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Walter Mosley, Natural Language, and Empathy
January 9th, 2023
Most people know Walter Mosley, who turns 71 years old this week, from his detective novels, including the famous Easy Rawlins series which began with Devil in a Blue Dress. But Mosley is much more than a mystery writer. He’s written sci-fi, essays, and literary fiction, though none of that is as well-known as his mystery work.
Read Column →What I Learned From 6 Books On Writing Faster
January 6th, 2023
Header image via Pixabay Want to write faster? Get in line. This is a question that’s been plaguing writers since the dawn of time. So as you can imagine, there are a ton of books on the market claiming they have the answer. And while the cynic in me finds it impossible to believe that any of them have more to say than “practice, practice, practice” — after all, isn’t that the fastest way to Carnegie Hall?
Read Column →Wednesday Addams and the Nihilist as Narrator
January 5th, 2023
Header image public domain The internet has been buzzing about the new Addams Family Netflix adaptation since it was released in November, especially a catchy dance sequence showing Wednesday Addams killing it on the dance floor. I watched the show and generally enjoyed its quippy dark humor at face value, but I couldn’t help but wonder why someone as seemingly nihilistic as Wednesday Adams is compelled to do anything to further her own plot, never mind get out on the floor at a high school prom and bust some moves (not the first Addams to start a dance craze.
Read Column →The Masterplan Moonwalk
January 3rd, 2023
So, there’s this long and rich history of ridiculously lucky fictional villains and their impossibly successful schemes.
Read Column →Typos: The Final Word
January 2nd, 2023
Typos are like bedbugs: they’re manageable, but they’re impossible to eradicate. Nobody likes them, but everybody encounters them at some point. And both bedbugs and typos appear in books more often than we’d like to admit. I vote we have this one, last discussion about typos, then we stop talking about them. They’re boring, they don’t hold the meaning so many of us think they do, and, like, who gives a shit?
Read Column →"Madam Tomahawk" and the Thrill of Writing in Someone Else’s Universe
December 30th, 2022
If you stick with the writing game long enough, someone may ask you to take a shot at characters and worlds invented by someone else. It could be a Star Wars story, or the next chapter in a novel some writer friends are passing around for fun. Snatching the proverbial baton from someone else can present some (fun) challenges unique to writing—and it’s potentially overwhelming if you’re not careful.
Read Column →Books We’re Looking Forward To In 2023
December 29th, 2022
If you’re anything like us, you start every year promising to read the books in your precariously stacked TBR pile. And every year, somehow, we defy the laws of physics by adding even more books to that stack with very few removed. It’s the paradox of being a bookworm. There’s never enough time and always too many fantastic books. 2023 won’t be the year any of us break that cycle, as there are already so many good books waiting to be released. We went through and found eleven we’re looking forward to the most in the New Year.
Read Column →Phantom of the Hip-Hopera: An Improv Novel-Writing Experiment
December 23rd, 2022
They tell you to start your column with your best line, so I’ll start by telling you this is a story about a new way to write fiction. And now I can get to the extremely boring second line: I do a podcast. If I was good at promoting myself, I would link it here. But I’m not.* Besides, it’s the worst kind of podcast: just some dope talking about whatever, no format, all nonsense.
Read Column →LitReactor Staff Picks: The Best Books of 2022 - Part II
December 22nd, 2022
Original image via Rodnae Productions Another year has come and gone. You know what that means, don't you? Time for a bunch of strangers to tell you what was good! And why should you care what the LitReactor staff thinks are the best books of the year? Trick question! You shouldn't. But what they have to say might interest you nonetheless, because they are good-looking and knowledgeable and they read like the wind.
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