Columns

I Didn’t Know Author Jason Mott Was Black. Does That Make Me a Racist?

March 19th, 2015

When I discovered the book The Returned, I read it, loved it and decided to talk about it on the Unprintable podcast. Then I thought the author might like to hear the segment (authors generally like listening to people say nice stuff about their books), so I searched for Jason Mott on Twitter, so I could tweet him the link.

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Storyville: Ten Sexual Influences That Really Work

March 18th, 2015

In the wake of all of the Fifty Shades of Grey hype and criticism, I thought I’d make a list of ten BETTER sexual influences for writers. These are books, stories, authors and films that I think will give you a much better grasp of how to write sex scenes—the power struggles, the deviations, and the actual physical interaction. Hope this helps.

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How To Get Lucky With Your Next Read

March 18th, 2015

Photo Credit: Romano Carrattieri (Flickr) One of the most heart crushing truths of all time is that you will never be able to read every single book. There are so many titles, stories, characters, and options! Where do you begin? What happens if you spend your life reading all the wrong books? Disaster! But wait.

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Path to Publication 3.5: Galleys, Bookstores, Marketing, and Putting the Pedal to the Metal

March 17th, 2015

Polis Books will release my debut novel, New Yorked, in June, with the follow-up, City of Rose, slated to follow in 2016. This is a column about taking a book over the finish line. It's been two months since I checked in, and suddenly it feels like things are moving at warp speed. Screw the pleasantries. There's a lot to talk about, so let's dive in...

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Library Love: Go Forth and Wiki!

March 16th, 2015

Image by Matthew (WMF) Wikipedia used to be my nemesis. I spent so much time and effort explaining how to find peer-reviewed sources to students, and then they would turn around and use Wikipedia. Because it's easy. And often the first thing to show up in a Google search. The fact that anyone — like anyone off the street! — could write an entry was a real issue to me and my academic peers. Where was the quality control? Nowhere, I thought.

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Neil Gaiman Live in Tulsa: An Eyewitness Report

March 16th, 2015

Teresa Miller, the evening's MC and executive director of the Oklahoma Center for Poets and Writers (housed within Oklahoma State University-Tulsa) called author Neil Gaiman a "rock-star," a label that has been applied to him before.

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Abandoning Linearity and Enabling Shuffle Mode: How to Write Out of Sequence

March 13th, 2015

Maybe you’ve become bored with your manuscript, or maybe you’re still living under the delusion that writer’s block exists—either way, progress on your novel has come to a sad, discouraging halt. Some asshole construction worker stopped you in traffic and said, “Hey, buddy, not today.” He directed you to turn around and head back home where it’s nice and safe. But you don’t want to be safe. Safe doesn’t write novels. Safe writes flyers and birthday cards. Safe is for Hallmark. No, you want danger.

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The Strange History of Cinderella

March 13th, 2015

This month, Disney will release a brand new, live action version of perhaps its most recognizable animated film, Cinderella. This retelling from writer Chris Weitz (Antz, About A Boy) and director Kenneth Branagh (a bit of an acting/directing powerhouse with too many credits to mention) seems faithful to the 1950 original, featuring an overall bright color palette and a light, fanciful tone.

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Culling the Poetry Classics: William Butler Yeats

March 12th, 2015

Cuirimid fáilte roimh chách! Google translate tells me that's an adequate way to welcome you to our special Irish edition of "Culling the Poetry Classics." If you recall, last year around this time we discussed this month's poet in "Poetry Fun-0-1: Greetings from the Emerald Isle," which you heartily enjoyed, right? Humor me.

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Taboo: Six New Adult Books About Student-Teacher Romance

March 12th, 2015

Nothing is more intriguing in a romance novel than when things get truly complicated, and exploring taboos can turn an otherwise run-of-the-mill story into something much more titillating. There’s many romances that delve into the taboo, but among my favorites are ones that feature the ultimate in forbidden relationships: the student-teacher romance.

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