Columns

Twelve Twisted Tales For Christmas

December 15th, 2014

It's that time of year again. Shoppers are now out in full force, being rude to anyone and everyone they meet. TVs, drones, and expensive toys kids won't care about in a year are accumulating under faux-pine trees festooned with lights and ornaments. Little Jesus babies are miraculously spawning across church and residential lawns, and soon every channel on the local and cable spectrum will ceaselessly ram A Christmas Story down our collective throats (I've heard "You'll shoot your eye out" so many times now, the words have lost all meaning).

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Ursula K. Le Guin, Master of Realism

December 15th, 2014

Ursula K. Le Guin raises a whole lot of hell for an octogenarian, and her appearance this year at the National Book Awards was no exception. In her acceptance speech for the medal for Distinguished Contribution to American Letters, which quickly went viral, she took dead-eye aim at a certain "profiteer" attempting to strongarm publishers into accepting lower prices for their books.

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Great Geek Gift Ideas For The Holidays

December 12th, 2014

Know some geeks? Of course you do, you can't throw a rock without hitting a geek these days...we're everywhere (it's a whole plan). So if you've got some geeks on your holiday list this year, keep them on your good side by getting them something awesome. There are even some books wedged in here among the do-dads. That's right, I'm bringing back do-dads!

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Give: Volunteer Your Cow Fart Knowledge As A Writer

December 12th, 2014

I have a system that proves I'm a bad person. It works like this: Yesterday I ate my girlfriend's leftover chicken curry. Which is one point in the negative. And it was really, really good. Which is minus another point. If it'd been lousy, I could have justified eating it and thought, "Well, now she doesn't have to." But it was great, so here we are. I have a system. This isn't just some arbitrary nonsense.

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10 Great Children's Books (The Insipid 'Goodnight, Moon' Isn't Among Them)

December 11th, 2014

We're all drowning in tinsel, candy canes, and menorah candle wax, so our thoughts turn naturally to children. The spoiled little buggers rule the season, so I thought it was all too appropriate to celebrate my favorite children's books. Here they are, in ascending order. If you have any particular favorites, leave a comment!

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The Censorship Games: How a "Ban" can be a Blessing

December 11th, 2014

Okay. Maaaybe I should have written this column back in October during Banned Book Week 2014. Maaaaaybe I should have planned ahead and really dug in and researched sales figures for banned books, both before and after banning (and also before and after Banned Book Week 2014). But my brain doesn't work that way.  Instead, it sees something, mulls it over for a while, and then decides to talk about it when it's the least topical and opportune thing I could discuss. Welcome to my world.

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LitReactor Community Spotlight: November 2014

December 10th, 2014

I apparently forgot to set my alarm, and I slept a few days past when I would normally wake from hibernation to write these spotlights. My bad. Winter always throws off my internal clock. Normally, I would say something sassy and sarcastic about November, but I want to get to our community announcement, so please accept this sassy, sarcastic picture in place of the regular humor.

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Library Love: Do Fines Lock Readers Out of Libraries?

December 10th, 2014

Teachers, dentists, and librarians: these are the professionals who have developed (earned or unearned) reputations as scolders. Those who hand in unfinished homework, forget to floss, or neglect to return overdue books cringe in preparation of a lengthy finger wagging. And if you’re guilty of the latter, you might also expect to pay a late fee in order to borrow books again.

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How NOT to Edit a Shared-World Anthology

December 9th, 2014

This is my ritual for most Halloweens: I’m sitting on our porch, drunk, writing a horror story while passing out candy to the tiny ghouls who approach our house. But in 2012, I’m deep into edits on an anthology called So it Goes: a Tribute to Kurt Vonnegut. I love Vonnegut and stories inspired by Vonnegut, but at this point, I’m ready to return to horror. My mind’s on a new anthology idea. One with a Halloween theme. Something graphic and unforgiving. I’m thinking, there aren’t enough horror anthologies that are actually worth a damn.

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You're—I mean YOUR—Complete Grammarian Gift Guide

December 8th, 2014

Does your dad constantly point out typos and grammar mistakes on signs or menus? Does your best friend type out all the words in her grammatically correct text messages? Does your coworker obsessively edit any projects you work on together before turning them in? Does your niece have a bigger vocabulary than your college English professor (and use it ALL.THE.TIME!?!)? Well, here’s what you can get them for the holidays! (Besides an eye roll and a stiff drink to loosen up that stick in their you-know-what.)

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