Columns

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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The Top 10 Scenes In Literature To Bring You Terrorsleep: Part 1

October 17th, 2011

Header image by Ricardo Esquivel For whatever reason--and step near any literature major, and you'll hear every possible one of them--scary, gory, and downright mean stuff is some of the most invigorating and dreadfully fun to read. You know from the jump that you are going to see some shit, alright! Crack the spine. Awake now, eh? Got your attention? Can you imagine for a while? You might regret it, 'cause there is no unknowing.

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Cavalcade Of Literary Jerks: Part 2

October 14th, 2011

Original Shakespeare portrait via Wikipedia Commons, public domain All author photos via Wikipedia Commons, public domain Aaaaaaand we're back. If you're just joining us, we are counting down the top 10 jerk authors of all time. You can bring yourself up to speed HERE with jerks six through ten.

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Sitting In On Chuck Palahniuk & Friend's Writer's Workshop

October 14th, 2011

Author photo by John Gress, used with permission. So the main course of my trip to Portland was to interview Chuck Palahniuk for the release of Damned (tune in next week for that).  But the dessert was being invited to sit in on one of the most coveted writing groups in the country, if not the planet.  Yes, THAT writing group.  The one that has given us Chuck, Lidia Yuknavitch, Monica Drake, Chelsea Cain, etc… all published and polished authors who have the collective insight, experience, and divergent POVs to make any noob w

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