Columns

All Hail the Slasher: The Rise and Legacy of an Iconic Subgenre of Horror

October 25th, 2019

Freddy. Jason. Michael. This unholy trinity of horror icons represents a grimy, exploitative subgenre that exploded in the late 1970’s and dominated the 1980’s—the slasher. In celebration of Halloween, let’s take a deep dive into the slasher film—what it is, why we love it, and how the classic slasher is a purely cinematic experience that leverages the full power of the film medium.

Read Column →

How IRL Writing Friends Make This Whole Journey A Million Times Better

October 24th, 2019

Photo by Dennis Magati There’s something about knowing you’re not alone on the journey that makes it a million times easier. By journey, I mean life in the grander scheme, but also publishing, book-loving-and-writing, blogging...that journey as well.

Read Column →

Dyslexic Author is my Favorite Oxymoron

October 23rd, 2019

Image by Anna Shvets What do Octavia Estelle Butler, John Irving, and Dav Pilkey have in common? Other than being awesome writers, they are all dyslexic. Yeah. Read that line again. Dyslexic. Dyslexia is an annoying reading and writing disorder that often scrambles words, letters, and numbers on a page. How do I know this? I’m another dyslexic writer.

Read Column →

Ursula K. Le Guin: A Primer

October 21st, 2019

Perhaps you’re just beginning to dip your toes into the vast and glittering waters of speculative fiction. Maybe you’ve been reading sci-fi and fantasy for a while, but your library tends to be stocked with the genre’s male greats. Or it could be that you’re hoping to line your bookshelf with feminism, cultural anthropology, Taoism, and philosophy. One way or another, you’ve found your way to one of science fiction and fantasy’s greatest voices, Ursula K. Le Guin — and you want to know more.

Read Column →

Storyville: Finding Original Locations to Set Your Horror Stories

October 18th, 2019

So, I write a lot of scary stories—across horror, fantasy, science fiction—you name it. And one of the first things I do when I start thinking about the concept, is WHERE to set it. You can certainly lean into the tropes of classic dark fiction, but I encourage you to find new locations, less obvious places to start your tragic tales. Let me share with you a story about a recent project of mine.

Read Column →

Crappy, Ben-Cooper-Style Literary Costumes

October 17th, 2019

Ben Cooper, Collegeville, Halco — these names meant Halloween for decades. The costumes they made were crappy. In terms of materials, looks, fit, really any objective measure, these companies made shitty getups. But they were also super fun, and besides, getting a crappy costume had a hidden advantage: If your costume from last year barely held up for one night of trick-or-treating, you HAD to get a new one for next year. Sure, you might want to be He-Man this year, but next year? That's for babies.

Read Column →

Women Are Reclaiming and Perfecting The Rape Revenge Narrative

October 16th, 2019

Triggering Content

Read Column →

How Lit Witchcraft Can Help Your Writing

October 15th, 2019

I don’t always write when I witch, but I always witch when I write. This was not always the case. I began writing poetry when I was a teenager, as most people who write poetry do. I did not take it particularly seriously. In my 20’s I began to explore various mind altering techniques, ranging from meditation, yoga, ecstatic dancing to tarot card reading. Through the process of putting my mind and body through the paces of a psychic workout, I was able to become more grounded in my life, and to become more aware of myself and my feelings as they occurred.

Read Column →

Ask Nick: Publishing 201 - Why Do Some Writers Get To Fail More Than Once?

October 14th, 2019

Hello, and welcome back to Publishing 201—an occasional column in which I'll answer your questions about writing and publishing, so long as they haven't been asked and answered a million times already. There is plenty of 101-level advice out there, and thousands of writers who can repeat it, but very little has been written for writers further along in their careers or aesthetic development. If you have a 201-level question you'd like me to answer, reach out!

Read Column →

My Literary Tattoo Isn't a Book: It's a Pen

October 14th, 2019

Photo courtesy of the author I’m a big fan of tattoos. I haven’t always been, but it’s like I woke up one day halfway through college with this idea in my head of the tattoo I wanted, and once I got that one, I couldn’t stop. I now have four—three on my right arm, and the original on my left. My third tattoo, which I got at a little shop in Mexico City, is my literary tattoo.

Read Column →