Columns

O-day ou-yay eak-spay ingon-Klay?: Exploring constructed languages

February 18th, 2013

Unlike English or Mandarin, a constructed language (or conlang) is a language that did not evolve naturally over time, rather it was made up by a specific group of people (or by a person) for a specific use. There are hundreds of such languages in existence, and you probably know a few. Ig-pay atin-lay ing-ray an ell-bay? laH SoH jatlh tlhIngan?  True, Pig Latin and Klingon were are created for very different reasons, but they are both considered languages.

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Ask The Agent: Your Novel Word Count Guide and More!

February 18th, 2013

Navigating the rough terrain of today’s publishing industry shouldn’t be a solo event. This week in Ask the Agent, I’ll explore and dissect two of the industry’s mysteries, straight from the shoulder.

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6 Ways to Fall in Love with Writing

February 15th, 2013

It's February, and love is in the air—visible if you squint through the thick fog of resentment. Sadly, the same combination you'll see throughout the month (naïve infatuation, forced affection, and bitter isolation) are common in writing. You started writing because you loved it! So how can you fall in love with writing again? Here are six strategies.

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Sequel Status: ‘This Book Is Full Of Spiders: Seriously Dude, Don’t Touch It’

February 15th, 2013

You know how sometimes when you're drifting off to sleep you feel that jolt, like you were falling and caught yourself at the last second? It's nothing to be concerned about - it's usually just the parasite adjusting its grip.

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Five Unconventional Fantasy Relationships

February 14th, 2013

It's Valentine's Day, the day of romance, relationships and the randy. I could do a nice conventional list about the great relationships in fantasy, epic lovers like Beren and Luthien of The Silmarillion, tragic romances like Buffy and Angel, or steamy human/god matchups like Yeine and Nahadoth from The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. But fantasy is about the unusual, the unexpected, the extraordinary. In keeping with that idea, here are five great unconventional relationships in fantasy:

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LURID: Dead Sexy Valentine - Necrophilia In Fiction

February 14th, 2013

LURID: vivid in shocking detail; sensational, horrible in savagery or violence, or, a guide to the merits of the kind of Bad Books you never want your co-workers to know you're reading. Necrophilia. From the Greek, of course: ‘Necros’, meaning ‘dead’, and ‘philia’ – the verb ‘to fill’. —The Doug Anthony Allstars, Dead & Alive

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Neglected Authors: Seth Morgan

February 13th, 2013

“A book is a protean thing, mercurial, capricious. Its pure and piercing grace notes are struck only in the quickening of its own creation.” –Seth Morgan “This book is pure filth” –Anonymous, written in the copy of Homeboy at the San Francisco Public Library

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Paperless Writer: Five Steps To A Successful Digital Rewrite

February 13th, 2013

With the advent of laptop computers, I think it's safe to say most writers have moved away from the traditional typewriter. I'm sure there's a band of rebels out there who still prefer the feel and smell of inked typesets, the smart little ding the machine makes at the end of margins, the clicking and clacking of the keys. LitReactor's own Kimberly Turner even pitted typewriters against computers in a recent column.

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Storyville: Breaking Hearts

February 12th, 2013

Chuck Palahniuk once said about fiction, “Teach me something, make me laugh, and then break my heart.” It’s good advice. While I don’t always make my readers laugh, you could probably insert “scare me to death” and get a similar result. How do you get your audience to have a visceral reaction to your stories, how do you get them to feel the power of the thoughts, emotions and histories of your characters on the page? It’s not easy, but here are a few tips, some ways to engage your readers.

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Why The F*ck Aren't You Reading Dan Chaon?

February 11th, 2013

Why The F*ck Aren't You Reading? is a new 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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