Columns

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).

Read Column →

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?

Read Column →

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.

Read Column →

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.

Read Column →

Why I Listen to Audiobooks and You Should Too

February 24th, 2017

I’ve listened to audiobooks most of my life. When I was younger I used to listen to audio cassettes before bed and on long car journeys. I especially remember listening to C.S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia again-and-again. Thankfully technology has progressed and I don’t have to carry multiple cassettes and a cumbersome Walkman if I want to listen to audio on the go. These days I can download or stream audio from my phone thanks to audiobook services like Audible, LibriVox and iTunes. I adore audiobooks and audio stories in all their guises.

Read Column →

10 Books About Fictional Films and Filmmakers

February 23rd, 2017

I love books. I love film. I love books about film. The behind-the-scenes anecdotes, minutiae about production—I find it all fascinating. So it stands to reason I would love fiction about film. And sure, stories that take place within the timeline of existing cinematic history are great, but they only allow for so much narrative wiggle room. I want stories about films I've never seen, and probably never will. Tales of tyrannical directors, difficult starlets, and reclusive actors unheard of. Stories about films that could never exist in the real world.

Read Column →

6 Couples in Literature Who Should Just Break Up Already

February 23rd, 2017

Every reader has their OTP (One True Pairing, in case you’re not down with the slang) in literature. You know, the couple that you swoon for, that you wished and hoped and prayed would get together as you read. Their first kiss gave you all the feels, and you closed the book with a smile, knowing that true love had worked its magic and all was well in the world.

Read Column →

9 Crappy eReader Features We Don't Need

February 23rd, 2017

I got my first Kindle about a year ago, and although I spend a good chunk of my work days troubleshooting eReaders and eReading apps, this last year has provided a true, intimate experience with an eReader. The honeymoon is over. I’ve got some complaints.

Read Column →

"The Long Walk": Stephen King's Best Novel

February 22nd, 2017

Stephen King has 54 novels under his belt. I'm here to tell you which one is the hands down, no doubt, absolute best. The Long Walk is a novel King released under his pseudonym Richard Bachman in 1979. It was the first novel he wrote (Carrie was the first one to be published), which is impressive, considering how good it is. He was still in college at the time. I'm not suggesting that King was never able to match his first effort; he wrote other masterpieces after this one. It's just that this one inches over the finish line first. 

Read Column →

Storyville: How to Survive a Creative Writing Workshop

February 22nd, 2017

So, you want to be in a creative writing workshop, huh? Are you ready? Maybe you are, and maybe you’re not. But whether you’re just getting together a few friends and peers or studying at a college or university (including getting your MFA), here are a few tips, some things I’ve learned from my own time in a variety of workshops.

Read Column →