Columns

Accountability Matters: Revisiting My 2021 Resolutions

January 6th, 2022

Original Photo by Godisable Jacob My intro to the piece I wrote more than year ago about resolutions still applies (sadly), so here you go:

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Why John Urbancik is the Greatest Short Story Writer of All Time

January 5th, 2022

I should point out that John Urbancik has some great novels too, along with stellar nonfiction work. Praising his short stories isn’t meant to imply that his other stuff isn’t great as well.

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Will Libraries Ever Recover From COVID?

January 4th, 2022

You've probably put some thought into whether your uncle is going to come out of COVID unscathed. Maybe he’s vaccinated. Maybe he's unvaxxed and hoping for the best while he drinks his 34th Dew of the day. Maybe his vaccination status is unknown, but he's one of those cockroach men who'd survive getting hit by a flaming bus constructed entirely of spoiled chicken, so, regardless of COVID, he'll keep Ski-Doo and Swisher Sweets in business for a few more years at least.  

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All the Way IN: Immersive Fiction

January 3rd, 2022

Kathe Koja’s work is always genre-bending and immersive, but The Cipher might as well be a VR headset. The real world always feels real.

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Storyville: Setting Short-Term Goals for Your Writing Career

December 30th, 2021

As we get close to the end of the year, wrapping up 2021 and getting ready for 2022, I wanted to talk to you about your short-term goals. Every time you get to the end of a year, why not re-evaluate what you did, and look for ways to set some goals for the upcoming year? I’m writing this about 2022, but it could be at the end of ANY year, leading into the next one. Here are some ideas on what you can think about as you look at ways to improve as a writer.

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10 of My Favorite YA Books from 2021

December 29th, 2021

The year is waning. Finally, after months of being a terrible year, 2021 is coming to a close. Long live 2022! But first — there were a few good things about this year. And yes, you guessed it: those things were books! Specifically, YA novels, ones that were released this year and that I was lucky enough to read as they were published. In no particular order, my 10 favorite YA books released in 2021 are below.

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Cheers for Fears: 10 Book and Cocktail Pairings to Celebrate the New Year

December 27th, 2021

I decided to pair some of my favorite 2021 reads with a cocktail recipe for the New Year. I’m a firm believer that it doesn’t matter when a book was released (they’re never too old to be enjoyed), so some of my favorite books this year are previously released titles.

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Conservative vs. Liberal Book Bans

December 23rd, 2021

Because everything is so great right now, I figured why not talk about an issue we can all disagree on: book bans. Especially: the different, mutually disgusting flavors of conservative and liberal book bans. Let’s look at both and uncover how they’re different and how they’re alike. Spoiler: they’re alike because they’re both stupid. What Is A Book Ban? A book ban is any action you take with the intented or unintended effect of creating a barrier between the book and its reader.

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Can’t We Just Get Some Peace?

December 22nd, 2021

Can't we just get some peace? And look, there is a lot more than this sentiment going on in the superlative short story collections Deadheading by Beth Gilstrap, The Cult in My Garage by Duncan Birmingham and JERKS by Sara Lippmann, but I keep coming back to it anyway.

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LitReactor Staff Picks: The Best Books of 2021 - Part III

December 20th, 2021

Original image via Rodnae Productions Another year has come and gone. You know what that means, don't you? Time for a bunch of strangers to tell you what was good! And why should you care what the LitReactor staff thinks are the best books of the year? Trick question! You shouldn't. But what they have to say might interest you nonetheless, because they are good-looking and knowledgeable and they read like the wind.

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