Columns

How Backstory Almost Totally Fucked Up the Star Wars Franchise: A Lesson for Writers

December 11th, 2015

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away… It must have seemed like such a good idea at the time. The opening crawl, reminding us of events we hadn’t yet witnessed. The cheeky addition of Episode 4 to the title, as though we had managed to somehow miss parts 1 through 3. The subtitle A New Hope, hinting at decades of past desperation. The insertion of that now iconic phrase, right at the beginning of the film.

Read Column →

Forgotten Authors: Why John Steakley's 'Armor' and 'Vampire$' are Worth Remembering

December 11th, 2015

John Steakley only published two relatively obscure novels in his life. The first, published in 1984, was Armor, and while taking clear inspiration from Robert Heinlein's Starship Troopers, it presupposed the space marine subgenre by a few years. Vampire$, published in 1990, was the second, and has a bit more of a reputation for being adapted into the dud that is John Carpenter's Vampires (1998).

Read Column →

Gather 'Round For Tales From Marvel's Holiday Specials

December 10th, 2015

What's that up on the house top? Why it's some Marvel Holiday Specials. Yes, in the spirit of the holidays, Marvel cranked out some special comic books, featuring all of your favorite characters in short, holiday-themed tales.  Consider me your personal Rudolph, guiding you through the hazy winter of the Marvel Holiday Specials. My nose is red (drunken bar fight), and kids were real jerks to me, so I'm pretty well-qualified.

Read Column →

Gift Ideas: A Book For Every Family Member

December 10th, 2015

The holidays are swiftly approaching, and gift buying time is running dangerously low. If you haven’t marked everyone off of your to-buy list, I have a one stop solution for you: your local, independent bookstore. Most have cards and unique gifts, but let’s not forget the books themselves! Books are my favorite gift to give (as well as receive) because we could all use more of them. We never tire of stories and knowledge.

Read Column →

Winter Break Breakdown: The Argument Against Submitting During the Holidays

December 9th, 2015

Between last September and November, several regular writing clients of mine either closed their doors or cleaned out their freelance staff, leaving me to scramble for new contracts during December. This did not go well. Instead, the experience became a lesson in why submitting during the holidays is not a great idea, and how to survive if you have to do it anyway.   

Read Column →

5 Books that Inspired Fallout

December 9th, 2015

Fallout 4 came out a couple of weeks ago, and while it's perhaps a bit of a departure from previous entries, it's still a fun game about traipsing around the wasteland and fighting mutants. Now whether you're an old fan of the franchise or you just picked up your first Fallout game last week, you already know: There's nothing quite like it out there. The mix of post-apocalyptic exploration, charming retro-futurism, and horrifying creatures is unique to the game. 

Read Column →

LitReactor Staff Picks: The Best Books of 2015 part II

December 8th, 2015

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 writers think 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. So for those who care, we submit for your approval/derision some of LitReactor's favorite reads of 2015.

Read Column →

Tis the Season...For Murder: 6 Holiday Murder Mysteries

December 8th, 2015

Everybody knows the holidays are all about spreading cheer and goodwill towards fellow man, but there are a surprising number of holiday themed mysteries with more than Christmas spirit in mind. While most people are baking the Christmas ham and trimming the tree, we are settling in with murder and mayhem in these six holiday murder mysteries. If you like your holidays shared with something a little more sinister, these are the books for you.

Read Column →

LitReactor Community Spotlight: December 2015

December 7th, 2015

Good gravy, it's December. That means I've been doing this job for a year and a half now, since my first column (and roughly the time that I started working as the community manager) was back in May of 2014. I've grown, like, eight shoe sizes since then.

Read Column →

NaNoWriMo Hangover: 8 Steps to Recovery

December 7th, 2015

If you’ve been writing for any amount of time, then you’ve probably heard of National Novel Writing Month aka NaNoWriMo. The premise is simple: write 50,000 words in thirty days. The execution? Not so simple. Work ethic notwithstanding, there’s not many people built to write a solid first draft in thirty days or less. Other things like day jobs, family obligations, and the Thanksgiving holiday tend to serve as additional hurdles. I’ll be blunt here and just say it: I don’t like this system.

Read Column →