Columns

Top 10 Ways To Make 'The Strain' Less Stupid

October 13th, 2014

The first season of The Strain just came to end. And, well, that certainly was a television show. 

Read Column →

Things to Consider Before Signing a Publishing Contract

October 10th, 2014

Writing a novel is damn hard. Selling one to a publisher, in its own distinct way, is even more difficult because you're essentially convincing a company to gamble on you and your work. This is part of the reason self-publishing is booming right now. Searching for a publisher is both a hassle and a blizzard of heartbreaking rejection, so when you actually do get an offer, it's a huge moment. So euphoric that emotion can often blind the writer to those important details on what's on the actual contract.

Read Column →

What The Huge Success Of ’Gone Girl’ Says About Us As A Society (Hint: It Isn’t Good)

October 10th, 2014

My problem with Gone Girl isn’t the book or the writer or the film. My problem with Gone Girl is us. Let’s start with this: Gone Girl is a great book, a really great book; one of those rare works of craftsmanship that make even we battlehardened correspondents from the front line of book reviewing drop our habitual sneers of ennui and let slip a small nod of respect.

Read Column →

The Self-Taught MFA: Novel Idea or Fairy Tale, Part 2

October 9th, 2014

  I'm astounded that some crook has not had the idea of opening a writing school.                                  

Read Column →

Book Vs. Film: "Gone Girl"

October 8th, 2014

Back in January, Entertainment Weekly ran a cover story on the (then) upcoming adaptation of Gillian Flynn's bestselling novel Gone Girl. The article's author Stephen Lee quotes director David Fincher (The Social Network, Se7en) on the author-penned screenplay for the film—which stars Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike as Nick and Amy respectively—indicating that drastic deviations from the source material were taken. Lee writes:

Read Column →

Rocking Out With Romance

October 8th, 2014

I absolutely love a good trope, and tropes are successful for a reason—because they work! Never is this truer than with the romance genre, and one of my all-time favorite tropes in romance literature is the unattainable rock star fantasy. Rock star romances run the gamut, from sweet, tender love stories to no holds barred, sexy backstage antics. There's something for everyone, humorous to serious, all featuring the glamorous world of a rock star. 

Read Column →

Arrest Us! And The Winners Are... (Part 2)

October 7th, 2014

And here we are. The final leg of Arrest Us!. The big winners get their due.  Before we get into those, we want to give a hearty thanks to the folks who helped make Arrest Us! so much fun. First, let's recognize the awesome publishers who sent out prize packs to our best reviewers. Each winner got a bunch of free books and other swag.

Read Column →

Path to Publication 3.2: So Much Is Happening

October 6th, 2014

After the collapse of my first book deal, I'm back in business—Polis Books will release my debut novel, New Yorked, in June 2015, and has contracted me for a follow-up, City of Rose. This is a monthly column about taking a book over the finish line.

Read Column →

Off The Grid Reads: "Stray Bullets: Uber Alles Edition" By David Lapham

October 3rd, 2014

So you've finally had it. You're sick of the grind: the job, email, Facebook, Twitter, text messages, television constantly trying to sell you shit you don't need. When you were first starting out, you never pictured your life turning out the way it has. You always thought you'd live close to the land, maybe farm and hunt your food, build your house with your own hands, fall in love with a woman who had the same ideals. But, nope, nothing of the sort has happened.

Read Column →

How to React When Someone Says They Don’t Read

October 3rd, 2014

A man approached me once as I was stocking bookshelves in a store and said smugly, "I've read two books in my entire life. What do you think of that?" He then pointed to a copy of Fifty Shades of Grey and remarked that he couldn't see why people wasted their money on such garbage.

Read Column →