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The Final Gong: The Legacy of Bizzong!
February 4th, 2022
Frank Edler, known as Mr. Frank of the Weird and Wacky Fiction Podcast Bizzong!, created an important fixture in the bizarro community when he started podcasting years ago. As the podcast comes to an end and Mr. Frank moves on to other ventures, this is a good time to explore what impact and legacy the podcast left behind in an often underappreciated subgenre of fiction.
Read Column →Could Spider-Man Have Saved David Foster Wallace?
February 3rd, 2022
Here’s a totally out-of-context Chuck Palahniuk quote about a dead guy:
Read Column →Top 10 Insane Things No Writer Has Done But Someone Should
February 2nd, 2022
Image via Gustavo Fring Writers are always looking for a way to improve their careers. Most of their ideas are terrible. Maybe these ideas will revolutionize your career or the writing industry, but probably not. Few are daring enough to try. I want to live in a world where these things happen, but I’m afraid I may not see it in my lifetime. Still, there might be hope. Writers do a lot of crazy things.
Read Column →The David Foster Wallace Trap
February 1st, 2022
David Foster Wallace wrote Infinite Jest, and he trapped himself in pretty spectacular fashion. What does that mean? Caught Up If this can happen to him, it can happen to you. Before you get all caught up, yes, I know David Foster Wallace had some problems. I know he was a complicated man. Nobody is looking to make light of DFW’s hard row.
Read Column →What Happened When I Put My Self-Published Books EVERYWHERE
January 31st, 2022
Everyone needs their personal Johnny Appleseed moment. Apple pie isn’t my thing. Hot, slimy fruit might’ve been a treat in the olden days, but today we’ve got Gushers, thanks. My thing, the apples I want to grow everywhere, are my own, self-published books. And I decided to Johnny Appleseed them all over online, every corner of the internet I could find. Here’s how it went.
Read Column →The Quick and Dirty Guide to Coming Up With The Perfect Character Name
January 27th, 2022
Choosing a name for your character is an exciting step in creating your bestseller. It’s also a big decision. Just like naming a real child, your literary offspring are going to live with their names for eternity, so they need to be a perfect fit. There’s a lot that goes into naming a character: culture, religion, geographical location, time period, genre — the list goes on.
Read Column →15 Books I'm Looking Forward to in 2022
January 26th, 2022
The last two years have sucked, sure, but they’ve been great in terms of books. This year looks like it’s going to be even better. Now, you should know that no list is ever complete. You should also know that I’ve written a list full of debuts, and another one with just true crime books for other venues, so you won’t find any of those books here. Also, I’ll be getting emails from publishers all year, which means I’ll be learning about new books every week.
Read Column →Storyville: Reasons for Creating a Pseudonym
January 25th, 2022
So, you’re thinking about getting yourself a pseudonym, huh? I think of a scene in one of my favorite animated films, Rango, when Beans asks Rango who he is, really: Well I’m a man of many epithets. There’s my stage name, my pen name, my avatar. Had a pseudonym once…and I’m actually one of the few men with a maiden name!
Read Column →Writing a Novel vs. Writing an Album
January 24th, 2022
I’m finishing up a novel and an album right now, both of which have been in the works for years. Too many years. It’s weird to be completing both projects at the same time, during mandatory isolation, especially when one involved finding and working with other people to see it through.
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