Columns

Time Out: Don't Write Time Travel (Unless You Do It Right)

February 3rd, 2017

Time travel. It’s such a popular, big idea. Everyone wants to put their stamp on time travel, take their swing at it. See how I used two metaphors there, one for jocks who like baseball and one for nerds who like stamp collecting? While I appreciate the excitement and enthusiasm for time travel tales, I think we could take a break, rethink some of what time travel really is, and then come back with better, more interesting stories. What do I mean?

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Pilot Breakdown: Beauty and Disarray in Westworld's 'The Original'

February 2nd, 2017

Greetings LitReactor! I’m your new columnist, Fred Venturini, and we’ll be talking pilots in this space in 2017. This week, I’m taking on Westworld’s pilot, “The Original,” which launched a much-discussed and much-watched season run and marked the unofficial start to the career of roughly 10,000 Reddit detectives. SPOILERS AHEAD

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What I Hate About Being A Writer

February 1st, 2017

When I first thought about writing a column on the many unpleasant aspects of being a writer, the first idea that came to mind was a grim catalog – a taxonomy of despair that would cover such demeaning and soul crushing things as, say, the lack of an adult income. Folks generally envy me my art. I tend to envy their more tangible assets.

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Representation Matters: A Literary Call To Arms

January 31st, 2017

Books are sometimes windows, offering views of worlds that may be real or imagined, familiar or strange. These windows are also sliding glass doors, and readers have only to walk through in imagination to become part of whatever world has been created or recreated by the author. When lighting conditions are just right, however, a window can also be a mirror. Literature transforms human experience and reflects it back to us, and in that reflection we can see our own lives and experiences as part of the larger human experience.

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Book vs. Film: 'Tony & Susan' vs. 'Nocturnal Animals'

January 31st, 2017

Nocturnal Animals. It was one of those big "must-see" movies at the end of 2016, a quasi-sleeper hit of the Christmas season, the little arthouse movie that could, despite competition from big-budget franchise behemoths like Rogue One and Fantastic Beasts, as well as standalone feel-good fare like La La Land, and video game adaptations like Assassin's Creed.

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Storyville: 10 Highly Anticipated Books for 2017

January 30th, 2017

Here is my personal list of books that I’m excited to read this year. It’s a wide range of titles, from big and small presses, so hopefully you find something you like.

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15 Books by POC You Should Buy Before Buying Rachel Dolezal's Nonsense

January 30th, 2017

Publishing a book about race written by Rachel Dolezal is as stupid as publishing a book by Milo Yiannopoulos.

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Southern Gothic: A Primer

January 27th, 2017

Southern Gothic: A literary genre that trades the staple cold, empty castles for derelict plantations and the dusty small towns of the American South; virginal brides and lords for fading aristocracy and broken people. It's a kind of deconstruction of the old antebellum South, a peek behind the curtain of proper southern gentlemen and ladies. It trades out Gothic Fiction's supernatural elements for a touch of magic realism and a fixation with the grotesque. The South's history of slavery and racism looms over the proceedings.

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A List of 2017 Workshops & Conferences for Writers

January 26th, 2017

If your 2017 writing goals include networking or honing your craft, there’s no better place to do so than a writer’s conference or workshop. Whether you are looking to shore up your technique with quality intensives, or network with industry professionals, there is an upcoming event for you. Some are small, with one-on-one opportunities for meeting with industry professionals and agents, while others are better suited for meeting fellow writers and building your network on a smaller scale.

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Writing the Crime Scene: Arson

January 25th, 2017

Imagine your detective racing to stop a pyromaniac from terrorizing the city with a series of deadly infernos during a heatwave. Or a fire investigator struggling to prove an 'accidental' condominium fire was actually torched to cover-up a triple homicide. Pyromania is one of the three behavioural characteristics in the McDonald Triad for sociopaths and serial killers. Yet arson remains an underrated and underused method of murder in crime novels.

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