Columns

Bookstore Nightmares

March 18th, 2022

TONIGHT on Bookstore Nightmares: Denver, Colorado. Home of the Rocky Mountains, Rockies baseball, and an indie bookstore with a rocky sales season. After a smooth takeoff, Jerry’s was flying high, selling lots of books and making lots of readers happy. But the store hit some turbulence, and now it’s in a tailspin, the pilot is drunk, and there’s nowhere close by to land, it’s all volcanoes and spikes, and the only person who is sleeping through all of it is having night terrors.

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5 Short Speculative Stories with Unusual Formats

March 17th, 2022

Short stories are such an incredible form of creativity; they present writers with the challenge to hook readers in immediately, keep them invested, and complete an arc all within a few thousand words. I’m particularly fond of stories that play with experimental forms, and since horror and speculative fiction focus so much on building dread, pushing boundaries, and leading readers into the unknown, it’s the perfect arena to try out unconventional formats. It can be a rewarding experience as a reader, and also a moment of inspiration and learning as a writer.

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Do It For The Kids: I Wrote A Book On Sylvia Plath That I Wish I Had As A Teenager

March 16th, 2022

In Ten Things I Hate About You, protagonist Kat Stratford sits in a plush armchair, reading a comically large copy of Sylvia Plath’s novel The Bell Jar. The subtext is obvious: here’s a girl who is done giving fucks. Throughout the film, Kat grapples with the patriarchal bullshit that all nerdy, bookish girls deal with in high school — with Sylvia as an unspoken guiding muse. I was grateful for this goofy but endearing movie because I also walked around high school wielding The Bell Jar like a warning.

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That Swag: Book Promotion Ideas

March 14th, 2022

SWAG or SCHWAG? Before we dive into this topic, let me first qualify the usage of the word swag. A few years ago, I posted a photo of my "swag bag" on Twitter and a publisher told me the correct word is schwag. I'm not suggesting the publisher is wrong but: I did some research and fell down a rabbit hole of reddit threads and urban dictionary entries involving Yiddish translations and slang for shitty, dime bag weed.

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When Authors Read Their Own Audiobooks

March 10th, 2022

I’m on the march through an audiobook read by the author, and let me tell you, it’s about as painful an experience as getting a vasectomy. And the vasectomy has a slight advantage because it only takes 15 minutes. When should authors read their own audiobooks? And when should they turn it over to the pros? What happens when an author reads their own work?

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10 Books to Celebrate Women's History this March

March 8th, 2022

It’s March, and that means it’s Women’s History Month, in which we celebrate the mark women have made on the world. I have fond memories of teasing one of my middle school classmates, a boy, for being born on Mar. 8, aka International Women’s Day — mostly because i was 12 and that stuff was funny back then, but also because it means even at the age of 12, I was aware of this important celebration.

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7 Books Where Everything Goes Devastatingly, Tragically Wrong

March 4th, 2022

Header image by William Krause via Unsplash If you haven’t already heard, BookTok (the readers’ corner of TikTok) has been shifting copies like a whirlwind over the last couple of years. Curated reading lists in video format tend to skip plot descriptions, offering recommendations on the basis of the books’ ‘vibe’ or aesthetic instead. It’s working, and the industry knows it.

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High Impact Exercises and Low Effort Diet Hacks for Busy Authors

March 3rd, 2022

Original image via Cup of Couple Disclaimer: Whatever you do, DO NOT take medical advice from LitReactor or Jay Wilburn. For God’s sake, that’s what doctors are for. Consult someone who has a medical degree framed on their wall and your medical records on file before you take any health advice you read online.

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Storyville: Building Up Your Horror Story Before You Tear It Down

March 1st, 2022

When it comes to horror stories, in my opinion, it’s crucial to build something up before you tear it down. We must create a world, show the main characters, and get readers to care before everything goes to hell. This isn’t just applicable to horror—it’s important to all genres, and any story—but today we’ll focus on horror (and tragic dark fiction) due to the unique nature, requirements, and expectations of the genre. Let’s dig in, shall we?

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Death to Stars: Why I Won't Use Stars to Rate Books Anymore

February 28th, 2022

I remember the conversation that ultimately led to my decision to eliminate star ratings from my reviews. I had shared a Goodreads review for a book I enjoyed and one of my friends asked, "Since you only rated this book 4 stars, should I add it to my list of books to read?" I didn't have a problem with this innocuous question. It was the word "only." Because my friend said, "Since you only rated this book 4 stars..." I sat back and thought about star ratings.

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