Columns

Is Reading Sexy?

October 18th, 2012

"Nothing about sex is cerebral...at least, none of the good parts are."--Chuck Klosterman

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Primer: Neil Gaiman, Storyteller

October 17th, 2012

Here’s the thing about Neil Gaiman-- he’s a great writer, but an even better storyteller. It's not a skill-mix that all writers have, but it's one that Gaiman has perfected; the ability to tell a tale, spin a yarn, weave a story no matter the place, the time or the medium. Which is not to say that it's effortless--a lot of work goes into his projects to be sure--but he often makes them feel effortless. He taps into that ancient ritual of mankind-- telling one another stories-- whether they be legends or myths or fairy tales.

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kirks test colum

October 16th, 2012

Bacon ipsum dolor sit amet ground round pancetta tenderloin fatback tail strip steak. Chuck biltong pork, corned beef fatback tri-tip capicola sausage cow. Tongue corned beef pancetta ground round shank, leberkas salami andouille ribeye. Corned beef tenderloin kielbasa sirloin, pastrami ball tip capicola t-bone rump swine venison pig turkey spare ribs. Shankle short loin corned beef, flank pork loin jowl fatback. Capicola t-bone ground round, frankfurter pork loin biltong tri-tip tongue pancetta shank fatback.

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Adventures In Self-Publishing Part 3: So, Can We Talk About Some Stuff?

October 16th, 2012

It's an oft-repeated piece of advice in the realm of self-publishing: you get out what you put in. The harder you work, the more copies you sell; nothing sells in a vacuum, and you can't expect to climb the ranks by sitting around and doing nothing.  That's true! I know because I've been extremely busy this month, and haven't been able to dedicate much time to convincing people to buy my novella, and as you can see from the numbers below, my lack of effort shows. 

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Recap: The Walking Dead 3.01 - Seed

October 15th, 2012

Spoilers! The cold open for The Walking Dead's third season makes this feel like a completely different show.  The economy of it is spectacular: the survivors converge on a house. They sweep through to secure it and forage for supplies. They find nothing, and ultimately have to retreat once they realize they've been flanked by a crowd of zombies.

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Ask The Agent: Guerrilla Marketing And What You Should Expect From An Agent

October 15th, 2012

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. Question from Reilly How important is guerrilla marketing for an aspiring author AND for a recently published author? I’m the type of person in general (not just agent) who thinks that guerrilla marketing is very important in any business venture.

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LURID: Scream If You Want To Go Faster - The Live Horror Experience

October 12th, 2012

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.

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10 Things The Walking Dead Has To Do To Keep Me Watching

October 12th, 2012

Here are some things you should know about me as a viewer of The Walking Dead, before reading any further. #1. I am a huge fan of the comic book. While it’s not always perfect, it’s regularly very strong, and has been for over 100 issues now – which is incredibly difficult to do. In fact, The Walking Dead was the book that brought me back to reading monthly comics after a long hiatus. #2. Nobody wants to like a great zombie television show more than I do.

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Return to the Masculine: The Reemergence of Men's Pulp Fiction in the Age of eBooks

October 11th, 2012

A couple of years ago, Amazon was heavily advertising its Kindle eReader with this little commercial below: [video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eWd9WXFdYI4 align:center]

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Big ‘A’ Little ‘a’: Writing Between the Concrete and Abstract

October 10th, 2012

Fiction’s currency is specifics: specific characters, specific places, specific descriptions, specific actions, specific events. Of course, writing addresses big ideas — some would say the biggest ideas. So, how do we get there through an examination of the small? Devising a decoding process that takes the reader from the story’s collection of concretes to its universal themes is one of writing's true paradoxes. And as most paradoxes go, the majority of writers who struggle with this quandary fall victim to it.

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