Columns

Three Things the Author of "Gods and Monsters" Learned by Listening to His Students

October 26th, 2011

Find out about Christopher Bram's 'Beginning The Novel' class, which begins May 28th!

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Out of Order: A Discussion of Nonlinear Narrative Structure

October 25th, 2011

Photo by christgr Last time, we tried starting a story by writing the end first. You may eventually place the ending you wrote at the actual end of the story, or, as we discussed using an example from The Usual Suspects, you might use part of the last scene to open your story.

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A Recap Of... The Wicked Universe

October 24th, 2011

Out of Oz marks Gregory Maguire’s fourth and final book in the series beginning with his brilliant, beloved Wicked. Maguire’s Wicked universe is richly complex, politically contentious, and filled to the brim with nuanced characters—all of which is wonderful to read but super tough to remember. Out of Oz is released on November 1st, and readers have a lot to recall if they’re going to travel that labyrinthine yellow brick road once more.

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Ask The Lit Coach: "Should Writers Settle Themselves Into A Single Genre In Order To Be Successfully Published?" and More

October 24th, 2011

Great questions this week, LitReactors! I answered two of the most frequently asked questions dealing with choice of genre and opportunities for Transgressive fiction. Warning: I use the term "author branding" and the outlook for Transgressive fiction in traditional publishing is not bright. But you have options.

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The Case Against Ebook Self-Publication

October 21st, 2011

Header via Free Images (Just joined us? Maybe you missed my first imaginary sockpuppet pundit making the case for ebook self-publishing, in which case, why not go back and check it out? Then rejoin us below as a second sockpuppet argues the case against, and pull on your gloves to fight for your favoured corner in the comments. Ready? Let's do this.)

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Book Brawl: Geek Love vs. Water for Elephants

October 21st, 2011

In Book Brawl, two books that are somehow related will get in the ring and fight it out for the coveted honor of being declared literary champion. Two books enter. One book leaves. This month, our contenders are circus life novels Geek Love (Katherine Dunn, 1983) and Water for Elephants (Sara Gruen, 2006). Who shall emerge victorious? This is so exciting!

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Books Without Borders: Life after Liquidation

October 20th, 2011

Though many true book enthusiasts, particularly in the Northwest where locally owned retailers are more common than paperback novels with Fabio on the cover, would never have set foot in a mega-chain bookstore like Borders, plenty of people did each day--right up until the company shuttered each of its stores in July. Which also meant that, until that time, plenty of publishers and booksellers, authors and editors, baristas, retailers, and representatives worked with Borders to stock the shelves, sign books, make deals and jerk lattes. So what now?

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Storyville: Finding Your Voice

October 19th, 2011

It’s tough out here in the trenches. The written word is dying, nobody is buying books, presses aren’t paying authors, and it’s impossible to get published or land an agent. All lies.

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Philip Roth: A Primer

October 19th, 2011

Roth image via Wikipedia Commons — Flag image by Karolina Grabowska via Pexels I've been asked to write about Philip Roth. According to the editorial guidelines, this should be neither a simple “review” of any one of his novels nor a cold, general overview of his work. That suits me.

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Don't Leave Me Hanging...

October 17th, 2011

Image by Mariano Ruffa via Pexels Maybe you've had this experience too, but at some point during my literary education I learned what a hanging ending was, and I remember thinking it was genius—why bother to write a decent ending when you could just STOP writing and let the reader do all the work?

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