Columns

The S-Word: Never Tell Someone They "Should" Read A Book

May 2nd, 2022

The S-Word for book recommendations isn’t “shit,” it’s “should.” Although telling someone they “should” read a book is a shitty thing to do. It sounds harmless, but you’re putting people in a spot they don’t appreciate. And the result is that they’ll turn away from a book they’d love. Let’s talk it out.

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When Writer's Block is Connected to Depression

April 27th, 2022

Original image by Alexander Grey  There’s nothing more debilitating to a writer than the feeling of getting stuck. Being on a roll and suddenly having the creative juices dry up. Watching your process slowly break down until you are at a standstill. Staring at the blank screen trying to figure out what’s next. You try to write your way out of it, but you hate every word and finally delete everything, fighting the temptation to throw your entire computer out the window.

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Ice Planet Barbarians: F***fest or Snoozefest?

April 22nd, 2022

Alien abductions, blue man sex, wormlike parasites, spaceships, Star Wars references, sassy heroines, oral sex puns–Ice Planet Barbarians is…a lot. And BookTok has taken note, dusting the frost off this bad boy 7 years after it was originally published. One brave reader—me—decided to investigate and find out whether the book really is a rock solid banger or a flaccid slab of blah. Let’s lube up and slide on in.

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The Value of Stories Without Romance

April 20th, 2022

I’ll be the first to admit I’m a sucker for a good love story. In fact, ever since I was a child, I’ve gravitated toward narratives that prominently feature romance. I wanted to see girls fall in love and have their happily ever afters.

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Storyville: Leaving Room for the Reader

April 19th, 2022

Today we’re going to discuss how to leave room for the reader, when it comes to your writing—flash fiction, short stories, novelettes, novellas, and novels.

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Doses of Darkness: Bram Stoker Nominated Horror Poetry

April 14th, 2022

Earlier this year, the 2021 Bram Stoker Award nominees were announced. In honor of National Poetry Month, I wanted to take some time to highlight the five nominated collections, their respective authors, and some of my favorite lines from each work. Horror poetry has a special place in my heart. It really kickstarted my love of writing horror in general, and poetry is such a strong medium to convey quick doses of darkness. Poems have the opportunity to showcase nightmares in only a few lines, and as the poets below show us, there are many different ways to accomplish that.

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5 Lessons from Ramona Quimby, on the Anniversary of Beverly Cleary’s Birth

April 12th, 2022

Header illustration: Louis Darling I’m not sure how my mother got hold of Beverly Cleary’s books when I was little, but I know we couldn’t find a copy in Greek. Lacking that, she read the original, translating each page aloud on the go, an ability that left me in awe — and something I’m sure Ramona Quimby would find pretty cool herself.

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Does Anyone Really Know What Makes a Story Good?

April 12th, 2022

Header images via Andrea Piacquadio & Mike van Schoonderwalt Obviously, my premise here is that it is harder to pinpoint what really makes a story good than many might think. I believe the extremes of the spectrum are easy to identify. A really great story or a really terrible story probably both have elements that lead to shared conclusions about their quality. But even in those cases, the consensus is likely not universal.

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Is Bizarro Dead?

April 11th, 2022

If you’ve ever filled out a proof of life document, I’m sorry, you’ve had a rough life. For everyone else: a proof of life document is something you fill out because it’s likely you’ll be abducted and held hostage. What you do is write some questions, call it four, and then write the answers. Seal them up, put them somewhere that a confidant can get to them, and then, when that ransom call comes in, the people trying to get you back can confirm you’re still alive.

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10 Dark Recommendations for National Poetry Month 2022

April 6th, 2022

Dark poetry came along and welcomed me into the world of lyrical prose. Previously, I felt shut out of poetry. It wasn't accessible to me as a reader. I didn't feel like I was the audience for it because whenever I tried to read it, I couldn't make sense of what the author was saying. At the same time, I didn't feel like the author cared if I understood. Poetry can be so intimately written; so personal, its meaning isn't easy to relate to—at least that was my experience.

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