How to use this Page

At the IAmAFiction subreddit, you can actually take your fictional character out into the world–interacting with readers and answering questions in character to help your writing process.

The group was inspired by real-life interviews on Reddit, giving creators a forum to test their characters. Simply join the group and submit your character as an interview subject. Here’s more about the site:

If you are working on developing an invented character for creative writing, roleplay, or pure novelty, this is the place to expose your character to the world and subject them to questioning to help you flesh them out. IAmA posts work just like a regular IAmA post, except the poster assumes the role of his/her character. Please be a good IAmAfic citizen and comment on other people’s submissions as well as your own. Remember, they’re not real people — so no need to be shy!

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Yes, that was my letter from the IRS.

I misfiled our tax extension. My husband, who is hilarious, wrote a letter to the IRS asking for clemency due to new-baby-induced Jello Brain. The IRS, who are apparently also hilarious, quoted him in their response.

I scanned the letter and he put it on Facebook. It went viral.

That afternoon during a lull in the daily baby-management, I hopped on Reddit to post the letter and discovered that someone had put it up hours earlier. Our funny IRS letter was now at the top of Reddit’s front page.

Over 1,800 people left comments and opinions. Everyone was pretty nice and we enjoyed the discussion. Some IRS employees even chimed in, talking about their jobs and lives.

This is the nature of the Internet. Something strikes a chord in our collective subconscious, and we share it with ourselves at the speed of thought.

I think we are all a little afraid of the IRS.

They seem to speak a slightly different language. They use phrases like: “A nonbusiness bad debt must be treated as a short-term capital loss” and look at us expectantly.

Every year they make us do math. They know our financial secrets, and they remind us that our money will be spent by people we probably didn’t elect, on things we might not like.

They could put us in jail. They took down Al Capone.

As a result, people yearn for a bit of humor from the IRS. I think any reminder that the government is made of people who are themselves parents and taxpayers is welcome news.

Anything to break the tension.

Related posts:

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3. A Parent’s Life as a Video Game My job is in the video game industry, so I...

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I went to the MoMA and…”saw a coat closet trash and two water fouintains I’m very disapointed I did not see  a dinosaur you call your self a museum!” [MoMA]

Cute alert: Goose looks after blind dog [Metro]

Apparently, James Frey will be a guest on the final Oprah [NYPost]

Most Americans can’t name a GOP presidential candidate [CBS]

Notes from Chris

CHART: Gay marriage opponents now in minority [FiveThirtyEight]

Curious what $110 of Lucky Charms marshmallows looks like? [Reddit]

Some fascinating facts about Mr. Rogers [Tumblr]

This is a video of little boys with incredible dance skills [YouTube]

Last Friday, I challenged all of our readers to write a sestina. I expect many of you discovered just how difficult this form can be. I’d like to highlight the poem I received from Paul Gallear of Wolverhampton, UK. Paul is one of the voices behind the Artsy Does It blog and you can follow him @paulgallear.

I’m a dirty-shirted mess.
My eyes are heavy and thick
With fatigue; I’ve not slept for days
And I’ve never been so tired.
All I need to do is sleep,
Long and deep and numb.

My thoughts are thoughtless, numb;
My skin, greasy; my hair, a mess.
Things change without sleep:
I’ve become listless, thick
And stupid – I’m idiot tired,
Living in a stunned daze.

Time moves from hours to days
And perspective becomes numb.
Beyond tired.
My mind begins to mess
Around. There’s a kind of thick
Which only comes from lack of sleep.

I daydream of sleep.
Waiting – the hours the days
Crawl as though caught in thick
Honey, drowsy, lethargic and numb.
While they are mired in that mess,
I grow more weary, more tired.

One day, I won’t be tired.
The time will come for sleep.
When I am enough of a mess,
And my dignity went days
Ago, I won’t care. I’ll be numb
And sleep will be long and thick.

I hope the night is black and thick
And that even the moon and the stars are tired.
They can make their lights numb
And pale to help me sleep.
The sun will shorten the days
To help me out of this mess

If the night is thick, I’ll sleep.
I’m so tired, it’ll be for days.
Until then, I’m one numb mess.

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I read. A lot. As a reviewer and writer, it's part of perfecting my craft. I once had a student ask me how many books I've read in my lifetime. (Hey, I'm not that old!) I couldn't even begin to come up with a number. But I'll make a guesstimate: I usually read between 10 and 15 books a month.

So last week, when I noticed the #1daybook hashtag on Twitter, I had to find out what all the fuss was about.

Looks like it started over at Reddit when someone posed the question: What's the best/most unusual/longest/most enthralling book you've read in a day?

It got me thinking. What's the best book I've read in a single day? What book has kidnapped me, held me for ransom, and refused to let go until I closed the back cover?

My answer: Pictures of You by Caroline Leavitt. She had me on page one, and by the time I finished a few hours later, I was a blabbering book reader, tugged in multiple directions by conflicting emotions. I felt such a connection with Isabelle, the photography, the sense of place.

I think about that book often, pull it from the shelf and reread snippets - a snapshot of descriptions and characters - that beg to be read once again.

It takes a special book - and writer - to create that sense of empathy with readers. And Caroline's words and story formed that bond for me.

What's the best book you've read in a single day?

by LuAnn Schindler. When she's not reading, she's writing about Nebraska at luannschindler.com.

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