Columns

Five of the Best Books I Ever Reread

September 7th, 2012

Too many people get so caught up in what the art critic Robert Hughes called “the shock of the new” that they miss one of my favorite aspects of reading: the shock of the old. Rereading a book I’ve loved before is like refreshing a longstanding friendship. The same pleasure returns, but something unexpected pops out – a character whose wisdom suddenly makes sense, or a once reasonable action that turns unexpectedly foolish. We change as we age, or at least we like to think we do; so do our perspectives on what we read.

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Don't Write Comics: How To Write Comics Part 4

September 6th, 2012

Don't Write Comics is a multi-part essay about writing comics, understanding what your options are, finding the right artist, and everything you need to do to get a strong comic book pitch package together. We’re in the home stretch!

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The Blagger's Guide to Gore Vidal

September 6th, 2012

To blag (v): to sound like you know what you’re talking about when you don’t The Blagger’s Guide to Literature (n): an invaluable resource for those who wish to blag about books without actually reading them.

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Storyville: Writing About Sex

September 5th, 2012

WARNING: This column will talk about sex in a graphic and frank way—so if you are underage or easily offended, please do not continue reading.

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What's Your Style?: Style Guides and How to Use Them

September 5th, 2012

What the *bleep* is a style guide? I am not saying that my high school English teachers failed me, but I arrived as a college freshman without the slightest idea what a style guide was. At matriculation, the college president handed each of us a copy of The Elements of Style. I didn’t know what it was for and therefore shelved it for nearly my entire college career.

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Library Love: Archives - The Hidden Room of Research

September 4th, 2012

If you haven’t read Deborah Harkness’s A Discovery of Witches, it’s worth a try. There are witches, vampires, and demons spelled with an “a,” not to mention a heroine who spends days researching and consulting manuscripts at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. It got me thinking about rare materials and archives, and how truly foreign and inaccessible they seem. “Serious scholarship” is somehow embedded in the word “archives,” leaving them a mystery to most.

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Ask The Agent: Clarifying Industry Semantics and Advice on How to Become an Agent!

September 3rd, 2012

Navigating the rough terrain of today’s publishing industry shouldn’t be a solo event. This week in Ask the Agent, I’ll explore and dissect two of the industry’s mysteries, straight from the shoulder. Question from Heidi Could you talk about the differences between query letter, cover letter, and pitch? These three items are very much the same thing, but in different contexts.

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New Release Roundup: Recommendations for September 2012

September 3rd, 2012

Every month I'll be toiling in the dank, dark mines of literary obscurity, scouring the catalogues of every major publisher to bring the LitReactor faithful a few choice titles hitting the shelves. The following is a brief look at what's worth checking out in September. Full disclosure: unless otherwise noted, none of the below books have been reviewed by myself or other LitReactor staff. These are just a few recommendations based on publisher's notes and my own opinions. Without further ado:

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A Game of Literary F, Marry, Kill

August 31st, 2012

Alright people, time for a little Friday fun. Who's up for a rousing game of F Marry Kill, but with a literary twist?

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Top 10 Reasons People Use To Justify Pirating Digital Content (And Why They’re Wrong)

August 31st, 2012

Pirating digital content is illegal. Full stop.  Yet people continually steal eBooks and movies and television shows and treat it like it's no big deal. There's a couple of reasons it happens: Torrenting is easy and the chance of getting caught is low. And saving money is fun, especially when the economy isn't at its strongest. But an eBook is a luxury, not a right. If you can't afford it, too bad, but that's life. 

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