Storyville: Foreshadowing in Fiction—How to Set the Stage

Column by Richard Thomas October 23, 2020 2 comments
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Storyville: Foreshadowing in Fiction—How to Set the Stage

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When it comes to telling a great story, there are many essential elements. One of the more advanced techniques, whether it’s in your short story or your novel, is foreshadowing. Today we’re going to talk about what foreshadowing is and how it can make your stories more tense, believable, layered, and effective. 

DEFINED

From Wikipedia:

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Conjuring Strength Through Poetry: Battling the Slasher Movie in Your Head

Column by Stephanie M. Wytovich, MFA October 22, 2020
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Conjuring Strength Through Poetry: Battling the Slasher Movie in Your Head

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Images via Karolina Grabowska & Engin Akyurt

I’ve always been attracted to the word conjure. Even the way it rolls off the tongue—all thick and slow like hot, dripping honey—makes it feel strong, otherworldly, almost like a verbal talisman or charm.

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Paying Respects to Ursula K. Le Guin: The Queen of Spec-Fic

Column by Jessica Marie Baumgartner October 21, 2020
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Paying Respects to Ursula K. Le Guin: The Queen of Spec-Fic

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Author photo via Wikipedia

There is only one Ursula in the sci-fi/fantasy writing world. She inspired many of us before her passing a couple of years ago, paving the way for imaginative creatives (especially females). Without her Earthsea series it is very likely that Harry Potter would have never existed.

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What's Scary In Small, Indie, and Self-Pub

Column by Peter Derk October 20, 2020
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What's Scary In Small, Indie, and Self-Pub

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Original image via Pixabay

If you want to be scared this October, turn away from the mainstream. Tell Publisher’s Weekly to piss off. And stop looking to big publishers to bring the pain.

If you want to get scared, go small.

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"Writing in the Dark" by Tim Waggoner

Review by Cina Pelayo October 19, 2020
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"Writing in the Dark" by Tim Waggoner

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Photo via author's website

Reading Writing in the Dark by Tim Waggoner is like sitting through your favorite lecture in college, listening to your favorite professor talk about your favorite subject. When I finished the book, I felt like I did at the end of one of those lectures—I wanted to hang back and keep talking with fellow students and the professor about what we had learned.

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"The Magic of Terry Pratchett" by Marc Burrows

Review by Karina Wilson October 16, 2020 2 comments
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"The Magic of Terry Pratchett" by Marc Burrows

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Picking up a Terry Pratchett novel is like self-administering a dose of anti-venom. His fantasy worlds contain the same toxins that inflame our reality: corruption, hypocrisy, greed. Yet within his narratives, as he rails against the too-familiar torments of racism, police brutality, environmental destruction, religious persecution, misogyny et al, he manages to lace the poison with enough humor, defiance, and faith in basic human decency for his stories to serve as a powerful antidote.

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Showing and Telling, and Trusting the Reader

Column by Joshua Isard October 15, 2020
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Showing and Telling, and Trusting the Reader

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Image by Henry & Co.

Plenty of people have written about the most famous writing cliché, “show don’t tell.” At this point, I think we all know that the concept behind that is far more complicated than those three words literally imply. However, even for writers who are excellent at “showing” there is often a problem with telling, and it doesn’t result from some failure to use concrete and vivid imagery, or any sort of technical deficiency.

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Too Young for Horror?

Column by Peter Derk October 14, 2020
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Too Young for Horror?

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Most of us saw someone get decapitated a little before we were ready.

Most of us had a parent who didn’t read a movie description, an uncle who liked to show us monster movies and fill us with sugar, and some of us just managed to fight sleep long enough to go deep into cable channels and see heads rolling, someone punching right through a dude, or maybe even a bit of nudity.

Chances are you saw some horror before you could totally handle it.

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The Kings of Steam: Remembering the Work of Jay Lake and Brandon Black

Column by Jay Wilburn October 13, 2020
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The Kings of Steam: Remembering the Work of Jay Lake and Brandon Black

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I miss Jay Lake and Brandon Black. I knew Lake solely through his writing as a reader and fan. Brandon Black, the pen name for James Louis Butler III, I knew as a peer and friend. I never had the pleasure of meeting either of them in person.

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Chuck-alikes: A Chuck Palahniuk Read-alike List Part 2

Column by Peter Derk October 12, 2020 1 comment
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Chuck-alikes: A Chuck Palahniuk Read-alike List Part 2

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Chuck-alike definition: Books like Chuck Palahniuk’s. [Click here for Chuck-alikes: Part 1]

Chuck’s books attract people who don’t always enjoy the books they were assigned in school, the books that hit bestseller lists, the books that you find in book clubs. Which means Chuck's fans have to be a little more clever when we're looking for other great books.

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