Columns
Showing 3704 Columns
Horror and Comedy: Unlikely Bedfellows
July 27th, 2015
Horror and comedy have been unlikely bedfellows ever since we started telling stories. Take Shakespeare and the way he carefully juxtaposes the comic and tragic throughout his plays. Of course, with the exception of erotica (and that’s a post for another day), horror and comedy are the only two genres that demand a physical reaction from the reader. And there’s a thin line between generating a laugh and fear, hence the old adage “if you don’t laugh, you’ll cry”. In horror comedy the modus operandi is to elicit both.
Read Column →How Not to Get Sued When Writing about Real People
July 27th, 2015
Let’s say your childhood friend has become a blazingly successful drug dealer who specializes in crystal meth. Let’s say he made a dumb business decision — he ripped off Randolph “Sweet Randy” Hobermeister, his supplier. Let’s say that Sweet Randy wasn’t pleased. No, he was not pleased at all. And let’s say that your friend (we’ll call him Ed) came to you for help, and you provided the help — letting Ed hide out at your place for a month while he sorted out his difficulties with Sweet Randy.
Read Column →Can Good Writing Save Spider-Man?
July 24th, 2015
Hey web-heads. Smilin’ Stan here. Okay, not really. I’m Pete. But I really care about Spider-Man. To the point that I’ve ALWAYS wanted to write a comic, put an asterisk next to a word balloon, and then write something down below like, “See ish #3314 for the first appearance of the Outer Space Wolf From Outer Space –Smilin’ Stan.” That’s a dream of mine. Let’s just establish that you’re dealing with that kind of arach-nerd here.
Read Column →10 Books About Revolution
July 24th, 2015
July is a month loaded down with historical revolutions and declarations of independence. There's the big, obvious American one, of course—a holiday known as the Fourth of July. Venezuela also expatriated themselves from Spain one day and thirty-five years later. We had the Young Turk Revolution of July, 1908. The Spanish Civil War began in July of 1936. Fidel Castro and his men attacked army barracks in Santiago on July 26th, 1953, an act that, while a failure at the time, eventually led to the Cuban Revolution and Castro's seizing of power.
Read Column →The Art of the Pitch and Synopsis
July 23rd, 2015
Every author I've met hates writing the elevator pitch. They hate the synopsis they have to write for their novel even more. There's something soul sucking about condensing the entirety of your book into a couple of sentences, or a page's worth litany of events. It's like pulling teeth. But you have to do it. So let's get to it.
Read Column →6 Women Who Punched the Prize Gap in the Face
July 22nd, 2015
Literary prizes have always been messy affairs. Kurt Vonnegut liked to blame his failure to win a Nobel Prize on his poor performance as a Saab salesman. “Swedes have short dicks but long memories,” he quoted mournfully from an old Norwegian proverb.
Read Column →10 Reasons Why You Should Be Reading Barry Gifford RIGHT NOW!
July 21st, 2015
Alright, folks, let’s talk about Barry Gifford. As far as I’m concerned, the man is the very definition of what a great American writer should be: Diverse, culturally savvy, and completely unafraid to take chances when it comes to his art. If you’re not reading Gifford, you are missing out on one of the most original voices currently publishing in the American scene. So let’s get our listicle on and take a look at 10 reasons why you should be reading Barry Gifford right fucking now!
Read Column →Advice From A Literary Character: Sabina from "The Unbearable Lightness of Being"
July 21st, 2015
The answers to life’s big questions don’t always come easily. It’s no wonder we seek out the advice of others so often. The obvious choices for this advice are friends, family, and loved ones, but have you ever wondered what your favorite literary characters would say to the questions that carry so much…well, weight?
Read Column →Storyville: The Best Books I've Read in 2015 (So Far)
July 20th, 2015
Not all of these books came out in 2015, in fact, most of them didn’t. But since my “to read” pile continues to grow, and I’ve been on the road a lot this summer, flying to San Antonio and Oklahoma City to speak at conferences, trying to turn off the television set and pick up a book when I’m at home, it was time to get caught up on a ton of recent titles. Here are the best books I’ve read so far this year, in no particular order.
Read Column →
