Columns

Race and Races in Fantasy

July 26th, 2012

Since J. R. R. Tolkien, other races have become a staple of the fantasy genre. Tolkien gave us our modern fantasy version of Elves, Dwarves, Hobbits, Orcs, Ents, and so on. Tolkien was careful not to make his races too monolithic - there is variation within each race - but certain traits generally remained the same. Elves are depicted as nobler, fairer, and wiser than men, an example that humans and others should aspire to. Dwarves are often seen as short-tempered and quarrelsome, having an uncomfortable tendency toward greed.

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Philip K. Dick: A Primer

July 25th, 2012

Philip K. Dick occupies a unique position in the canon of 20th century Science Fiction. Despite working for his entire life in a field that is often dismissed as mere genre, Dick enjoyed numerous accolades from the mainstream while alive. And in the years since his death in 1982, Dick's work has become even better known and respected. Primarily, this is because of the many films that have been adapted from his work. But fans of Science Fiction who have neglected Dick's novels and shorts stories are truly missing out on one of last century's finest writers.

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Bat-Mortem: The End Of Nolan's Trilogy, The Balls That Were Dropped And The Psychology Behind The Devotion

July 24th, 2012

* I'll play this close to the vest, but If you haven't seen The Dark Knight Rises and want to go in totally pure, maybe don't read this right now?  I liked The Dark Knight Rises. I didn't love The Dark Knight Rises. A cursory glance at Facebook says I'm in a very small club on that. 

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Wave Of The Future: Kickstarting Comics?

July 24th, 2012

Let's just get the bias out of the way upfront, okay? I am in the last days of a Kickstarter that has been wonderfully successful. So though the experience isn't over quite yet, I can only report satisfaction and indeed glee at the response to my effort to raise funds to self-publish my novel, The Girl Who Would Be King.

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Your Favorite Book Sucks: 'The Kite Runner'

July 23rd, 2012

An ongoing column, written by different people, that takes a classic or popular book and argues why it isn't really all that great. Confrontational, to be sure, but it's all in good fun.

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Ask The Agent: What State Of Completion Does Your Manuscript Have To Be In When You Start Querying, Query Letter Word Count and More!

July 23rd, 2012

I received SO many wonderful questions this past week. It was really hard to choose only a few to answer. Keep an eye out for future columns; I may eventually get to your question.

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Storyville: Promotion

July 20th, 2012

For many authors it’s a dirty word: promotion. And believe me, I understand that. For many of us, the idea of talking about our work, spreading the word, posting up about it across the internet—it’s all just too much. Why can’t we just write? Well, unfortunately that’s not the way it is these days, and never really was, to be honest. Even the biggest names in writing have to take the time to go on book tours (which usually lose money), as well as sign copies, give interviews, and generally promote themselves.

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Top 10 Character Cliches That Drive Me Nuts

July 20th, 2012

Archetypes are important, but they're no excuse for lazy writing. These particular archetypes drive me batty because they create a series of characters that are interchangeable and formulaic. Fill in a few blanks and you can generate your own Mary Sue or Reluctant Hero with very little effort. When she was ___ her ___ died. He was unwilling to leave his ordinary life in ___ to journey to ___ and save the ___. It's like People Mad Libs, and that's no way to write a character.

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5 Ways Your Brain Sabotages Your Writing... And What To Do About It

July 19th, 2012

When we sit at the keyboard, we rely on our brains to help us fill that vast white space with intriguing words, well-rounded characters, and watertight plot twists. Sometimes our brains oblige. But more often, our grey matter tells us that we should check Twitter (because what if our blog post got a retweet from someone important?), that we totally have time to catch up on TV while we eat lunch (because that’s just smart multitasking right there!), or that we should quit this writing nonsense and get a real job (because we suck anyway). Everything happens for a reason.

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YA Superstar: Meg Cabot

July 19th, 2012

Over at Forever Young Adult, we have a term we like to use to describe the feeling or action of being totally obsessed with something. It sums up the tingles of giddy excitement that sweep through your body when you think about your favorite author or TV show, as well as the complete irrationality of your subsequent behavior. The term is "swimfan," which we borrowed from a movie starring Erika Christensen as a bonkers psychopath who becomes fixated on a high school swimmer.

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