Columns

Unrealistic Word Count Goals Are Like Yo-Yo Diets

July 6th, 2022

I’ve discovered a writing secret: word count goals can be unhealthy.  At least for me. There’s this idea I used to find myself tied to. I must write X number of words every single day. It was like a yo-yo diet. I’d think: I didn’t make my word count goal yesterday, so today I’ve got to catch up. Too many calories the other day means too few today. It’s a cycle of artistic binging and starvation. Would you write more if you didn’t have the guilt? The answer for me is yes. I do.

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On Hermann Hesse and "The Glass Bead Game"

July 1st, 2022

Author photo via Wikipedia Hermann Hesse, born July 2, 1877, might be best known today as that European author who wrote a lot about Buddhism. And that’s true. His most famous novel, Siddhartha, is about the search for enlightenment set in the time of the Buddha, and has been widely read by anyone in the west who’s curious about eastern religions. 

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LURID: True Hollywood Stories

June 29th, 2022

Hollywood loves silvery stories about itself, carefully scripted rags-to-riches sagas about the birth of stars, or fables about the triumph of artists over accountants. These stories provide a steady supply of the fresh meat the industry needs, enticing innocents out of the beanfields and boondocks and onto a Los Angeles bound bus.The newcomers are only vaguely aware that while a celebrated few might swim, most will sink without trace. And drowning is never easy.

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12 YA Novels I Can't Wait For: July-Dec 2022

June 24th, 2022

Well, we’re officially (almost) halfway through 2022! That feels like a lie, but time is fake, and who am I to quibble with the calendar? Regardless, this is a milestone worth celebrating, because it means it’s finally time for me to make a list of 12 YA novels I’m highly anticipating in the second half of the year! Without further ado, let’s dive on in.

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The Bookish Hugeness Of Fall 2022

June 23rd, 2022

Summer sucks for readers. And I don’t care what you all say, summer sucks, in general. It’s hot, everyone smells. It turns out that powdering your crotch to keep the sweat at bay kills you, and yet, some days, given the choice between whiffing the odor when I take my pants off or being dead, the grave doesn’t sound so bad. At least it’s cool under the dirt. The best thing about the summer is that it ends. And with summer’s end, especially THIS summer’s end, comes some truly huge book releases.

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Things I Never Want To Read In An Opening Sentence So Please Stop

June 16th, 2022

If you’re on the search for an impossible writing task, here’s one for you: Write an intro to a column about intros. THAT’S pressure. A bit back I was on the hunt for some books with great openings. I found a few good ones, but, damn, a lot of books have crappy openings. Even modern books are making the same mistakes we should've trashed a long time ago. Here are some of the worst ways to open your book. Please, just…don’t.

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The Vital Role of Libraries in Wartime

June 14th, 2022

Image header is public domain On February 15, 1944, Allied bombers reduced a huge portion of the 6th century Italian abbey of Monte Cassino to rubble. The attack killed 230 Italian civilians who were seeking shelter in the abbey, which had been left unoccupied by German troops. It was a costly military blunder based on misinformation.

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Storyville: The Intersection Between Plotting and Pantsing

June 13th, 2022

Some of you may write your stories (or novels) plotting out every detail, with extensive outlines, knowing exactly where everything is going. You, are plotters. The rest of you may have a broad idea of what you are going to write—based perhaps on a genre, theme, concept, or emotion—and write from a place of discovery, unsure about the specific details, but aware of the feeling you want. You, are pantsers. I do both.

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From My Book Club: 12 Months of Books

June 10th, 2022

Are you ever curious to know what other people’s private book clubs are reading? I sure am, with the kind of shameless curiosity that compels you to steal a glance into a stranger's apartment on your nightly walks — recognizing what they’ve hung on the walls, whether they have plants around, what the table they have their breakfast on looks like. Whether you share my indiscreet curiosity or not, you’re very welcome to peek behind the curtains of my own book club, a monthly group that completes its first year this month.

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Out of the Pandemic, A Writing Renaissance

June 9th, 2022

Michael O’Connell of Jacksonville, Florida retired in his 60s. He had started his writing journey years before, but doesn't feel he took it seriously until 2020. Due to the realities of the pandemic and an awareness of his own age, he started thinking about how precious time was. He got serious, hired a writing coach, and started writing short stories as he worked to rewrite the draft of a first novel.

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