Columns

"Indie for life! But wait...": The Agent Conundrum

January 24th, 2019

Agents can make your career blow up. Agents are awful people who constantly look for the same type of books. Agents can help you get paid. Agents only want your money. Agents can help you navigate a career in publishing. Agents are a waste of time. Agents are awesome! Agents are assholes! 

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Writing Can Become An Addiction If You Let It—And That's A Bad Thing

January 23rd, 2019

When Stephen King finally got himself clean and sober, he replaced his addictions to booze and coke with a healthier obsession: his writing. He confirmed as much in an interview with Rolling Stone back in 2014. When asked whether or not his writing is an addiction, he replied:

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13 Novels Set in the World of Myth

January 22nd, 2019

Due to the recent popularity of superhero movies, kids these days—okay, everyone these days—know more about mythology than ever before. What was once a dry, dusty subject has become a flashy, multi-billion dollar premise, and now folks who couldn’t tell their ass from their elbow are discussing Loki’s hand in Ragnarok with utter seriousness. Personally, as a child who spent hours holed up with brittle-paged mythology books and who still has quite a collection, I find it refreshing to be one of the cool kids.

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The Best of Stan Lee's Soapbox

January 21st, 2019

I was reading Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #310 on a train in Portland, Oregon. I’d been carrying the issue around, folded in half in my coat pocket for a few days, and the blue line to Beaverton was my chance to read it. It’s a really good issue, written and drawn by Chip Zdarsky. Get it. When we got off the train, I heard one of my friends say, “Don’t tell him. He’ll just be depressed.” But I made them tell me. Stan Lee was dead.

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Most Anticipated Books of the First Half of 2019

January 18th, 2019

Listen, this is not a complete list. There is a lot of great stuff that hasn't hit my radar yet. There's also stuff on my radar that I simply forgot about while putting this list together. Oh, and there are amazing books I'm stoked for that aren't here because they have late June/July release dates and those are coming in a future list (looking at you, The Book of X by Sara Rose Etter and Growing Things by Paul Tremblay). Anyway, lots of goodness coming our way. Here's some of the books I'm really excited about. 

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5 Reasons We Love To Hate Jonathan Franzen

January 16th, 2019

It’s never a good thing when Jonathan Franzen is a trending topic on Twitter. The last time this happened, Franzen had put out his “10 Rules for Novelists.” People seemed pissed. Really pissed. So royally pissed that I fully expected the pieces of advice to be:

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Instead of Joining a Book Club This Year, Subscribe To a Literary Podcast

January 14th, 2019

It’s the first month of 2019, so what are your New Year’s Resolutions? Join a reading club? Haven't you already been there, done that?   Join a gym? Good luck.

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Storyville: Method Writing

January 10th, 2019

So you’ve probably heard of method acting. You know, an actor studies up for a role by remaining in character—prior to the film, while shooting, at night, off set, for a long period of time. Basically going to extremes through study and action to become that person.

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10 Novels Featuring Edgar Allan Poe As A Character

January 9th, 2019

In life, Edgar Allan Poe enjoyed little success with his writings and suffered a piteous (albeit strange) drunkard's demise. In death, however, Poe's groundbreaking horror and thriller narratives are celebrated as among the finest not only of his genre, but of all of literature (he's even credited with inventing the detective story). As famous now as some of his and other writers' iconic creations, Poe's gloomy visage graces T shirts, mugs, bookmarks, journals, and various other products.

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Give Me Fewer Resolutions and More Hustle

January 8th, 2019

It's 8:47 p.m. when I sit down to write this. You want me to be honest with you? I don't want to sit down and write this. I had a long day. I woke up at 4:00 a.m., went to the gym, read a few pages, showered, got dressed, had breakfast, and drove to work a bit earlier than usual because I have cafeteria duty on Monday mornings. Then I taught all day and graded 200 tests. I went to the grocery story after work. The place was packed. I came home, ate, replied to some emails, and took care of my daily house responsibilities.

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