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The Stories of Scott D. Southard

  • In Jerry’s Corner
  • A Jane Austen Daydream
  • Permanent Spring Showers
  • Megan
  • Maximilian Standforth and the Case of the Dangerous Dare
  • The Dante 3
  • Me Stuff
  • Man Behind the Curtain
  • August 7, 2013

    Mo Willems Is a Genius

    Mo WillemsLast week, I actually cried while reading my daughter’s bedtime story. Looking back, I think I was set up for this moment.

    My family is big fans of the books of Mo Willems and, in my opinion, there is no more imaginative and witty author of children picture books out there today. To say he is this generation Dr. Seuss or Maurice Sendak is not to do his creativity justice. That is not to say he is better than Dr. Seuss; no, what I mean is he is on his own path.

    He is incomparable, unique.

    And I, honestly, wish his books were around when I was my little ones’ ages. I would have devoured his books like a box of Macaroni and Cheese…

    …or like a pigeon with hot dogs. (more…)

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  • April 8, 2013

    Three weeks until the release of A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM! A Book Giveaway!

    A Jane Austen DaydreamIn three weeks my latest novel, A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM, will be released by Madison Street Publishing. I can not wait to share this new book with you.

    Over the next few weeks I hope to be able to discuss more about the work on this site and share many different things going on around the release from editorials on other sites to reviews to interviews. If I can promise my readers one thing around this moving and humourous novel it is that it is surprising with a few neat (and possibly new) literary tricks. I look forward to hearing what readers think of it!

    To anticipate this release my publisher is having a book giveaway for the novel on GoodReads. Two copies will be given to two lucky entries. To enter, simply visit this page here (http://www.goodreads.com/giveaway/show/48730-a-jane-austen-daydream) and click on the “Enter to Win” button.

    A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM

    All her heroines find love in the end–but is there love waiting for Jane?

    Jane Austen spends her days writing and matchmaking in the small countryside village of Steventon, until a ball at Godmersham Park propels her into a new world where she yearns for a romance of her own. But whether her heart will settle on a young lawyer, a clever Reverend, a wealthy childhood friend, or a mysterious stranger is anyone’s guess.

    Written in the style of Jane herself, this novel ponders the question faced by many devoted readers over the years–did she ever find love? Weaving fact with fiction, it re-imagines her life, using her own stories to fill in the gaps left by history and showing that all of us–to a greater or lesser degree–are head over heels for Jane.

    Again, you can enter the competition by just visiting this page. The competition runs through April 29.

    Let the countdown begin!

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  • March 26, 2013

    Mark Your Calendars! A JANE AUSTEN DAYDREAM Will Be Released on April 30!

    A Jane Austen Daydream

    A Jane Austen Daydream, my latest novel, will be released by Madison Street Publishing on April 30!

    I could not be happier (or prouder) of this experimental, romantic, funny, moving, and surprising book. I look forward to sharing it with you.

    Here is the description of my upcoming novel:

    All her heroines find love in the end–but is there love waiting for Jane?

    Jane Austen spends her days writing and matchmaking in the small countryside village of Steventon, until a ball at Godmersham Park propels her into a new world where she yearns for a romance of her own. But whether her heart will settle on a young lawyer, a clever Reverend, a wealthy childhood friend, or a mysterious stranger is anyone’s guess.

    Written in the style of Jane herself, this novel ponders the question faced by many devoted readers over the years–did she ever find love? Weaving fact with fiction, it re-imagines her life, using her own stories to fill in the gaps left by history and showing that all of us–to a greater or lesser degree–are head over heels for Jane.

    On a side note, are you a reviewer? Would you be interested in reading the novel for your site or magazine? If so, please contact my publisher at MStPublishing@gmail.com. They will be reviewing requests.

    Let the countdown begin!

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  • March 15, 2013

    The Posts of an Anglophile

    Guarding the QueenCheerio!

    What inspired me to write my editorial this week, “The Happy Anglophile,” is that I am in the process of editing two different books- A Jane Austen Daydream (to be published in April by Madison Street Publishing) and Maximilian Standforth and the Case of the Dangerous Dare (which I am self-publishing and sharing the experience via posts, like this one where I discuss my great new cover artist). They are both very British books; one putting the spotlight on Miss Austen, the other trying to capture the world and vibe of Sherlock Holmes.

    Not bad for a kid from Michigan, eh?

    And it doesn’t stop there! I’ve been thinking about writing a post on a controversial belief I have on Shakespeare next week, and I have been debating myself for months on writing on my love of PG Wodehouse and Douglas Adams (I should have done the Douglas Adams one nearer his Birthday… damn).

    Anyway, looking back over the blog, my anglophile-tendencies have been on display ever since I started writing, from books to movies to television to music. For your reading pleasure this weekend here are links to some of my more popular posts on my favorite second home.

    • I Want a TARDIS! My New Obsession With Doctor Who
    • Which Beatle am I? I have no idea anymore
    • J.R.R. Tolkien: The Crazy & Magical Grandfather
    • Trapped in Spam: My Days in a Post-Monty Python World
    • Downton Abbey as Art: Some Thoughts on the Great Series
    • Jesus or Red Dwarf? I Choose the Return of Red Dwarf
    • Me, Myself, & Charles Dickens
    • Why This Writer Feels Guilty for Loving SHERLOCK

    Pip pip!

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  • February 6, 2013

    Trapped in Spam: My Days in a Post-Monty Python World

    My heroes…As I write this I am wearing a t-shirt from TeeFury that has the black knight from Monty Python and the Holy Grail fighting Darth Vader. (I believe we can all guess how such an mind-blowing awesome encounter would end.)

    …Also, as I write this my ringtone on my phone is the King Arthur theme from Holy Grail. So a call not only makes me run to the phone but also consider grabbing one or two coconuts (without African swallows to hold them up).

    When I first came here, this was all swamp. Everyone said I was daft to build a castle on a swamp, but I built in all the same, just to show them. It sank into the swamp. So I built a second one. That sank into the swamp. So I built a third. That burned down, fell over, then sank into the swamp. But the fourth one stayed up. And that’s what you’re going to get, Lad, the strongest castle in all of England.

    …I own every episode of the series (including the German episodes), a bunch of documentaries, the movies (of course), the live show, CDs, and a pile of books on the history. To be able to talk to me for more than an hour it is almost required that you have a smattering of Monty Python in your vocabulary to draw from because, oh yes, I quote them all the time. More than Shakespeare (and that is a lot, usually with a poor British accent), more than song lyrics, more than anything. They are lodged permanently in my brain, and most times when I think of them they are in drag (maybe I should see a doctor). (more…)

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  • June 18, 2012

    Jack Benny as My Comfort Food

    I first discovered Jack Benny by chance. I was about 11 and while playing with a cheap little radio in my bedroom, I discovered an AM station that was playing old-time radio shows. With my young imagination, I first imagined that I had somehow tuned into the past.

    I was hearing the 1940’s!

    Right there, on my radio!

    I began to wonder if there was a way I could transport more back to then. (On a side note, if I could go back now I would write the screenplay for Casablanca; bad of me, I know) Could I communicate back? Could this mean something more? Was this the start of a wacky adventure starring me…

    Naturally, I then remember the disappointment when the first local radio ad played between some episodes. Yet, reality was not enough to deter me from listening more.  I was first fascinated, and then slowly hooked.

    I started buying blank tapes, filling them up day after day with anything they were playing. Before I stopped I had almost a hundred tapes with everything from The Lone Ranger to The New Adventures of Sherlock Holmes to The Jack Benny Show. (more…)

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  • June 15, 2012

    Notes From THE HONEYMOON, What Would Have Been the Last Part of The Dante 3

    While creating the scripts for Time Out Of Mind, the proposed sequel to The Dante Experience, I began to take notes and scribble ideas for the third and final part, which had the working title of The Honeymoon.

    I always knew I wanted the series to be a trilogy. Where I saw the first part being the afterlife and the second being time, I wanted the third to be a little more personal, and less large scale.  For some reason I became fascinated by the idea of putting as many of my characters as I could on a boat in the middle of the ocean… and seeing what happens.

    After sending Time Out Of Mind to Mind’s Ear and realizing it was not going to happen, my notes and scenes for The Honeymoon became… well… history. (more…)

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  • June 8, 2012

    Episode Ten: Time Out Of Mind

    Episode 10 of

    Time Out Of Mind,

    The sequel to

    The Dante Experience

    “Gettysburg”

    OPENING CREDITS

    Scene 1

    SOUND: Of Heaven

    MICHAEL: Hazzah, your stellarness! I have good news for you. The communication link has been set up and I can get our team to fight the dragons!

    REPAIR ANGEL: I said, I would fix it… All you had to do was wait.

    MICHAEL: Not now! I’m talking to the big guy…Anyway, your infiniteness, I’m about to make contact with our team. Jenkins, can you hear me? Hello?

    Scene 2

    SOUND: Of Beach.

    MICHAEL: Jenkins.

    JENKINS: Oh, great, it’s Angel Michael.

    ALL: (Sigh) (more…)

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  • June 1, 2012

    Episode Nine: Time Out Of Mind

    Episode 9 of

    Time Out Of Mind,

    The Sequel to

    The Dante Experience

    “Two Roberts for the Price of One”

    OPENING CREDITS

    Scene 1

    SOUND: Of Heaven.

    REPAIR ANGEL: Best out of three?

    KELLII: Ok. You move first.

    MICHAEL: Can you two stop playing that game! This is the throne room and I am doing important things. The big guy doesn’t want to see you playing a board game.

    KELLII: I don’t hear him complaining.

    REPAIR ANGEL: Actually, I haven’t heard him at all since I’ve been here.

    MICHAEL: Can you two please stop judging the maker.

    KELLII: Is he even awake?… Hello? Anyone there? (more…)

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  • May 25, 2012

    Episode Eight: Time Out Of Mind

    Episode 8 of

    Time Out Of Mind,

    The Sequel to

    The Dante Experience

    “Dinner With the Folks”

    OPENING CREDITS

    Scene 1

    SOUND: Of heaven and a computer typing.

    MICHAEL: Ok, I have some bad news…

    SOUND: Of computer stops typing.

    MICHAEL: I’ve been searching for three hours now and I can’t find our group of heroes. Ever since Adam threw that rock and hit the time machine, our team has been lost in time… They could be anywhere.

    KELLII: Can we play another game now?

    REPAIR ANGEL: I have Stratego.

    KELLII: Yeah, get that one. Anything better than Monopoly. Monopoly just doesn’t work for two people.

    MICHAEL: Can you two please leave?

    KELLII: I want to wait and see what happens next?

    MICHAEL: What happens next? I’ll tell you what happens next! Your father shows up and kicks my…

    REPAIR ANGEL: Hey, let’s watch the language.

    KELLII: So he is a little protective.

    MICHAEL: He threatened me for just taking you on a date!

    KELLII: See, protective.

    REPAIR ANGEL: Wait until he sees the website you created. (more…)

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