Columns

The Great Game of Balancing Character and Plot

May 28th, 2019

Over the past six weeks, Game of Thrones fans have endured some of the most stressful 80-minute episodes of television ever created. Visually, the season was stunning, the acting was stellar, and once again Ramin Djawadi proved he’s an international treasure we don’t deserve. But despite the visual effects, performances, epic score, and heart-pounding action, the overall consensus—based on the slew of articles, petitions, memes, and tweets—is disappointment.

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Everything You Need To Know About Philip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials’ Before The BBC Miniseries

May 24th, 2019

This year, The BBC is bringing us an epic miniseries adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials. When this year? No one knows! The teaser released in February says “Coming Soon,” but for fans of the YA fantasy trilogy who have been waiting for a real adaptation of these books for twenty years (sorry, no, the 2007 film does not count), it can’t come soon enough.

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5 Reasons Amazon is a Necessary Evil

May 23rd, 2019

I love reading. I love writing. I love selling books. Writing is one of the best things that ever happened to me. When I published my first book, I couldn't imagine traveling to promote it. Now I'm on tour with Coyote Songs and the reception has blown my wildest dreams into oblivion.

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10 Things Every Horror Writer Should Read

May 21st, 2019

As writers, we are expected to read a lot. The work of other writers can teach us how to more effectively enthrall our readers and show us how to be better at our craft. Given the limited amount of reading time in our lives, it's important not to waste time consuming material that won't help us progress and develop. Here is a list of the best suggestions for a well-rounded horror author to read.

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Reading and Watching S. Craig Zahler

May 20th, 2019

Here’s how I can tell I’m really involved in a book: I read when it’s inconvenient. I read in the 3 minutes it takes to brush my teeth. I read while I take a dump. I get places early and spend the extra time reading. I’m annoyed when friends show up on time because I have to put the book down. That’s what it was like with S. Craig Zahler’s Wraiths of The Broken Land. Everything else about life dropped away, and all I cared about was seeing the story through to the end. This book is the real deal.

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12 of the Weirdest Star Wars Novels in the Galaxy

May 17th, 2019

Sometime in 2014 the Star Wars universe got retconned. Hard. Yes, The Mouse got a hold of the property, and when it was decided to make three more movies, I can only imagine some dork stood up and said, “Well, with the expanded universe of novels, we're pretty hemmed in, story-wise.” I don’t know whether that guy ever recovered from the Wedg(i)e Antilles they gave him. But I know the death of the expanded universe gave most nerds a feeling as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced.

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Everything You Need to Know About the 2019 Pulitzer Prize Winners For Fiction and Poetry

May 16th, 2019

While the Pulitzer Prize includes a large number of journalism categories, it’s more widely thought of as a heavyweight literary award. You’ve probably read the terms “Pulitzer Prize winner” before the title of many books, and nodded sagely to yourself, thinking “Ah, it must be good.” But how much do you really know about this prestigious award? And moreover, how much do you know about the poetry and fiction winners who were crowned this past April?

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10 Tips for a Superb Reading

May 15th, 2019

Photo by Wendy Wei from Pexels Here are some facts I won't argue about: Book covers matter and sell books Professional editing and layout matter Reading your work in public can help you sell books Especially that last one. It has worked for me time and time again.

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Storyville: Sympathy for the Devil

May 14th, 2019

When you write about horrible people in your fiction—whether it’s your villain or your protagonist—their portrayal can’t be one note. What I want to talk about today is how you get readers to feel strong emotions about all of your characters, but especially the dark souls, monsters, and evil entities in your stories.

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Book vs. Films: "The Birds"

May 13th, 2019

As Malcolm Jones correctly opines in an article for The Daily Beast, "Ask anyone today who wrote The Birds, and the odds are good that you’ll get a blank stare for a response." This is certainly true of cinephiles, as well as the population at large, who think, no doubt, of three things when reminded of The Birds: Hitchcock, Tipi Hedren in her green dress getting jabbed and pummeled by the titular avians, and a farmer with his eyes pecked out. 

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