Columns

Out-of-Print Genre Books Are Expensive But Worth It

July 25th, 2017

Sometimes books go out of print. This can be for a number of reasons. Perhaps sales were low at the time. Perhaps the company that originally published the book has gone out of business. Perhaps the author, for his or her own reasons, pulled the book from the shelves.

Read Column →

My Unlikely Writing Influences

July 25th, 2017

Like many writers, I was reared on a never-ending veneration for big guns such as Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, James Joyce, and Virginia Woolf. Authors who’ve passed some ‘immortal’ litmus test for stuffy academic types to get overly excited about. Harsh? Perhaps, because most of the top tier lit club have deservedly earned their marks. But along the path I’ve learned some of the best prose originates from sources other than these writing titans.

Read Column →

All in a Day: YA That Takes Place in 24 Hours

July 25th, 2017

We’ve all had those days that go on forever and then some, while others take place seemingly in the blink of an eye. But what can happen when an entire book’s worth of events occur in the span of 24 hours? A lot, apparently! These six Young Adult novels pack an enormous amount of action and drama, and a year’s worth of emotion in a mere day, and we dare you to put them down before binge reading in the same amount of time.

Read Column →

On the Trail of a Murder: Helene Stapinski on Research and Memoir

July 24th, 2017

Helene Stapinksi grew up hearing about a murder. A family murder, no less, a story her mother passed down about her great-great-grandmother Vita in order to scare young Stapinski into life on the straight and narrow. Her family was based in Jersey City, New Jersey, and was one of “swindlers, bookies, embezzlers, and mobster-wannabes,” according to a page on her website, although her own mother managed to extricate herself from the crime life.

Read Column →

A Head Full of Tropes: Finding New Life in Dead Ideas

July 24th, 2017

Image via General Mills Vampires, zombies, Satan and werewolves. These are a few of my favorite tropes.

Read Column →

Why Do So Many Indie Presses Fail?

July 21st, 2017

I've been aware of indie presses shutting down for a long time, but really started paying attention to it in the last three years. Besides being an indie author myself, I have many friends whose outstanding work is published by indie presses and a few friends who are publishers. Every time an indie press shuts down, authors are left scrambling to find new homes for their books, artists lose work opportunities, editors have one less available gig, and readers are left with less options.

Read Column →

99 Cents Is Too Cheap For Your Book

July 21st, 2017

It’s been a little while since I tried the persuasive essay, the sort of thing we did in school, but I’m giving it a shot here. My recollection is that you’re supposed to outline your premise, go through all the points, then remind everyone what the premise was one last time. Y’know, for the morons. Or the teachers, who almost certainly would have to be drunk to grade 30 essays on whether or not it’s acceptable to wear hats in school.

Read Column →

6 Reasons Aspiring Writers Should Act More Like Musicians

July 20th, 2017

Writers are the worst. Actually, aspiring writers are the worst. Aspiring musicians, on the other hand, act like aspiring writers should. They have better attitudes, work ethics, and are even more fun to be around and interact with on Social Media. I have been a part of both worlds.

Read Column →

Find A Buddy: 6 Reasons You Should Co-Write Your Stuff

July 20th, 2017

I grew up in Oklahoma. When I turned 27, I decided to move to Oregon. The scenery here is fantastic. The deepest greens I’ve ever seen, fucking big ass trees, strange fish people…it was a far cry from the flat sun-scorched beauty of my hometown. I took all of my emotional baggage and moved away from my friends, family, and routine. Oregon became a self-imposed isolation, in a sense.

Read Column →

Storyville: Young Protagonists—MG vs. YA vs. Adult

July 19th, 2017

When it comes to your writing, a young protagonist can be part of the teen landscape or an adult novel. How do you tell the difference? How can you as an author write to either or both with authority? Here are some tips.

Read Column →