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Robert Kirkman's Non-Walking-Dead Comics
September 22nd, 2023
Header image: Pixabay Robert Kirkman is in a weird spot. Because The Walking Dead was such a cultural phenomenon, it’s what he’ll be known for forever, the first line in his obituary, FOR SURE.
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Happy Birthday To Agatha Christie, Inventor Of The Slasher
September 15th, 2023
Author photo: Wikipedia Commons Agatha Christie was born on September 15th, 1890. The author is already much celebrated as one of the greatest mystery writers of all time, but there’s one area where Christie still deserves recognition: as the inventor of the slasher. Whether intentional or not, the horror subgenre owes a huge debt of gratitude to Christie and her 1939 novel And Then There Were None.
Read Column →Storyville: Researching Your Novel—for Depth, Emotion, and Authority
September 14th, 2023
Are you thinking about writing a novel? Do you have the authority to tell this story, or do you need to do some research? Let me walk you through the process on my last book, Incarnate, and I’ll see if these suggestions can help you with your next novel.
Read Column →Why Progressive Kid's Books Suck
September 11th, 2023
Header via Pixabay While I was browsing the library a bit back, I came across a little book: Feminist Baby. I hated it. Not because I hate the politics of the book or feminism or hate women or have strong opinions on trans athletes in women’s sports or hate babies.
Read Column →Celebrating The Ampersand On National Ampersand Day
September 8th, 2023
Header image by Christopher Shultz How often do you think about the ampersand? If the answer is “not very often,” then today is a chance to give this symbol its due. That’s because today is National Ampersand Day.
Read Column →7 Trippy Horror Novels That Will Mess You Up
September 5th, 2023
Ever since watching Terry Gillam’s adaptation of Hunter S. Thompson’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and subsequently reading the novel, I’ve been obsessed with mind-altering substances and psychedelic experiences. Not so much in real life (my body and mind are not equipped to handle it), but through art and movies and music and, of course, literature.
Read Column →The Absolute Worst Schools in Fiction
September 1st, 2023
For many, fall is their favorite time of year. The weather gets cooler, the leaves change color, and the holiday’s keep everyone busy. But there’s one thing we all dread: going back to school. There are the early mornings, the piles of homework, and everything in between. But all things considered, it could be much worse. You could be surrounded by assassins, spend detention in a coffin-sized closet, or face flying demons. To make you feel better about your first day of school, we found the absolute worst schools in fiction.
Read Column →Jonathan Safran Foer's "Tree of Codes": Gimmick or Great Read?
August 30th, 2023
Photos by Peter Derk Let’s take a moment to talk carnivals. I promise that this relates to Tree of Codes by Jonathan Safran Foer. When you walk through the aisles of food stands, the section of a carnival for people like me, people with taste, you might come across walking tacos. This is the name given to a dish where you basically put a taco, minus tortilla, into a bag of Doritos, smash it all up, and then eat it with a fork. If you’ve never eaten this, I highly recommend it.
Read Column →The Silly Gooses Theater Company
August 29th, 2023
When I describe Farsickness to people, I start by saying that it’s "Demented Whimsy"—and I’d like to tell you how that artistic philosophy was born. Back in 2020, the world got knocked sideways, and the impossible became the everyday. Because we were all forced inside, we evaluated our lives. Was I fulfilled? Did I have hope? Was I a good spouse, a good parent? And would I ever see that loved one who lives across the country again? We were cluttered with unanswerable questions and had to build new status quos on the quick.
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