Columns

Blew Your Resolution? Get Back In The Saddle

March 20th, 2019

Welcome, fellow losers! By now we’ve all failed in our New Year’s writing resolutions. If science knows anything about anything, 80% of us didn’t even make it TO March, let alone this deep into the month. That said, it’s not too late. That burning desire to get something done this year has died down, but there are still some embers glowing. I can see them. You can feel them. Let’s get back on track together.

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Reading Haruki Murakami: A Primer

March 19th, 2019

Haruki Murakami is probably the most famous Japanese writer in the world. His books have been translated into fifty languages and sold millions of copies globally. He’s picked up various prizes over the years, from the Gunzo Award for Hear the Wind Sing, his debut novel, to the World Fantasy Award for Kafka on the Shore, and most recently he was nominated for the New Academy Prize in Literature, though he requested his nomination be withdrawn so he could concentrate on writing and not media attention.

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Storyville: Reading Broadly to Write Better

March 18th, 2019

Stephen King once said, and I paraphrase here, “In order to write, you must read.” And that’s very true. I agree 100%. But what I want you to also understand is you need to read broadly in order to develop depth, originality, and emotion. Male as well as female writers. Different sexual orientations and identities. Countries of origin and cultures. Genres. These are some of the basic areas in which you can broaden the writing you read.

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22 Unorthodox Methods For Tidying Your Book Collection

March 14th, 2019

I picked up a book that’s been sitting on my shelf for a bit. Most times when this happens, I don’t actually know how long the book’s been on the shelf. But this time, a few pages in, I found the original receipt stuffed inside. Guys, I have a couple months to read it before I’ve owned it, unread, for a decade.

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Tackling the Dreaded Rewrite

March 13th, 2019

photo by Adam Klepsteen No one would put sour milk back in the fridge and expect it to be fresh tomorrow. The same logic applies to a bad manuscript. It won't improve without a grueling effort to make it more palatable to discerning agents and editors. When considering a major overhaul for a book-length project, writers need to ask themselves hard questions. Below are the first five you should ask yourself when considering the dreaded rewrite.

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Why I (& Many Editors) Reject A Book Based on the First Paragraph

March 12th, 2019

Original image via Free Images Open submissions are basically speed dating for publishers/editors/agents. The first line of a book is that first glimpse across the table. It is the first impression. It is the moment when an editor honestly asks themselves: am I into this or not?

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Comics vs. Television: The Umbrella Academy

March 11th, 2019

Every now and then, a comic book adaptation does the impossible. It not only translates its source material to another medium (tricky enough on its own), but actually improves upon it in almost every way. Plot holes get patched, characters get fleshed out, and dramatic tension is cranked to eleven. The original is still great, but the adaptation fixes a lot of flaws, making it more accessible to a larger audience.

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Captain Marvel: Primer Plus Predictions

March 8th, 2019

Perhaps, like me, a lot of you were pretty excited by the Captain Marvel trailer. She punches out an old lady on the bus! Finally, a hero who represents my interests! But perhaps, unlike me, you didn’t squander your youth with comics. Maybe you wasted your time, I dunno, building relationships, skills, or connecting with family. I’m not going to judge your terrible decision-making. Instead, I’m going to give you popcorn-munchers a quick primer on Captain Marvel.

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Dirty Little Secrets Part Three: Why the Agent Requested—and Then Rejected—the Full

March 7th, 2019

Every year, most likely, there’s a big writers’ conference in your area, one where aspiring authors gather to pitch their novels to agents in the hopes of landing representation. And every year, most likely, there are a whole lot of writers who get super psyched because one of those agents liked their pitch, liked their first 50 pages, and requested their full manuscript—only to get super bummed, either a matter of days or an archeological age later, when that agent decides to pass.

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The Five Habits of Highly Effective Horror Fiction Podcasts

March 6th, 2019

If you can believe it, podcasts are still a relatively new thing. There was a time when only the early-adopters (Apple cultists, people with raspberry jam on their hands, men called Keith, etc) knew what a podcast was. Now everyone's got a podcast or two on the go. Even my granddad has filled his iPad to bursting point with hours of World War 2 documentaries. And as the medium continues to flourish at a rate only comparable to the introduction of biscuits in England, so too, does the sub-genre of horror fiction podcasts.

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