Columns

Library Love: Little Free Libraries

November 11th, 2016

Image via littlefreelibrary.org Have you ever found yourself walking down the street, searching for sustenance and caffeine, and happened upon a Little Free Library? What is this anomaly? It's kitschy and cute and — hey! The most recent book in the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series is in there! This is the best day ever! And so begins your relationship with a tiny phenomenon that is sweeping the globe.

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What Works & What Doesn't: 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'

November 11th, 2016

Welcome once again to What Works & What Doesn't, whereby we examine the basic mechanics of a good screenplay by weighing a given film's pros and cons. This month we'll be looking at the 1986 John Hughes comedy Ferris Bueller's Day Off.  Let's get it out of the way right now: Bueller? Bueller? Good? Okay.

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5 Reasons To Keep A Record Of What You Read

November 10th, 2016

If you’re like me, you’re always reading something. Sometimes you’re reading multiple books at once. Other times, you’re so fixated on a single book that you actually feel a deep sadness when you reach the last page. Regardless of your level of reading obsession, I believe it’s a great idea to keep a record of what you read.

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Happy Birthday, Anne Sexton

November 10th, 2016

Anne Gray Harvey Sexton was born Nov. 9, 1928 in Newton, Massachusetts to a woolen manufacturer. Her life was fraught with unhappy relationships and a downhill battle with depression, but to read her writing is to glimpse the mind of a remarkable woman whose work demonstrated the convalescent powers of the written word. Her writing began as a form of therapy and it has endured long past her suicide at the age of 46. 

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5 Reasons To Hire A Freelance Editor, and What To Do When You Can't

November 9th, 2016

Freelance editors often get a bum rap from authors in the literary world. They are seen as predators. Critical snobs. The scum of the earth. Hello, I'm a freelance editor. 

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40 Years Ago, Howard The Duck Ran For President

November 9th, 2016

I've got a piece of election history for you, and I'm betting it's one you didn't hear about yesterday, no matter how much news you watched. Let me take you back 40 years. Yes, 1976. America was tooling around in automobiles powered by 59-cent/gallon gas. NASA released the famous Face on Mars photo. A baby named Joseph Lawrence Mignogna, Jr. was born, and little did we know that a scant few years later, he'd be "Whoa"-ing his way into our hearts.

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Ten Obsessions that Murder Writing Careers

November 8th, 2016

Writing is an obsession. It occupies your brain all the time. Your characters talk to you at night. Plot twists come to you in the middle of conversations with other human beings. The perfect day is spent inside putting words to paper regardless of the weather outside. Such is the life of the writer. Unfortunately, the same obsessive nature that allows writers to live and breathe their art is the same behavior that makes them easily develop hurtful practices that may hinder their career and cut into their writing time. Here are ten of those bad obsessions.

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Google Made Me Stupid. How Do I Learn to Read Again?

November 7th, 2016

“The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.” – William Gibson, Neuromancer I can’t read anymore.

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World Fantasy Convention 2016: Delayed Live Blog

November 7th, 2016

Thursday October 27 4:30 AM. My cousin drives me to San Jose airport from Gilroy, CA, to make my 6:20 flight to Columbus, OH. Howard Stern is on the radio and Lady Gaga plays "A Million Reasons" live in the studio. I start to cry in the dark truck, and I cling to my cousin on the curb, gripped by separation anxiety. Seriously. WFC? What was I thinking?

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What I'm Doing Instead of NaNoWriMo

November 1st, 2016

I've always been a big supporter of NaNoWriMo. I think it's a worthwhile endeavor that can teach writers a lot about style and habits. Over the years, I've participated to mixed success. Fast forward to today, however, and writing has become the way I pay the bills as a freelance columnist and newspaper stringer. I honestly don't have the time or desire to pump out 50,000 words for fun or practice, especially since it would draw energy away from the commercial writing that I rely on.

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