Columns

10 Lessons Learned From My First Grown-Up Writing Job

June 13th, 2016

Last month I had, for one week, a real, honest-to-god, grown-up writing job. It involved some writing, and a whole lot of editing. Some social media stuff. Getting stuff in from other writers. The whole bit. I learned some shit. 1. Editors Earn Their Pay I’ll admit, when the gig came along, I saw dollar signs.

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Anne Frank: Editor Extraordinaire

June 10th, 2016

On June 12, 1942, a little girl named Annelise Frank received a diary for her birthday. It was on the small side, covered in a red and white checkered fabric, and it would go on to contain some of the most famous diary entries ever written. 

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Beyond Dickens: 8 Picaresque Novels For The Modern Reader

June 9th, 2016

A solid definition of the picaresque novel is rather hard to come by. The term “picaro,” taken from a 17th century Spanish word, typically describes a low-born hero or rogue who uses his wits to wander through various branches of society without truly belonging to any of them, moving from adventure to adventure. The picaresque employs an episodic narrative structure that still works well today, even though many readers may associate it with the past. A dose of satire is the final part of the equation.

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Your Guide to the 2016 Tony Awards

June 8th, 2016

The 70th annual Tony Awards will air on Sunday, June 12 at 8/7c, live on CBS and will be broadcast to four continents. James Corden is hosting this year and presenters include: Barbra Streisand (her first appearance at the awards since 1970), Oprah Winfrey, Cate Blanchett, Steve Martin, Carole King, and Audra McDonald. This Broadway season featured a slew of powerful, diverse, and moving new and revival productions. Here's a rundown of what's up for Best and Revival Plays and Musicals. 

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Library Love: Incunabula – Dracula’s Bookshelf

June 7th, 2016

Header image via Royal Collection Trust Vlad Dracula, also known as the Impaler (1431-1476), was a regular guy who was also a warlord and three-time prince of Wallachia, a region of modern Romania.

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10 Famous Writers Reimagined as Professional Wrestlers

June 7th, 2016

There’s no easy way to introduce this article, so here it goes: Imagine if writers were involved in a professional wrestling league. Are you imagining it? Good, you’re right on track. Me? I’ve been imagining this shit since I was five years-old. Has this been a wise way to spend my time? Before I answer that, you tell me what would be wise, and I’ll laugh in your face. What would we even call this league? Writers Who Wrestle (WWW)? Or maybe International Champion Pensmiths. I don’t think ICP has been used before as an acronym.

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Three Books About... Junkies

June 6th, 2016

The war on drugs, a battle which had fitfully sputtered in a series of minor conflicts since around 1914, finally roared into life in 1968, when Lyndon Johnson, alarmed by the Summer of Love and anxious to distract an increasingly anxious population from the war in Vietnam, decided to bolster his appeal with Middle America by cracking down on illegal drug use. To justify this use of resources and manpower, he needed a shroud to shake at potential voters — a dreadful warning about what would happen if he didn’t act.

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How Important Is Word Count? 7 Writers Discuss Their Output

June 3rd, 2016

Anyone who’s read my previous columns exploring different facets of the writing life knows how interested I am in writing routines, rituals and habits. This month I’m investigating how much writers write and just how important a daily (or weekly) word count is to each author.

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10 Sexy-Ass Physical Books

June 3rd, 2016

There's really no other way to describe this list other than "book porn." Okay, I'll try a little harder than that: in an age where the availability and convenience of eBooks makes digital books an ideal option both for publishers and consumers, we have to be reminded every now and then just how intricate, sumptuous, and downright sexy physical books can be. Thus, here are ten books both past and present that more than meet this criteria. Enjoy.

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Book vs Album: 'Blood Meridian' vs 'The Last Pale Light in the West'

June 2nd, 2016

With the recent news that a Blood Meridian movie is NOT in the works, and the recent news that I'm sad about that, I decided to take a look at a different kind of adaptation. In 1985, Cormac McCarthy published Blood Meridian. 

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