Columns

Long Story Short: 10 Tips for Trimming an Overly Long Novel Down to Size

June 4th, 2015

Big books are increasingly a thing. Some people love them. Some people hate them. As an editor, I say, if you've written an epic novel that requires 110,000+ words to tell its epic story, go on with your bad self. But before you send that beast out for consideration, make sure you haven't just included 30,000+ extra words. 

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'Ex Machina' and the Reinvention of the Femme Fatale

June 4th, 2015

First things first, if you haven't seen Ex Machina yet, there will be MAJOR spoilers ahead. By this I mean, I'm going to give away the entire plot.

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Culling the Poetry Classics: Sylvia Plath

June 4th, 2015

Where do I even begin with this one...

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The Books of 'Mad Men'

June 3rd, 2015

Mad Men finished its run on May 17. I'm super bummed out, man. One of the things that made the show shine was its attention to detail. From the wardrobe to the set design, everything felt real, as if it had just jumped out of a 60s magazine. Like the show's characters, the creators sold the 60s to us pretty well. I'd love for someone to do some research on how many people started smoking since the show came on the air.

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UPDATED WITH WINNER - LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: May Edition

June 1st, 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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So You Want to Edit A Book Part 3: The Paper Project

June 1st, 2015

There comes a time in every author's life when she picks up a printed copy of what, so far, she's only seen in pixels — a hard copy of the words she's worked so long and hard to craft. It can be a beautiful moment — it really can — but it's also a moment that leads to more work. So much more work. So much work, I forget, each time, exactly how much more work this step can be.

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Book vs. Film(s): 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers'

May 29th, 2015

Collectively speaking, we as a society accept that horror novels and movies not only reflect universal fears, but also contain critiques of contemporary—and, eventually, present day—social issues. Whether or not the creators of horror had an agenda in mind, we can retroactively root out evidence of Dawn of the Dead as a critique of consumerism, Videodrome as an equation of television addiction to insanity, Alien 3 as a warning against pro-life politics infiltrating the government, and so on.

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5 Crime Short Story Writers You Should Be Reading Right Now

May 28th, 2015

Back when I was writing for Spinetingler Magazine on a regular basis, we ran this cool feature called “Conversations With The Bookless.” (The concept was borrowed from Jeff VanderMeer by Spinetingler head honcho, Brian Lindenmuth.) It was a very cool feature which highlighted short story writers who had yet to publish a book. It included writers such as Frank Bill, Todd Robinson, Chris Holm, Patti Abbott, Kieran Shea, and a couple of dozen others (myself included).

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DIY Book Covers for the Self Publishing-Inclined

May 28th, 2015

If you're self-publishing or want to, probably one of the first roadblocks you're gonna hit is that you need to source your own book cover. The simplest way to get over that hurdle is to hire a professional cover designer, or perhaps purchase a ready-made cover. The former can be a bit tricky, but asking around your author circle of friends will usually turn up someone reliable. For the latter, an internet search is sometimes all that is required.

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Video Game Flops: What E.T., Simon's Quest, and Virtual Boy Can Teach Writers

May 27th, 2015

I recently beat Castlevania on my Game Boy Advance. Am I writing this column entirely for the sake of making that announcement? To give space to what is probably, pathetically, the greatest achievement of my life thus far? Not entirely. But there's a percentage. The real reason for this column, the 87% of the reasoning that isn't my Castlevania announcement, is Castlevania II: Simon's Quest.

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