Columns

The Top 10 Shark Books (that are in my house) Just in Time for Shark Week!

July 19th, 2018

This, like most best-of lists, would be more accurately titled Top Ten Books I Happened to Read, because who are they kidding, right? But I’m going one better with Top Ten Books I Happen to Own because in a desperate attempt at one-upmanship, I even took a picture of the books on my list to prove they are mere inches away from me right now. Which means I had to re-buy some books, track down others. Think of the money and effort wasted to prove some sort of listicle integrity here. Normally all of this would be embarrassing, but not during Shark Week.

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7 Tips For Your Summer Road Trip From Jack Kerouac

July 17th, 2018

Images by Ben C. On July 17th, 1947, Jack Kerouac went on his first cross-country road trip — a trip which would inspire him to start the book, On The Road. Since then, Kerouac’s magnum opus and beatnik odyssey has done more than just influence a generation of readers and writers: it’s also motivated people to travel.

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A Call to Save Steepletop: Why Edna St. Vincent Millay’s Home Matters

July 16th, 2018

Ever since discovering a battered volume of Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poetry in a second-hand bookstore, I’ve been contemplating a pilgrimage to Steepletop, her country estate in the eastern New York town of Austerlitz where she lived from 1925 until her death in 1950. The site, which includes the poet’s house and gardens and surrounding acreage, opened to the public for tours in 2010.

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When To Utilize An Ensemble Cast and How To Do It Well

July 16th, 2018

The ensemble cast is often associated with superhero films and sitcoms, but it has a long history in literature as well. If you want to look at the classics then War and Peace is a great example, but contemporary books/series like A Song Of Ice and Fire, How It Went Down, and A Visit from the Goon Squad all employ ensemble casts.

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The 13 Unluckiest Characters In Fiction

July 13th, 2018

Happy Friday the 13th! If you’re having an unlucky day, just know that you’re not alone. Below, we’ve listed thirteen of the most miserably unfortunate SOBs the written word has to offer. Feel free to commiserate with them below.

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10 Reasons Book Reviews Still Matter

July 12th, 2018

I’m a book reviewer. I’m a professional book reviewer. I’m the book reviews editor for PANK Magazine. The list of places in which my reviews have been published is so long and full of defunct venues that I don’t even try to remember all of them. Yeah, sometimes I get paid and that’s great, but most of the time I don’t, and that’s also fine by me. I review books because I love literature and spreading the word about things I enjoy. I think book reviews matter. Sadly, many venues are killing book reviews, and I’m pissed about that.

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Library Love: Voices of Dead Authors

July 12th, 2018

Audiobooks. You either love them or—does anyone not love them? What's not to love when Neil Gaiman reads The Ocean at the End of the Lane directly to you—in your car? So great. I just love his intrepretation of the work.

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Catherynne M. Valente's 'Space Opera' and the Delights of a Plotless Novel

July 11th, 2018

“Life is beautiful and life is stupid.” That’s basically the thesis of Catherynne M. Valente’s novel Space Opera, a statement the omniscient narrator makes in the first chapter that becomes a mantra of sorts throughout the rest of the book. It’s a perfect summation of the book itself, although stupid is a little harsh.

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Ten Harsh Truths I Learned Writing a Moderately Successful Series For A Small Press

July 10th, 2018

Potter’s Field, the fifth and final Ash McKenna book—which started with New Yorked in 2015—is available today in hardcover and eBook. It is real weird to be at the end of this journey. Writing a series is tough. Not just on writers, but on publishers, and even on readers. But I had an idea to tell the origin story of a private detective and Polis took a chance on me and I will be forever grateful for that.

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Writing Emotions Effectively

July 9th, 2018

As an editor, one of the most common mistakes I see in manuscripts is the failure to express character’s emotions in a compelling and convincing way. This article offers a few tips on how to do so more effectively. Start by printing out your manuscript and highlighting any areas where characters are feeling particular emotions. Clearly identify what those emotions are in the margins. Then ask yourself the following questions:

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