Columns

Why Coming of Age Crime Stories Work So Well

December 20th, 2017

Who among us didn't come of age as a criminal? Wait, that can't be. No, no, you were a criminal too. You just might not realize it. Whether it was that pack of gum you stole in fifth grade or the test you cheated on to pass math in junior high, you're a criminal just like me. Just like us all. 

Read Column →

Emma: The Feminist Hero I Never Knew She Was

December 15th, 2017

Near this date more than 240 years ago, a legend was born. She was a quiet legend, not a flashy superhero or revolutionary politician, but the works she produced and the impact she had are hardly to be misunderstood or scoffed at. 

Read Column →

Writer, Heal Thyself: Coping with 2017

December 14th, 2017

Images via Pixabay & Cottonbro Studio “Hell is empty and all the devils are here.” Shakespeare’s oft and overused quote has never seemed more applicable than in 2017, a year that has seen a deluge in tidings of geopolitical tension, racial division, mass shootings, natural disasters, and sexual harassment.

Read Column →

6 Book Suggestions for the Young and Weird at Heart

December 13th, 2017

Some of my favorite holiday memories were of getting books. I like toys, but toys were temporary things. Books lived in me—that is the promise of books. They are ingested and they become part of our makeup. Toys live alongside us. They are external companions that are dragged through our lives until we bore of them, then they are discarded. Books can't be discarded thusly. If you were a fan of Piers Anthony in middle school, and later you come to realize that his books were pretty sexist and shallow, you cannot forget the magic they imparted on your days.

Read Column →

LitReactor Staff Picks: The Best Books of 2017 (part 2)

December 12th, 2017

Another year has come and gone. You know what that means, don't you? Time for a bunch of strangers to tell you what was good! And why should you care what the LitReactor staff thinks are the best books of the year? Trick question! You shouldn't. But what they have to say might interest you nonetheless, because they are good-looking and knowledgeable and they read like the wind. So for those who care, we submit for your approval/derision some of LitReactor's favorite reads of 2017 (part 2).

Read Column →

Holiday Gifts I Would Give To Famous Authors

December 12th, 2017

Close your eyes and imagine a holiday the way you've always wanted it. 

Read Column →

Castration Anxiety and the Monstrous-Feminine in 'Thor: Ragnarok'

December 11th, 2017

Although there have been other side villains before, like Rebecca Hall’s Maya Hansen in Iron Man 3 or Karen Gillan as Nebula in the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, Cate Blanchett’s Hela in Thor: Ragnarok is the first female main villain in the movies of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And what’s most important about Hela is how she’s personified by her femininity.

Read Column →

The LitReactor Hanukkah Gift Guide: 8 Crazy Books for 8 Crazy Nights

December 8th, 2017

Menora Image via BookBubBlog Okay, maybe some of these selections aren't that crazy (I didn't include Ass Goblins of Auschwitz, after all), but you don't want to send your Rabbi running for the hills. Instead I chose a little something for readers of every age, with tones ranging from silly to somber. Happy Hanukkah!

Read Column →

LitReactor Staff Picks: The Best Books of 2017 (part 1)

December 7th, 2017

Another year has come and gone. You know what that means, don't you? Time for a bunch of strangers to tell you what was good! And why should you care what the LitReactor staff thinks are the best books of the year? Trick question! You shouldn't. But what they have to say might interest you nonetheless, because they are good-looking and knowledgeable and they read like the wind. So for those who care, we submit for your approval/derision some of LitReactor's favorite reads of 2017 (part 1).

Read Column →

Why I Am Writing Under a New Name

December 7th, 2017

This article originally appeared on the Hank Early website. Photo courtesy of the author. So, one of the questions I've been getting is why write these next two books under a new name. What was wrong with John Mantooth? Some folks have rightly pointed out that you can't really hope to find a better name than Mantooth, and I would tend to agree with them.

Read Column →