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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.
Read Column →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.”
Read Column →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.
Read Column →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.
Read Column →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.
Read Column →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.)
Read Column →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.
Read Column →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.
Read Column →You Make Me Sick: 5 Novels About Disease
August 11th, 2014
The runaway success of John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars, a tale of teenage love and terminal illness, got me thinking about novels that use disease as the focal point. It’s odd that there aren’t more of them, given the intense melodrama inherent to sickness. One’s world changes drastically when a fatal disease enters the picture, whether you’re the scared patient or the nervous friend or the grasping relative. There’s a natural arc to the drama: you’re fine, you’re sick, you die.
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