Storyville: Narrative Hooks

Storyville: Narrative Hooks

I’ve mentioned narrative hooks before, but only briefly. What I’d like to do with this column is elaborate a bit more on what a narrative hook is, how you can create great opening sentences, and how that hook relates to the rest of your story or novel. Wait, that’s a terrible narrative hook. Let me try this again. When you push the metal hook deep into the mouth of a large-mouthed bass, piercing the skin, the barb unable to be removed, you have captured the beast, he will not get away—do the same thing with your writing. Not great, but better.

To leave a comment Login with Facebook or create a free account.

Why I Volunteer for Writing Festivals like Wordstock (and Why You Should, Too)

Why I Volunteer for Writing Festivals like Wordstock (and Why You Should, Too)

Coming home late one evening after a meeting for the Wordstock marketing team, my husband looked at me and said, “I don’t get you. You actually spend your free time talking about books and reading. You are crazy.” I laughed and agreed that, yes, I was probably crazy. Not everyone would donate their time to planning a huge literary festival, or attend hours of meetings figuring out ways to get people to come to said literary festival.

To leave a comment Login with Facebook or create a free account.

Politics of the Past: Irvine Welsh Revisits the 80's with Skagboys

Politics of the Past: Irvine Welsh Revisits the 80's with Skagboys

In 1993 Irvine Welsh introduced us to a group of young Scots in media addictus with his debut novel, Trainspotting. Three years later, their story was adapted into a film that boosted international awareness of the actors, director, and author alike. There were complaints about the lack of subtitles and the thickness of the accents, but that didn't stop everyone and their mother from trying one on for size, sounding like so many poorly imitated Sean Connerys and Scrooge McDucks.

To leave a comment Login with Facebook or create a free account.

Small Packages: Short Fantasy Fiction

Small Packages: Short Fantasy Fiction

In looking back on my columns for LitReactor so far, I realized that I’ve focused primarily on fantasy novels and not on short fiction. As a writer and reader of short stories, I felt that should be rectified. There’s so much good fantasy being published today, and much of that is in the short form. And while novels offer more space for worldbuilding and intricate plots, short stories often allow for more experimentation in content and style, and can pack more emotion than might be expected in such a short space.

To leave a comment Login with Facebook or create a free account.

What's The Value Of A Great Ending?

What's The Value Of A Great Ending?

In art school, when building your portfolio they tell you to start strong, end even stronger, and bury any weaknesses in the center. Opening strong gives a good first impression and encourages interest, and closing strong is vital because the ending is what people remember most when they walk away. For me, and I would wager for most, the same is true of books. And since it takes a great deal longer to read a book  than to flip through a portfolio, a strong ending becomes even more important.

To leave a comment Login with Facebook or create a free account.

Ask The Agent: Answers To Some of The Gritty Details of The Business

Ask The Agent: Answers To Some of The Gritty Details of The Business

I received so many fantastic questions this week! I couldn’t decide on just a few, so I’ve decided to go ahead and answer several of them, given the answers are not as intensive as usual.


Question from Malina

Not too long ago, a friend of mine had asked me to help look at her work on www.wattpad.com and for a bit of fun, I started writing a book on there too. 

To leave a comment Login with Facebook or create a free account.

The Bottom Of The Barrel: The 10 Worst-Ranked Books On Amazon

The Bottom Of The Barrel: The 10 Worst-Ranked Books On Amazon

With 42 million books to choose from on Amazon.com and only so many hours in the day, I need help picking out the right ones. No matter how good a book is, some idiot reviewers are bound to drag the score down (showcased in The Top 10 Best Books... With The Worst Amazon Customer Reviews) and the author's loved ones will undoubtedly get paid off to compliment the book, but overall, Amazon reviews still give a fairly accurate assessment of a book's quality.

To leave a comment Login with Facebook or create a free account.

Return of the Bonkbuster

Return of the Bonkbuster

If you’re feeling all Fifty Shades of Grey'ed out, the bad news is that the feeding frenzy has not yet abated. A film version is in the works and rumor has it that Ryan Gosling has been offered a sufficiently tempting deal (probably including his own luxury mansion on the Moon) to sign up for the part of Christian Grey.

To leave a comment Login with Facebook or create a free account.

The Weird Side Of Literary Tourism: Five Bizarre Book-Inspired Experiences

To leave a comment Login with Facebook or create a free account.