Columns

8 Books for March 8th: International Women's Day

March 8th, 2017

image via Hercampus International Women's Day is March 8th every year, but it picked up extra significance in 2017 when it also became A Day Without a Woman, a strike to highlight the economic significance women have around the world. Many of us are only beginning to recognize the importance of this day, which has been used to bring attention to everything from economic disparity to human rights.

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10 Authors that Will Give Your Brain a Workout

March 6th, 2017

This is one of those articles that requires a few notes before it gets going. The first thing you should know is that I decided to leave academic writers out of it because most people don't normally buy academic texts to read at the beach (shout out to my boy Jean Baudrillard because he comes to mind every day, and Gloria Anzaldúa because she helped shape my barrio noir!). Also, because after more than a decade in academia, I know that each branch of knowledge takes the work of certain thinkers and interprets it differently.

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Storyville: Writing a Story or Novel Based on One Emotion

March 3rd, 2017

So today, what I wanted to talk about was how to create based on a single emotion (or theme). When writing a short story, or novel, quite often there will be a theme that runs through everything you’re doing, one main emotion that helps to build the atmosphere, tension, conflict and resolution. Let’s talk about how you can do that, and what that might look like. Let me talk a bit about my process. When I sit down to write a short story or novel there are usually a few things that are front of mind for me:

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Subjective Preference vs. Objective Quality: A.O. Scott's 'Better Living Through Criticism' and Why Everyone is a Critic

March 2nd, 2017

“How can you win a music competition? Isn’t it all subjective?” “No. It’s not.” -Whiplash God was the first artist. It’s telling that He didn’t just wave His hands around to create the heavens and the earth. He used words. “Let there be light,” He said, and there was light.

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8 Lessons Bookstores Could Learn From Comic Book Stores

March 1st, 2017

Consider the comic store and the bookstore. Their relationship has been one similar to that of a snob and a slob in a snobs versus slobs comedy. Bookstores, represented by snobs, have been on top for a long time. But now, now that time has moved on and the movie has nearly finished, the slobs are on top. Alliances have been re-formed, Camp Whatever has been saved, and the snob looks to the once lowly slob to figure out how to exist in this new, topsy-turvy world.

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An Agent is a Living M.F.A.

March 1st, 2017

I recently got my M.F.A. and I’d like to tell you I am ecstatic and proud, but I’m just relieved it is done. I finished the M.A. part of the degree about 6 years ago and left school, but returned last year to finish the F.A. part. It has been a long 8 years. During this time I’ve experienced many rejections, failed novels and novellas, odd jobs from telemarketing to porn store managing, and doubts about being good enough. But I kept at it. This past year I actually made money writing and the biggest highlight was getting an agent.

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Book vs. Film: 'The Girl With All The Gifts'

February 28th, 2017

The zombie boom of the late oughts and onward—more or less spurred on by the popularity of The Walking Dead TV series—seems to be reaching its nadir, given that tons of people hate The Walking Dead now and audiences in general are thoroughly burnt-out on zombies (just Google "sick of zombie movies" and see what comes up).

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8 Prescient Dystopian Shorts—in Short, We're F*#&ed!

February 27th, 2017

Walk into your local book store these days, and dystopian authors like Orwell and Atwood and Huxley and PK Dick are all up in your face—times being what they are. Problem is that with the world about to end, like now, who has time to read a whole novel?

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10 Spanish-Language Authors You Need to Check Out

February 27th, 2017

Let's get two things straight before we move forward. First, I'm not saying you need to learn Spanish, so relax. Second, there are a plethora of authors from a diversity of Spanish-speaking countries that deserve your attention, but if you're reading this, I'm going to assume that past and present literary giants such as Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, Juan Rulfo, Julia Alvarez, Roberto Bolaño, Reinaldo Arenas, Isabel Allende, Pablo Neruda, Miguel de Cervantes, Pedro Pietri, Gloria Anzaldúa, and Jorge Luis Borges are already on your shelves/mind/soul.

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Confessions Of A Stay-at-Home Hack: An Introduction*

February 24th, 2017

I’ll be blunt, I thought I was going to have all the kids I was going to have when I turned forty. Which was perfectly fine with me, we were lucky enough to have our Sadie. She’s funny and intelligent (although, she’s prone to intellectual boredom, like her Pop. But that’s going to be her cross to bear, just like it is mine. Hopefully, I’ll be able to give her a few tips to get past certain hurdles), and just about my favorite person. The only person I like more is Mrs. Rawson for the obvious reasons.

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