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What's Scary In Small, Indie, and Self-Pub
October 20th, 2020
Original image via Pixabay If you want to be scared this October, turn away from the mainstream. Tell Publisher’s Weekly to piss off. And stop looking to big publishers to bring the pain. If you want to get scared, go small.
Read Column →Showing and Telling, and Trusting the Reader
October 15th, 2020
Image by Henry & Co. Plenty of people have written about the most famous writing cliché, “show don’t tell.” At this point, I think we all know that the concept behind that is far more complicated than those three words literally imply. However, even for writers who are excellent at “showing” there is often a problem with telling, and it doesn’t result from some failure to use concrete and vivid imagery, or any sort of technical deficiency.
Read Column →Too Young for Horror?
October 14th, 2020
Most of us saw someone get decapitated a little before we were ready. Most of us had a parent who didn’t read a movie description, an uncle who liked to show us monster movies and fill us with sugar, and some of us just managed to fight sleep long enough to go deep into cable channels and see heads rolling, someone punching right through a dude, or maybe even a bit of nudity. Chances are you saw some horror before you could totally handle it.
Read Column →The Kings of Steam: Remembering the Work of Jay Lake and Brandon Black
October 13th, 2020
I miss Jay Lake and Brandon Black. I knew Lake solely through his writing as a reader and fan. Brandon Black, the pen name for James Louis Butler III, I knew as a peer and friend. I never had the pleasure of meeting either of them in person.
Read Column →Chuck-alikes: A Chuck Palahniuk Read-alike List Part 2
October 12th, 2020
Chuck-alike definition: Books like Chuck Palahniuk’s. [Click here for Chuck-alikes: Part 1] Chuck’s books attract people who don’t always enjoy the books they were assigned in school, the books that hit bestseller lists, the books that you find in book clubs. Which means Chuck's fans have to be a little more clever when we're looking for other great books.
Read Column →Storyville: How to Collaborate on a Fiction Project
October 9th, 2020
I’ve worked on two major collaborations in my career—The Soul Standard (Dzanc Books, 2016), which is four novellas linked together in the same world, but entirely independent, with Nik Korpon, Caleb Ross, and Axel Taiari; and the novelette Golden Sun (Chiral Mad 4), with Kristi DeMeester, Damien Angelica Walters, and Michael Wehunt. So how did these projects come together, what was the process, and what tips do I have for you? Let’s dig in and see.
Read Column →Modern Western Films Written Better Than Ever
October 7th, 2020
The Western ran dry in movies and television by the early 1970s for many reasons, though not for lack of quality material. There were plenty of talented writers looking to improve the genre by going deeper than the outmoded stereotypical plots of cowboys vs. Indians, range wars, and the lone gunman, to name a few. Hollywood being a cold money-making machine, when Western films began failing at the box office in favor of space operas and godfathers, their attention waned.
Read Column →The Top 10 Costumes for Writers in 2020
October 6th, 2020
Photo via Ryan Miguel Capili You've been wearing a mask for a while, I know, but now you get to wear one for fun, like you used to. I have no idea what Halloween is going to look like this year, but Halloween is my favorite time of the year and I will be celebrating even if it means getting together with friends over Zoom. In any case, Halloween time means it's costume time.
Read Column →Chuck-alikes: A Chuck Palahniuk Read-alike List (Part 1)
October 5th, 2020
Chuck-alike definition: Books like Chuck Palahniuk’s. [Click here for Chuck-alikes: Part 2] Chuck’s books attract people who don’t always enjoy the books they were assigned in school, the books that hit bestseller lists, the books that you find in book clubs. Which means Chuck's fans have to be a little more clever when we're looking for other great books.
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