Columns

Controversies Inside the World of Science Fiction and Fantasy

November 26th, 2013

With the recent release of Ender’s Game, many of you were made aware of the controversy surrounding Orson Scott Card, his homophobic comments, and his efforts to fight marriage equality. It was the rare occasion of something well-known in the science fiction community reaching a larger audience. In the spirit of that exposure, I’m going to share five more controversies that rippled through our small community. Be warned: there’s racism, sexism, and generally dickish behavior below. 

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Getting Shit Done: Eight Tips and Tricks for Better Time Management and Productivity

November 25th, 2013

Photo by Daquella manera Maybe you work a full-time job. Maybe you’re part-time. Maybe you’re a stay-at-home parent. Maybe you’re making enough off your writing to call it a living. Whatever your situation, you’ve got twenty-four hours in a day and at one point or another, you’ve probably cultivated the perfect set of distractions to keep you from your writing.

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Storyville: Dissecting "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?" by Joyce Carol Oates

November 25th, 2013

I’m going to be doing something a little different this column. Instead of dissecting one of my stories, I’m going to dissect a classic short story, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been,” by Joyce Carol Oates. This may be one of the most heavily anthologized and taught stories ever, and that’s no exaggeration. It’s a beautifully written story, where the tension slowly builds, very creepy and distressing in its subtleties—surreal and dark, rooted in the real world, with hints of something supernatural at hand.

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LURID: Hey Hey JFK

November 22nd, 2013

LURID: vivid in shocking detail; sensational, horrible in savagery or violence, or, a guide to the merits of the kind of Bad Books you never want your co-workers to know you're reading.

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The Internet Hates You: Five Writing Habits to Crush

November 22nd, 2013

"People are suckers for charlatans who provide positive advice (what to do), instead of negative advice (what not to do)," says professionally grumpy Nassim Taleb. My April column on how to create good writing habits seems to have been enough of a success for me to wonder whether I'm a charlatan. So, in the spirit of giving negative advice, here are five things I think you shouldn't do when trying to get your writing done.

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Book Brawl: House of Leaves vs. Night Film

November 22nd, 2013

When anything comes along which seems so unusual and unique that it’s beyond imitation, the one thing you can be sure of is that someone will try to imitate it. Or actually, lots of people. And the other thing you can be sure of is that any subsequent work which bears even a passing resemblance to the original will be decried as a pale, inferior simulacrum. Comparisons between Mark Z. Danielewski’s seminal House of Leaves and Marisha Pessl’s Night Film have already been drawn, usually to the detriment of Pessl’s work.

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It's Made Of SCIENCE: Amnesia

November 21st, 2013

Amnesia is the O Fortuna of the literary fiction world. It's a popular, serious theme which has been used so often it borders on parody. We have seen countless iterations of the amnesiac hero. The disorder has been used in storytelling at least as early as the 1600's with Giambattista Basile's The Dove, and continues to make appearances in our books and movies today.

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Library Love: Weed Your Library!

November 20th, 2013

Do you ever look at our bookshelves and feel a strange malaise? That same kind of feeling a look at the oldest clothes in your closet produces? Do you own books you think you should read, but deep down, you know you never will? Do you still have that little gift store book about spooning your ex gave you? A yes to any of these questions means your collection is a prime candidate for weeding.

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Writing: An Outlet For Psychosis

November 19th, 2013

Thanks to some excellent articles on mental health from LitReactor's own Nathan Scalia and Robbie Blair, I finally feel both comfortable and inspired enough to discuss how writing has helped me through my struggle with psychosis. For anyone unfamiliar with that word, it's a fancy medical term for being crazy.

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Should You Become A Multi-Hyphenate?

November 18th, 2013

About half a dozen years ago I realized that if I ever wanted to be successful at anything, I had to pick ONE thing. I was a jack-of-all-trades, master-of-nothing kind of gal, and while I'll probably never truly master anything, I realized that I wasn't nearly gifted enough to be successful in multiple writing-related areas, certainly not when I hadn't yet accomplished anything major in my writing-related life. 

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