Columns

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.

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10 Holiday Gifts Every Book Lover Needs This Year

December 4th, 2015

We’ve reached the part of the year when just stepping outside your house means being assailed with Mariah Carey renditions of songs about trees and sleigh bells and desperation. Add to that an army of psychotic bargain hunters and cardboard Santas holding “X days ’til Christmas!” countdown signs at every retailer’s door and it’s enough to make you want to hole up in your house with several cases of boozy nog until spring. Go ahead!

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American Horror Backstory: The Use of Flashbacks in "AHS: Hotel"

December 3rd, 2015

SPOILERS AHEAD Since it first hit airwaves back in 2011, American Horror Story has always been a complicated TV show. Generally speaking, in terms of quality, it’s been hit and miss. Character motivations, narrative continuity, and a true sense of closure at season’s end have consistently taken a backseat to maintaining a pastiche of horror tropes, horror movie homage, and comedy. Story arcs for individual episodes generally take precedent over a larger, season-spanning narrative, making the show feel at times slapdash and aimless.

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Book Launches, Portland Style

December 3rd, 2015

Launch your book with hijinks and mayhem. And doughnuts! Coffee, beer, bikes, hipsters and books. Those are the typical words associated with Portland, Oregon. Oh, and legal pot.  And doughnuts. Yup, we celebrate all the vices in our rainy left-coast city, so it’s only fitting that when it comes to launching books, our freak flag flies higher than most.

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Don't Say 'Macbeth': The Curse of the Scottish Play On Stage and Screen

December 2nd, 2015

The latest film adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth hits US theaters on December 4, starring Michael Fassbender as the doomed murderer. Perhaps more than any of Shakespeare's plays, Macbeth has a great deal of superstition surrounding its actual performances. Saying the title of the play during production (or even while in a theater) has long been considered the catalyst of great misfortune. There are remedies: you have to run out of the theater and spin around three times.

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LitReactor Staff Picks: The Best Books of 2015

December 2nd, 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.

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One Month of Reading Ryu Murakami: A Primer

December 1st, 2015

Image via Pushkin Press You might be familiar with Ryu Murakami even if you don’t think you are, thanks to the popularity of Takashi Miike’s Audition. Whenever Japanese horror films are mentioned, Audition is at the centre of the discussion alongside the likes of Ju-On, Ringu and Dark Water.

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UPDATED WITH WINNER - LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: 5 Word Story Edition

November 30th, 2015

Flash fiction: A style of fictional literature marked by extreme brevity Welcome to LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown, a monthly bout of writing prowess. How It Works We give you inspiration in the form of a picture, poem, video, or prompt. You write a flash fiction piece using the inspiration we gave you. Put your entry in the comments section. One winner will be picked and awarded a prize.

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Inhuman History: 6 Must Read Inhumans Comics

November 30th, 2015

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is massive and ever-expanding. One of the biggest shared universes in film. Which is good, because there’s still a great deal of comics to cover. As the movies continue to reach further into space with the Infinity Stone storyline, more and more characters with interstellar roots are being introduced.

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Ready Player One: 5 Books About Video Games

November 30th, 2015

Nerd culture is everywhere these days. A relatively new-ish development has been a slew of video game related novels (no, I'm not talking about novelizations and tie-ins). With the kids that grew up in the '80s with Amigas and SNES, who are now in their 30s and 40s, this was bound to happen. Just look at Adam Sandler's Pixels (by no means a good movie, but leaps and bounds better than his usual fare, like *shudder* Grown Ups 2).

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