Columns

The Kindle Fire and the Betamax Problem: Confessions of an Early Adopter

November 28th, 2011

Indulge me, if you would, in the telling of an everyday anecdote. Last week I tried to buy some replacement brush heads for my electric toothbrush. I don’t know if you’ve ever used one, but they make it a lot easier to do a good job of scrubbing up your dental hardware. Alas, the heads wear out, just like a regular toothbrush, so you have to buy replacements. Much as with certain brands of unfeasibly over-bladed razors, a set of three new brush heads can cost you almost as much as the toothbrush did...

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When To Show, When To Tell

November 25th, 2011

In the beginning of our careers, writers are told ad nauseam to “show, don’t tell.” It’s good advice I suppose, but unfortunately the simplicity of this adage often renders it confusing for novice writers — even problematic if taken at face value.

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Behold! The Unfilmable: The Literary Adaptations of David Cronenberg

November 25th, 2011

Since when did the king of venereal horror become the go-to guy for literary adaptations? Not counting the yonic throat slittings of Eastern Promises, I haven't seen a surrogate sexual organ in one of his films since the bio-port licking scene in eXistenZ, and that was over ten years ago. What happened? Has the man mellowed? Have the flagging testosterone levels inherent with age curbed his desire to see plunging armpit penises and gaping chest vaginas? I don't begrudge a filmmaker his artistic growth, but throw us a bone here, David.

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Does Borders Demise Signal the Death of Bookstores?

November 23rd, 2011

Way back in 2003, Borders Books and Music was at the top of its game, with more than 1,200 active locations in the United States alone (the chain also had stores in Australia, New Zealand, and Singapore). By January of 2010, the bookselling giant had shrunk to about half its size, boasting a measly 511 stores worldwide. On February 16th, 2011, Borders applied for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, and by September 18th, the last 399 outlets closed for good.

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How To Market Yourself Through Social Networks (for Books!)

November 23rd, 2011

The internet is really good at bringing together communities of like-minded people. Like furries. And dendrophiliacs. And even book-lovers! In fact, there are sites out there dedicated specifically to hooking people up with new reading material through the power of social networking. And if you’re an author with a book to sell, it’s imperative that you utilize these sites.

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Can The Kindle Add Fuel To The Fire Of The Public Library System?

November 22nd, 2011

Amazon and the Kindle have done a number on the publishing industry. As the New York Times pointed out in October, Amazon now has a hand in every single aspect of the business, making insiders nervous that they could, in fact, entirely change the way people come in contact with and consume books.

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Ask The Lit Coach: "Should A New-To-Publishing Writer Seek The Safer Submission Route, Or Routes That Pay More?" and More

November 21st, 2011

Always a pleasure to receive your questions, dear writers. This week we explore what one fresh MFA student should consider while starting out on her professional writer's journey and what another writer needs to consider before soliciting his anthology to the publishing world. As always, the solutions are never cut and dry. Who ever said the writer's life was easy? 

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Book Brawl: Battle Royale vs. The Hunger Games

November 21st, 2011

Every month I’ll pit two books, somehow related, against one another in a brutal, literary fight to the death. Two books enter. One book leaves. This month the brawling books are Koushun Takami’s Battle Royale (1999) and Suzanne Collins’ The Hunger Games (2008). They are fighting it out due to their shared subject matter of kids killing kids in a government-sponsored bloodbath. So who shall prevail in our own me-sponsored bloodbath? Read on to find out!

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Vampires: No Longer “The Ultimate Zipless Fuck?”

November 18th, 2011

Original header image via Cottonbro Studio As Twihards throng the multiplexes for the release of Breaking Dawn Part 1, it’s time to reassess Stephen King’s 1981 hypothesis (in Danse Macabre) that the oral penetration promised by vampires constitutes “the ultimate zipless fuck”.

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Neglected Books: "An American Tragedy" and "1982, Janine"

November 17th, 2011

Original photo via Free Images For the November installment of my Neglected Books column, I thought I'd focus on two books that have no business being together. The first is not unknown, but it's largely unread nowadays. The other is unknown and unread. Here we go.

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