Month: July 2025

Hey Beginning Fiction Writers,

Have you ever wondered what makes effective storytelling tick? The architecture of dread in this style often relies on a clear yet twisting plot, designed to keep the reader disoriented and on edge. The Immediate Hook and Inciting Incident starts with the Unsettling: Many stories begin by introducing an immediate mystery or an unsettling observation […]

A Lesson in Used Car Ownership

Today I took our “new” car — well, new to us — to the service station for an oil change and a general check-up. After looking through the service book, I realized the oil had already been changed just 4,000 kilometers ago, so the extra oil change wasn’t really necessary. If only I had checked […]

What Could Have Been Just One Floor Down

Today we had a building community meeting. We talked about some administrative issues and ongoing repair work, but the most surprising news was that our downstairs neighbors are moving out. They’re getting a bigger family house. But that’s not really the point. The real issue is that they never told us — they just announced […]

Reflections on the Kádár Regime

After the crushing of the 1956 Hungarian Revolution by Soviet troops, János Kádár was installed as the new leader of Hungary. Although he had once been associated with the revolutionaries, Kádár quickly aligned himself with the Soviet Union and began a harsh retaliation campaign to eliminate opposition and restore communist control. Between 1956 and 1961, […]