Columns

Embracing Diversity in YA Literature: Six Titles to Get You Started

September 30th, 2014

Never before has the conversation about diversity in literature been quite so active. With the We Need Diverse Books campaign in full swing, there’s never been a better time to explore young adult novels that are raising the bar with a rich and diverse cast of characters. We will look at books that celebrate a wide range of diversity from authors like Una LaMarche, Amèlie Sarn, and John Ed Bradley.

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

September 30th, 2014

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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Five Real Book Thieves

September 29th, 2014

photo by Simon Lesley Although Markus Zusak may have popularized the idea in his YA novel, The Book Thief, literary theft isn’t exclusive to the realm of fiction. It might be a relatively unusual crime, but every now and then, someone runs sticky fingers through a library catalogue. Although some heists make for an interesting story from a third party perspective, the loss of even a single valuable book can be devastating to a small business.

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Book Vs. Film Vs. Unmade Film: "Pet Sematary"

September 29th, 2014

WARNING: Spoilers discussed freely.

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6 Novels That Will Destroy Your Good Mood

September 26th, 2014

photo © sylvain.collet via Flickr There are times when life is so full of joy.

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Testing Lab: Gifts For Writers

September 26th, 2014

When you Google phrases like "Good gifts for writers" or "unusual gifts for writers" or "what the $^#& do I get this stupid @$$%^@#?" you'll find plenty of advice blogs and heaps of bizarre gadgets, and you'll find several that pop up over and over. But do these gifts actually work? Are they, as MC Hammer put it, 2 Legit 2 Quit, or are they the exact opposite, 2 Crappy 2 Make You Happy? When you buy something for the writer in your life, are you wasting your money in a fun, conversation piece way, or is it in a junk drawer kind of way?

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Why The F*ck Aren’t You Reading Matt Kindt?

September 25th, 2014

image courtesy firstsecondbooks.com Why The F*ck Aren't You Reading? is a feature where the columnist spotlights a writer who has a dedicated following and is well known within the writing community, but hasn't achieved the elephant-in-the-room style success of a Stephen King or Gillian Flynn—But they deserve to, dammit! Hopefully the column will help gain the author featured a few more well-deserved readers.

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So You Want to Write a Book, Part 1: Ready, Set, GO!

September 25th, 2014

photo by Jacson Querubin via Flickr Last month, in the

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5 Things Literary Writers Can Learn from Sci-Fi Writers

September 24th, 2014

Say you're a literary writer. You've worked with famous types, attended plenty of conferences, maybe you even have an MFA. Chances are, there are a few things you don't know that writers of sci-fi (and speculative fiction in general) know that you don't.

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Screenwriting: The Emotional Spine

September 22nd, 2014

Film is an emotional medium. Reading a book puts you inside the protagonist’s head, but watching a movie plants you firmly in her shoes. The immersive audio-visual experience of a darkened theater, especially the score swelling through surround sound, is conducive to feeling, not thinking. We read a film not so much by listening to dialogue, but by watching emotions flicker across characters’ faces. We react physically to scares by jumping in our seats, and a dynamic chase sequence gets our pulse racing along with the protagonist’s.

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