Columns

Dystropia: How The Damsel in Distress Has Evolved

October 31st, 2013

Somewhere situated between Easter Island and Papua New Guinea, perfectly pinned on a straight line between the Great Pyramid and the Nazca Lines lies the Isle of Dystropia, the place where every cliché and worn-out convention sticks out like rubble in the sand. Pawing through the debris, you'll find the trope that may just make or break your story. Each installment, we'll explore a different literary platitude, examining it for its various strengths and weaknesses. Set sail for Dystropia, where you might just learn something about your writing and yourself.

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UPDATED WITH WINNER: LitReactor's Flash Fiction Smackdown: October Edition

October 31st, 2013

Flash Fiction: A style of fictional literature marked by extreme brevity How It Works We give you inspiration in the form of a picture, poem, video, or similar. You write a flash fiction piece, using the inspiration we gave you. Put your entry in the comments section. One winner will be picked and awarded a prize.

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Did Ender's Game Rip Off The Dueling Machine?

October 31st, 2013

At one of my weekly writer’s group meetings, a friend gave me an old first edition of a science fiction novel called The Dueling Machine, by Ben Bova. This isn’t unusual; we pass books back and forth quite often. But this time, my friend leaned in close, and in a conspiratorial voice he said, “I have it on good authority that Orson Scott Card ripped off the ideas in this book when he wrote Ender’s Game.”

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Why The F*ck Aren't You Reading Ken Bruen?

October 30th, 2013

Image via Magnet Magazine Why The F*ck Aren't You Reading? is a feature where the columnist spotlights a writer who has a dedicated following and is well known within the writing community, but hasn't achieved the elephant-in-the-room style success of a Stephen King or Gillian Flynn—But they deserve to, dammit! Hopefully the column will help gain the author featured a few more well deserved readers.

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Symbolism: Storytelling and the Invisible Hand

October 30th, 2013

Freud believed that dreams disguise our unconscious thoughts by translating them into a language of symbols. We do this, he hypothesized, to prevent our conscious minds from censoring content we find too disturbing. Hence, Freud thought that by interpreting our dreams we could decode our unconscious, and doing so could help us discover repressed wishes or resolve some inner conflict.

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Indie Bookstore Spotlight: Derby Square Bookstore, Salem, MA

October 29th, 2013

Address: 215 Essex St. Salem MA, 01970 Hours: Monday to Saturday: 9 AM to 9 PM, Sunday 11 AM to 9 PM Food/Drink: None are offered within the store. It’s just the books, ma’am.

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Top Ten Best-Worst Lawyers in Fiction

October 29th, 2013

Everyone loves a bad lawyer – usually more than an ethical lawyer. Is that why the stereotypical lawyer is a blood-sucking parasite? Because it's what popular culture consumers want? I can’t answer that with certainty, but I can say that lawyers get a bad rap. And I used to have a total lack of sense of humor about it, too. Why? Because as a typical lawyer, you are:

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Book vs. Film(s): "Carrie"

October 28th, 2013

Okay, I’ve written a couple of these Book vs. Film columns now, one ending with the film victorious, the other ending in a tie. With the latter example—my BvsF of World War Z—I couldn’t really come down on either side, since I enjoyed both the book and the film, and found them to be far too different to adequately compare. 

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It's Made Of SCIENCE: Zombies

October 28th, 2013

When I decided to try writing a Halloween-themed science article, I admit I struggled a bit with choosing a topic. Science generally works against fear by making things more understandable.

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Culling The Classics: Dracula

October 25th, 2013

When I was in high school, young and naive and with barely any literary taste, I gave Dracula a try. I hadn't read many classics at that point (Treasure Island maybe? The Swiss Family Robinson?), but my middle school love of Goosebumps made me think I might be able to make an exception for a vampire book. Look at me, all adult and mature and literary!

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