David Accampo writer • designer • producerdavid@habitformingfilms.com
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Fantasy Fiction: The Tailor and The Knight
If you’re unfamiliar, I’m part of The Deceptionists, a creative writing podcast that covers a number of different aspects of the craft of writing. While I wasn’t part of the recently recorded “Fantasy” episode of The Deceptionists genre writing series, and I hadn’t selected “Fantasy” as one of my writing prompts, but a funny thing [...]
On-Demand and In-The-Mood-For
Last night, home after a night of drinks and Mexican food with friends, I found myself unable to sleep. I looked at my DVR to see what shows I had left to watch, while there was a good 10 hours worth of programming stacked there, I really didn’t feel like watching any of it.
Fighting and Writing like Jazz
Last night, as is often the case on Wednesdays, I watched my son in his karate class. The classes shift occasionally, so it happened that on this night, the class I watched was a special one devoted to presentation and building confidence. It seemed a little looser and more fun, and I was happy to see my son engaged (though still a little embarrassed when called to perform in front of the others).
Wormwood: Revelation Chapter One is now online
As I’ve mentioned previously, Wormwood: A Serialized Mystery is a huge project for me, and it’s coming to a big conclusion—like, LOST-series-finale huge. We began our story with a basic occult mystery that had a much larger mystery buried within it.
Wormwood: "Top 5 Bits of SciFi Earcandy"
Wormwood is truly a passion project and a labor of love, so I get just a bit extra-giddy when we get a really nice write-up somewhere. Recently, Floyd Salazar of FuriousFanboys.com, wrote up a great piece entitled “Top 5 Bits of SciFi Earcandy.”
Return of the Fuzzy Typewriter
A couple of years ago, my friend Paul Montgomery invited me to guest on his podcast, The Fuzzy Typewriter podcast. We had a good time, and Paul invited me back. He actually left the invitation open to return as often as I liked, which I thought was incredibly generous.
3 Little Pigs: Process at Work
Some time last year, my friend Paul Montgomery, as part of his writing duties on the website, iFanboy.com, made a creative challenge — to adapt a fable in comics form. Write, draw, whatever. I didn’t think I had the time to do it, but Paul’s challenge planted a seed.
The Creative Life: The Writer Question
Last week I talked about my road from creative writing to an audio drama podcast. A bit of a twisty road, but it’s an interesting one. Obviously, the common link is story. If you know me at all, you know I’m all about the story. If you don’t, please allow me to introduce myself…
Wormwood: Dead Man’s Hand
The following story originally appeared at part of the audio anthology, “Wormwood & The Five Fingers of Glory,” which was part of Season Three of the audio drama podcast, Wormwood: A Serialized Mystery.
Monkeyshines79 in Grok #6
My newest short story, “Monkeyshines79,” has been published in the latest issue of the online PDF ‘zine, Grok. This is a geek culture magazine that focuses on essays and fiction for the nerdier among us. 
The theme of issue #6 was “avatar.” I conceived and pitched a short story to the editors, which they accepted.
Review: The Adderall Diaries by Stephen Elliot
I first read Stephen Elliot’s 2004 novel, Happy Baby, on the strength of McSweeney’s publishing output. The book itself was a plain leatherbound hardcover. On its front was a gold illustration of a man’s hand covering another man’s face.
Review: The Great Perhaps by Joe Meno
My first exposure to author Joe Meno was with his novel The Boy Detective Fails. It was one of those bookstore shelf discoveries: a cover catches your eye, the text on the back intrigues you, the fact that the book contains a “decoder wheel” excites you…
I Wrote a Novel in November
Just because I feed the need to share it: I wrote a novel entitled “Red Right Hand” during the month of November, as part of National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo.
The Creative Life: Audio, Amigos!
In the summer of 1998, I moved to Los Angeles from the Northern California Bay Area. As a writer and recent college graduate, it would be a fair assumption that I moved to LA to pursue a Hollywood career. This would be inaccurate.
I Had a Strange Dream Last Night
I had a very strange dream last night. In it, my girlfriend and I are walking along a very dark city street. There are no lights from the street. There is no moon in the sky. Everything consists of shapes of blue and black. We are returning from somewhere; I don’t know where.
23 years later, it’s 1986 again.
… I want to talk about Watchmen, and how I think that – oddly enough – the film has found its perfect place in film history, exactly where it should be, twenty-odd years after it found its perfect place in comics history.
Violent Movies Ain't So Bad
This short script was part of an anthology series of short films to be developed by Habit Forming Films. The theme was “Whiskey, Gun, Cigarette” and each script was required to contain those elements. Sometimes a little violence is a good thing.
The Good Guys
This short script was part of an anthology series of short films to be developed by Habit Forming Films. The theme was “Whiskey, Gun, Cigarette” and each script was required to contain those elements. Billy stumbles across a strange man in a field and gets a lesson on the difference between good guys and bad guys.
Lucky Numbers
This short script was part of an anthology series of short films to be developed by Habit Forming Films. The theme was “Whiskey, Gun, Cigarette” and each script was required to contain those elements. Would you sell your soul to win the lottery?
The Beautiful People: Who You Are
Today my name is Leopold Atari. My father, a bronze ambassador from Nigeria, carries the same wide cheek bones and square set jaw. My eyes will be my mother’s. She is Bao Jiaosheng, a Chinese diplomat who met my father at a political conference in Geneva.
Apartment House Blues
Leroy leaning on the black iron gate, Leroy owes me forty dollars. He’s thin as a lamppost, bent over, brown skin faded. Shit, I mean look at me. I’m black, white, everything, all mixed up, he tells me, thin arms outstretched, scant black hair curling up his forearms. Why did Leroy tell me that?
Where Were You When I Was Dying Yesterday?
Marc and Annette lie on the bed, staring up at the tiny white topographical map of ceiling above the bed. A single sheet stretches between them, covering the odd angles of their naked bodies.
Charlie Went Home
Charlie sets the notebook computer down on his lap, slides the clasp, opens it. Presses the power button. The machine grinds gently to life as Charlie sips from the steaming cup of green tea on the bench beside him.
The Devil Came to Rockville
Midsummer oily heat haze on the black asphalt roads when the devil came to Rockville, and Henry was the only one who noticed, out of breath, pushing his black-and-chrome silver Huffy bicycle across the sidewalk and into the flat gray parking lot of the Savings Corner Market.
The Physics of Apathy
When there is nothing left between two people, the physics of the room appear to change. A stillness overcomes the space between them, lazy dust motes trapped in a shaft of light. There is movement, of course — the nervous fidget of fingers, the swaying of legs, the tilt of the head to a slightly sharper angle. A yawn. But these movements become infinitesimal in the void between the occupants of the room.
The Art of Noise
Allen talks, a little too loud, a little too fast. A little too much. He’s telling Dawn something, and she’s listening, really she is, but more to the rhythm and cadence, wondering if he’s going to stop and take a breath. It may sound annoying, but Dawn doesn’t mind; she doesn’t really want to contribute to the conversation, and Allen doesn’t appear to require any collaboration.
The Island
The following piece is an odd one, even for me. It definitely plays as a companion piece to my other flash fiction story, “The Woods,” in that I appear to be on a little bit of a Lovecraft kick. I’m going to say that”s because I’ve been gearing up to write more Wormwood. This is a first draft.
The Woods
The following story is the answer to a writing challenge from Paul Montgomery, and inspired by the this prompt: “An old bachelor, having just moved to the country, discovers something strange in his back yard.”
The Incremental Time Traveler
Jude’s ability was — in the larger scheme of the universe — rather unimpressive. And yet, he took pride in his ability, as he felt it was something that was solely his, to grow and shape.Jude didn’t tell anyone of his ability. They wouldn’t understand. “Time travel,” they would say, “Bah.”