Columns

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

February 27th, 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.

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Is Self-Publishing Good for You?

February 26th, 2014

Quite a few people have asked me if I think self-publishing is a good idea. It's not a question I can give a simple answer to, so this article will serve as my not-so-simple answer.

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Culling The Classics: Lolita

February 25th, 2014

Fans of "Culling The Classics"—yes, all seven of you—may recall the trouble I got into the last time I reviewed a Russian work, when two lovely commenters from the Motherland lambasted me for not sufficiently appreciating the bulk of their literature. I did love Anna Karenina, though, so I thought perhaps I would give the Ruskies another go. Ready your molotov cocktails...

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Is Print the Popular Kid Again?

February 25th, 2014

When the Daguerreotype was invented in 1839, artist Paul Delaroche famously stated, “From today, painting is dead.”

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Guardians of the Galaxy: A Primer

February 24th, 2014

By now you have no doubt seen and reveled in the irrefutably awesome Guardians of the Galaxy trailer. If not, go watch it now. I’ll wait.

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Ask the Grammarian: How "snuck" sneaked in...

February 24th, 2014

Well, it appears you all don't need more grammar advice, so this will be the last Ask the Grammarian column. Thank you to all who asked questions and who read these columns. They were fun, and I learned a lot from researching the answers to your great inquiries. I do have one last question to attend to though, so let's get to it. Emily J Chaney writes: I cannot stand the word 'sneaked'. How evil is it if I use the word snuck? Never mind. Once I typed it I saw the ugliness of the word.

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It's Made Of SCIENCE: Guns And Bullet Ballistics

February 21st, 2014

You know what a gun is, right? Sure you do. You've probably seen at least one on television within the last 24 hours, or used one in a video game to kill a bad guy (or, as a friend pointed out, a good guy). Guns are everywhere in the media, and even someone who has never actually fired one in real life can probably point to the dangerous end with adequate proficiency.

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Prose & Conversation: 'The Girl Next Door' by Jack Ketchum

February 21st, 2014

There's no other way to put it. This month, Richard Thomas and I read one of the most brutal, most violent, most disturbing books I've ever experienced. It was tough. The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum gave me nightmares and made me cling to the life I live, the life I love, with more determination than I've felt in a long time. Below you'll see what we both think of this vile, this contemptible, this utterly remarkable novel...and why we both think, despite everything, it's worth a read. 

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Onscreen vs. Physical Keyboards

February 20th, 2014

Despite the widespread availability of Bluetooth keyboards and keyboard cases, we sometimes inevitably find ourselves using the built-in, onscreen keyboard of our various tablet devices. Perhaps you need to type out a quick email, or jot down an idea for a story that randomly popped into your head at three o’clock in the morning, or you simply can’t be bothered to fire up an external keyboard. Whatever the scenario, your onscreen keyboard handles the task just fine, thank you very much.

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Why Being Creative Is A Lot Less Difficult Than You Think

February 19th, 2014

There’s more shit talked about creativity than any other field of human endeavour, and in recent years I have watched with dismay as a whole industry has sprung up dedicated to enhancing and promoting this particular ability. I can't be alone in thinking that as a society we have reached some kind of nadir when job seekers are obliged to take creativity tests, seemingly with the rationale that the more uses you can think of for a brick, the better a lawyer you will make.

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