jewelry","tag-pennsylvania-literary-festival","tag-raw-dog-screaming-press","tag-rickert-beagle-books","tag-rileys-pour-house","tag-spoken-word","tag-stephanie-m-wytovich","tag-storytelling","tag-storytelling-night-at-rileys","tag-write-or-die","tag-writing-apps","tag-writing-prompts"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t<\/a>Always the technology integrator, Mike shared a new story written using the apps Brainstormer<\/a> and Write Or Die<\/a>.\u00a0 The first provided him with three randomly selected words: remorse<\/i>, dying<\/i>, and puppet<\/i>. The second threatened to scream at him if he stopped writing or (worse) erase his words if he fell behind on his intended goal. Fortunately Mike managed in producing a 1,255 word first draft in under 30 minutes. He then edited it to a tight 850 word narrative, which he shared at the Rickert & Beagle reading.<\/p>\n<\/a>The Music<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p>\n