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12 YA Novels I Can't Wait For: July-Dec 2022
June 24th, 2022
Well, we’re officially (almost) halfway through 2022! That feels like a lie, but time is fake, and who am I to quibble with the calendar? Regardless, this is a milestone worth celebrating, because it means it’s finally time for me to make a list of 12 YA novels I’m highly anticipating in the second half of the year! Without further ado, let’s dive on in.
Read Column →The Bookish Hugeness Of Fall 2022
June 23rd, 2022
Summer sucks for readers. And I don’t care what you all say, summer sucks, in general. It’s hot, everyone smells. It turns out that powdering your crotch to keep the sweat at bay kills you, and yet, some days, given the choice between whiffing the odor when I take my pants off or being dead, the grave doesn’t sound so bad. At least it’s cool under the dirt. The best thing about the summer is that it ends. And with summer’s end, especially THIS summer’s end, comes some truly huge book releases.
Read Column →Things I Never Want To Read In An Opening Sentence So Please Stop
June 16th, 2022
If you’re on the search for an impossible writing task, here’s one for you: Write an intro to a column about intros. THAT’S pressure. A bit back I was on the hunt for some books with great openings. I found a few good ones, but, damn, a lot of books have crappy openings. Even modern books are making the same mistakes we should've trashed a long time ago. Here are some of the worst ways to open your book. Please, just…don’t.
Read Column →The Vital Role of Libraries in Wartime
June 14th, 2022
Image header is public domain On February 15, 1944, Allied bombers reduced a huge portion of the 6th century Italian abbey of Monte Cassino to rubble. The attack killed 230 Italian civilians who were seeking shelter in the abbey, which had been left unoccupied by German troops. It was a costly military blunder based on misinformation.
Read Column →Storyville: The Intersection Between Plotting and Pantsing
June 13th, 2022
Some of you may write your stories (or novels) plotting out every detail, with extensive outlines, knowing exactly where everything is going. You, are plotters. The rest of you may have a broad idea of what you are going to write—based perhaps on a genre, theme, concept, or emotion—and write from a place of discovery, unsure about the specific details, but aware of the feeling you want. You, are pantsers. I do both.
Read Column →From My Book Club: 12 Months of Books
June 10th, 2022
Are you ever curious to know what other people’s private book clubs are reading? I sure am, with the kind of shameless curiosity that compels you to steal a glance into a stranger's apartment on your nightly walks — recognizing what they’ve hung on the walls, whether they have plants around, what the table they have their breakfast on looks like. Whether you share my indiscreet curiosity or not, you’re very welcome to peek behind the curtains of my own book club, a monthly group that completes its first year this month.
Read Column →Out of the Pandemic, A Writing Renaissance
June 9th, 2022
Michael O’Connell of Jacksonville, Florida retired in his 60s. He had started his writing journey years before, but doesn't feel he took it seriously until 2020. Due to the realities of the pandemic and an awareness of his own age, he started thinking about how precious time was. He got serious, hired a writing coach, and started writing short stories as he worked to rewrite the draft of a first novel.
Read Column →The Thrilling Impact of Gone Girl Ten Years Later
June 7th, 2022
It’s been ten years since Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn took the world by storm. By skillfully subverting genre tropes and brazenly embracing, not just unlikeable characters, but creating one of the most diabolical villains in Amy Dunne, Flynn mastered a formula that skyrocketed the book to success. She was able to take familiar expectations and twist them in unexpected ways. And the result was addictive.
Read Column →Five Poetry Collections to Read This Summer
June 6th, 2022
Summer is on the horizon and there’s something about this time of year that just makes me want to read poetry. I like nothing more than curling up on my porch and diving into a new collection from Button Poetry or perhaps sitting outside during a storm and picking up a favorite from Black Ocean.
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