Columns

5 More Quick, Easy Ways to Promote Yourself in Your Underwear

August 20th, 2014

In June, we talked about some Tips, Tricks and Tweaks you can use to promote yourself on the interweb.The title's been changed from promoting a book to promoting yourself, because all writers, and even that sub-species of writers—people—can use the methods listed below to help establish a solid web presence. This includes everything from announcing your latest blog posts and upcoming events to networking with other movers and shakers in the field.

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How Technology Affects the Way We Write

August 20th, 2014

Photo: Original manuscript for Dickens' Tale of Two Cities, typewritten manuscript for Ellison' s The Invisible Man and the foreward to A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition by Ernest Hemingway [Scribner] Technology has done a lot for us, from improving the way we live to lengthening our lives to making communication across the world instantaneous. Every moment of our day is affected by developments from the last few hundred years.

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Punctuation Pairs: How To Combine Punctuation

August 19th, 2014

As if the rules of punctuation weren’t confusing enough, what do you do when you have more than one punctuation mark to contend with? Though our proverbial stodgy old English professors might beg to differ, the rules of punctuation are flexible. They depend mostly on context and intended meaning. This is especially true when combining punctuation marks. This article will cover some of the more common punctuation pairs and how to use them.

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The Machine With a Soul: Typewriters In the Past, Present, and Future

August 18th, 2014

“There was a young man who came into the shop,” one of the associates at an antique store in Gloucester recalls. Afternoon light from across the harbor falls on rows of tweed coats, polished wing tip shoes, and an Underwood or two. In the best possible way, it looks like where Daniel Radcliffe found his clothes for Kill Your Darlings. “He was just out of the Coast Guard, and he was a little...lost. He only knew he wanted to do something that involved writing.”

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Reconsidering 'True Detective'

August 18th, 2014

This article's very existence is a testament to the argument that originality doesn't necessarily count for much.

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Prose & Conversation: Death of the Short Story

August 15th, 2014

Over the months of running Bookshots, I’ve gotten a feeling for the kind of books that the LitReactor reviewers enjoy. Everyone has their preferences and that’s fine by me, but I was a little startled to discover that Brian McGackin, poet and LitReactor columnist, would not touch a short story collection with a ten-foot greased bargepole.

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Book vs. Television Premiere: 'Outlander'

August 14th, 2014

Disclaimer: I’ll try not to divulge anything that would outright ruin the reading or viewing of Outlander, but I will discuss mild spoilers in this column.

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10 Soul-Crushing Things About Writing in 2014

August 14th, 2014

I’m sorry. I’m sorry that sometimes I’m a Negative Nancy. I’m sorry I have things I’m pissed off about and that I’m sharing my resentment. Mainly, I’m sorry that I began this whole thing with a two-word, attention-grabbing paragraph. It was calculated to make potential readers wonder just what it is I am sorry for. Also, I'm sorry that there are only 3 things on this list, not 10, as the title promises. (See #2.)

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The Great Hugo Controversy of 2014

August 13th, 2014

In just a few short days, the 2014 Hugo Awards Ceremony will take place at Worldcon, held this year in London. For those of you who don’t know, the Hugo is one of the top honors awarded to Science Fiction and Fantasy works. Unlike the Nebula Awards, which can only be voted on by members of the Science Fiction Writers of America, and the World Fantasy Award, which is awarded by a judges panel, the Hugos are the most populist of the major awards.

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Burnt Tongues: A Behind the Scenes Chronicle

August 12th, 2014

Introduction: If you're reading this, then you already know I made it, I won, I got in. Out of the thousands of people dropping their shit in the "Chuckshop," somehow I beat the odds...beat them. I don't really know. We tried not to use the word "contest". Even though we knew that's what it was, to call it a contest would mean we weren't workshopping or helping each other. It would mean that we were competing.

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