Columns

Guess The Plot, Episode I: "May Contain Runts"

April 3rd, 2012

Perhaps more than any other genre, science-fiction embodies that old saying about not judging a book by its cover. Many classic titles feature covers that are, at best, anodyne and, at worst, completely misleading. Indeed, publishers a generation ago would hire designers to create covers for books they had never read, or even commission stories after the cover design had been finished. We sci-fi fans must become amateur semioticians, decoding the covers of perspective purchases in a desperate effort to figure out what the hell they are actually about.

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New Release Roundup: Recommendations for April 2012

April 2nd, 2012

Every month I'll be toiling in the dank, dark mines of literary obscurity, scouring the catalogues of every major publisher to bring the LitReactor faithful a few choice titles hitting the shelves. The following is a brief look at what's worth checking out in April. Full disclosure: unless otherwise noted, none of the below books have been reviewed by myself or other LitReactor staff. These are just a few recommendations based on publisher's notes and my own opinions. Without further ado:

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Ask The Lit Coach: "What Is The Ideal Length For A Nonfiction Book Proposal?" and More

April 2nd, 2012

How long should a book proposal be to capture the attention of the publishing world? Is it okay to mention your previously published skeletons to an agent when querying? These are the burning topics this week on Q&A with The Lit Coach. Question from Jill S. from Los Angeles What is the ideal length for a nonfiction book proposal? 

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LURID: Location, Location, Location - Haunted House Stories

March 30th, 2012

LURID: vivid in shocking detail; sensational, horrible in savagery or violence, or, a twice-monthly 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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A Recap Of... Game Of Thrones

March 30th, 2012

With Season 2 of Game of Thrones bearing down on us like a rampant direwolf, what better time to refresh your memory about the first book in George R. R. Martin's mighty epic saga? A whole year has passed since the first HBO series glued our eyes to the screens and left us in no doubt that bridesmaids at Dothraki weddings have more fun than bridesmaids are generally supposed to.

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Won't Somebody Please Think of the Children?

March 29th, 2012

A friend of mine, who produces films in Los Angeles, once used the phrase “wolves in sheep’s clothing” to describe the power of genre films. Essentially, he was arguing that the most effective stories, even those that are considered outside the realm of “high art”, bury deeply powerful themes within the artifice of something that might be considered a little less transcendent.

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Sentence, INTERRUPTED! - Five Ways to Interrupt Yourself (Grammatically)

March 28th, 2012

Interrupters! And I don’t mean your know-it-all coworker or chatty uncle. I’m talking about grammatical interrupters, the mid-sentence intruders that pop in to the middle of your sentences to add information—some of it necessary and some of it not. To interrupt means to stop or hinder progress by causing a break in something that was hitherto occurring continuously. In the English language, there are at least five ways to grammatically interrupt a sentence. This article will explain each one as well as offer a couple examples.

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A What-to-Do and What-Not-To-Do List for Agents

March 28th, 2012

Let me preface this piece by stating I have the utmost respect for literary agents, editors and publishers who have always acted in the best interest of their authors, their authors’ careers and as good stewards within the literary world in general. This article is in no way directed toward those fine people in our community. 

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Indie Bookstore Spotlight: Murder By The Book, Houston, TX

March 27th, 2012

(photos by John Schiffmayer) ADDRESS: 2342 Bissonnet Street, Houston, TX 77005 HOURS: Monday - Saturday 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

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From X to A: A Douglas Coupland Primer

March 26th, 2012

So you want to be initiated into the canon of Coupland, but you're not quite sure where to begin. You want that first time to be special, but you don't want to make a big deal out of it, either. Especially considering that if it doesn't work out, things could get awkward the next time you go into a bookstore and see him there on the shelf. "Oh, is this who you're reading now? What, I wasn't good enough for you?"

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