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I Killed Twenty People (But Not the Dog): 10 Things I Learned Writing HIT, My Violent Teen Assassin Novel
April 28th, 2015
In order to save her mother, a teen is forced to become an indentured assassin in this sizzling dystopian thriller...
Read Column →The Brick by Brick Method of Writing
April 28th, 2015
I spent a year and a half anxiously procrastinating work on my thesis. Then, after dozens of hours writing in a haphazard way that led to bloated versions of the project that I couldn't possibly finish, I implemented some ideas from the world of project management. By synthesizing these ideas with my own writing process, I was able to develop a method that broke past my anxiety and allowed me to build an 80-page thesis over the course of roughly three weeks.
Read Column →Culling the Poetry Classics: T.S. Eliot
April 27th, 2015
Apparently April truly is the cruellest month. The Poet Thomas Stearns "T.S." Eliot (1888-1965); Anglicized American; born in St. Louis, Missouri. One of the most important poets of the 20th century on either side of the Atlantic, especially as an exemplar of the Modernist tradition that would dominate much of the 1900s. Winner of the 1948 Nobel Prize in Literature. Died in Kensington, London, England, at the age of 76.
Read Column →5 Things I Would Like To See The Crime Fiction Community Stop Doing In 2015
April 24th, 2015
Alrighty, so you all know I love crime fiction, right? I mean, I really wouldn't have much of a career without it, so obviously I'm pretty nuts about it. But, there are certain aspects of the crime fiction community (which I also love) that I find just a wee bit annoying.
Read Column →So You Want To Edit A Book Part 1: The Dramatic First Read Through
April 24th, 2015
Hi you guys! Remember me? Last fall, we walked through the process of writing a novel together, during which I shared tips and tricks in the hopes that I could pass along something helpful. While I wrote that column, I was actually writing a book. I mean, I couldn't exactly talk/blog about it without doing it, right? My hope, at the time, was that you, dear reader, wrote one too. Did you? How'd it go?
Read Column →Marvel Movie Preview: Avengers 2, CapAm 3, and More!!
April 23rd, 2015
Warning: The following column is spoiler-heavy Seriously, if you want to go into Avengers: Age of Ultron or Captain America 3: Civil War with a clean palette—don't read anymore. Still good? Okay, let's talk a little bit about what's coming up in the Marvel films, starting with the new cast in A2.
Read Column →Storyville: Shifting Sympathies
April 23rd, 2015
WARNING: SPOILERS for Gone Girl, by Gillian Flynn
Read Column →Reading in the Dark: A Brief History of Books for the Blind
April 22nd, 2015
Imagine this scenario: you’re reading Stieg Larsson’s Millennium trilogy and you come across a description of Lisbeth Salander’s wasp tattoo. You realize that you’ve never seen a wasp— in fact, you’ve never seen the color yellow. Think of Anne Shirley’s red hair, or the sea and sky that “look like fabric” in To the Lighthouse. With no visual referent, what do those words mean to you?
Read Column →5 Problems with the Humble Protagonist
April 22nd, 2015
As an independent editor, I work with a lot of novels over the course of a year, and a lot of protagonists too. Some are straight-ahead heroes and some are antiheroes; most fall somewhere in between. Then there's what I've come to think of as the Humble Protagonist (HP).
Read Column →Let's Read About Sex
April 21st, 2015
Everyone who read the above title and clicked away to watch a Salt-N-Pepa video, just know that I forgive you and understand your plight. Regardless of which Salt-N-Pepa video you chose. As for the rest of you, welcome to this column about sex. I'm hoping this qualifies me as a "sex columnist" and maybe even a "sexpert." Two goals met with one column? Not bad.
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