Columns

Get Your Hands Off That Laptop!

September 10th, 2015

photo courtesy Anonymous and Flickr. How many of you out there still work on a dedicated desktop computer, with a tower, monitor, keyboard a

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6 Reasons Everyone Should Read "A Head Full of Ghosts" by Paul Tremblay

September 9th, 2015

Since its release in June, Paul Tremblay's A Head Full of Ghosts has received rave reviews and much-deserved praise across the board. Even Stephen King is talking about it. Yet despite its universal lauding, I bet there are many of you who still haven't read Tremblay's modern take on the exorcism subgenre. Well consider this the call-to-action you've been waiting for.

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10 Things Every Author Needs On Their Website

September 9th, 2015

I've spent the last couple months inviting over 200 local authors to an event as part of my day job.  This means I've seen over a hundred author web sites in the last month. Folks, these are rough waters. As someone who does some writing AND booking of authors, let me tell you what your web site needs. To put this another way, please, allow me to BEG you to make sure your web site has these 10 things.

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Go Back to Boarding School With These 7 Young Adult Novels

September 9th, 2015

September means back-to-school, and what better way to get in the scholastic spirit than with young adult novels set in boarding schools? These books all feature a lush boarding school setting, but the similarities end there. From edgy, limit-pushing main characters to sweet contemporary romances abroad, these books will get you in the mood for the classroom antics and educational pursuits that Fall inevitably brings.

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4 Storytelling Lessons We Can Learn from the Giant Fuckup that was True Detective Season 2

September 8th, 2015

Once there was only dark. Then there was True Detective and for a while things got a little brighter. But for those of us who have been hate-watching our way through True Detective Season 2, that light has slowly faded in a welter of confused plotting and Colin Farrell in a handlebar mustache.

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Deadpool's Greatest Hits: 6 Must Reads

September 8th, 2015

Thanks to some leaked test footage that went viral a year ago, we’re finally getting a full-fledged Deadpool movie, and if the trailer (and the trailer for the trailer) is at all an accurate representation of the final product, it’s the one he so richly deserves. Despite being one of Marvel’s most-beloved characters, he has gone relatively unknown in other mediums, and tragically mistreated by most attempts at adaptation.

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10 Really Obnoxious Things Writers Do

September 8th, 2015

The title says it all. Buckle up. Put on your helmet. I'm about to hurt some feelings. Here, declared by me today, are the most annoying things ever that writers do, and should probably stop doing.  This might sting but I do it because I love you. 

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What Works & What Doesn't: 'Lost in Translation'

September 4th, 2015

Discussing the craft of screenwriting by analyzing (modern) classic film scripts, and asking the essential question: what works and what doesn't? Welcome once again to What Works & What Doesn't, a monthly column dedicated to the craft of screenwriting. Last time, we talked about Chinatown, which is one of the best examples of a classic three-act structure.

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Turning a Phrase: How to Write Historical Dialogue

September 4th, 2015

Human speech can change extremely quickly. Words that were trending last year are now passé, and terms from ten years ago can seem ancient. When done correctly, historical dialogue can be used as a tool to add polish and an air of authenticity. Done incorrectly, it can completely eject a reader from the story.

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Is 'Go Set a Watchman' Really THAT Bad? (Spoiler: Kind of, yeah...)

September 3rd, 2015

It feels like years ago that I wrote my column: Controversy Be Damned: My High Hopes for Harper Lee's New Novel. It feels like years ago that my hopes for the novel were that high. That I believed the release of Harper Lee's Go Set a Watchman could be a good thing. That girl...well, she wasn't wrong, not exactly. But she certainly wasn't right.

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