Columns

Controversy Be Damned: My High Hopes for Harper Lee's New Novel

March 11th, 2015

I couldn't have been older than twelve the first time I picked up Harper Lee's iconic novel, To Kill a Mockingbird. I don't remember why I started reading it when I was still so young, years before it would have been assigned English Lit reading. Perhaps my mother, a lifelong Gregory Peck fan, had been watching the movie version, and perhaps I sat and watched it, drawn into the story despite the grainy black and white.

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Writing 'The Other'

March 10th, 2015

About a month or so back, I became fascinated with Boston. Not the city itself, so much, but a certain subset of people, perhaps equal parts stereotype and true-blue. The "Boston" character that I'm speaking of is fairly specific: he's working class, descended from a long line of Irish immigrants, and always seems to have at least one toe dipped into something illegal, or at least related to crime (which is at odds with his very pronounced yet flexible moral code).

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Five of the Juiciest Literary Lawsuits

March 9th, 2015

It’s a sad reflection on humanity when your assessment of literary lawsuits comes down to greed, or mental health issues. And as mentioned by Scholastic in the J. K. Rowling lawsuit, success seems to breed not only imitation, but also litigation. But, here we find ourselves… There are so many juicy literary lawsuits that I had difficulty whittling it down to the most outrageous. If you have any others you think warrant a mention, feel free to comment!

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Five Asinine Things Writers Hate to Hear

March 6th, 2015

The writer's life is a life of rage, pain, humiliation, despair, and (did I mention it?) rage. Cocktail parties become minefields as we dodge questions about what we do for what is euphemistically called "a living." Civilians just don't get it. With purposeful malice, they insist on asking us to discuss what we're working on. Don't they understand that they're knifing us in the heart?

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Brainstorm Your Next Novel with Fiasco - Part 1

March 6th, 2015

Having some trouble with your novel WIP? Not sure how to connect the dots or how to fill out that character roster? I'm here to help.

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Mathematicians Among Us: 10 Books With a Numerical Heart

March 6th, 2015

In honor of the most accurate Pi Day to occur during this century (3.1415), a list of mathematical books seemed only appropriate. For a subject that many writers are stereotypically shy of (at least, according to the New Yorker), it didn’t take very long to compile a list of titles that marry mathematical concepts with literature quite nicely. There’s a certain line of thinking which proposes the human brain is split neatly into two halves— the creative and the logical.

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What The Hell Is 'Wild Animus'?

March 5th, 2015

There are a few baffling items every thrift store carries. Every thrift store has a collection of crutches. Usually they're corralled in a big barrel, and usually the under-arm pads are in a state that makes you wonder just how many people sweat acid from their armpits. Every thrift store has golf shoes ranging in size from men's 14 to men's 177. These shoes usually contain remnants of the last round of golf played, a little dried grass and mud from whatever course frustrated the player to the point of tossing the sport entirely.

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Five Reasons Not to Give Up on Your WIP

March 4th, 2015

All writers have that moment. You know the one: You’re sitting hunched over at the computer, rereading your incomplete manuscript in a daze of horror, and suddenly think, “This sucks.”

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UPDATED WITH WINNERS - LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: February Edition

March 2nd, 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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In Defense Of Short Fiction (Not That I Need To Defend It, Because It's Awesome)

February 27th, 2015

If you’ve been reading me for a while, chances are you know how much I love short fiction. For every novel I read, I read at least two collections or anthologies. (My current short fiction reads are Me and Daddy Listen to Bob Marley By Ann Pancake and Let Me Be Frank With You By Richard Ford.) Don’t get me wrong, I love novels, too.

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