Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
Social Sharing Toolkit v2.2 There’s no running from worldbuilding anymore. A tidbit of information about The Hunger Games films or “Game of Thrones” leaks, provoking fans and news outlets alike into a frenzy. Entire wikis are meticulously curated for each series, every line and scene analyzed for maximum informative potential. The ability to craft an expansive…
It’s not often you hear of a poetry scandal on the Internet, but a poem from unknown writer Yi-Fen Chou—“The Bees, the Flowers, Jesus, Ancient Tigers, Poseidon, Adam and Eve” caused controversy after making this year’s anthology of Best American Poetry. After being notified the poem was accepted in the volume, poet Michael Derrick Hudson…
I woke up at 4am the morning after Thanksgiving in 2014. I had been staying the night at my friends Liz and Rob’s house after imbibing what can only be called a festive amount of alcohol. The couch, comfortable as it was when I settled in to sleep, was a nightmare to wake up in…
An Interactive Guide to Ambiguous Grammar. Depending on whom you ask, the use of the active voice over the passive is arguably the most fundamental writer’s maxim, thought to lend weight, truth, and power to declarative statements. This absolutist view is flawed, however, because language is an art of nuance. From time to time, writers…
About this presentation For more than a decade, Kelly Sue DeConnick has worked as a leading writer in the world of comic books, most notably on Captain Marvel and Bitch Planet. Through her career, DeConnick has found that the best way to inspire, lead, bring people together, and motivate those who need a push is…
end of ShanesHouse1 Moviegoers love a nice cliché. At least, if ticket sales for superhero comic films are any indication. See what I did there? I just used one myself. (Actually, two.) As a writer, I’m obligated to turn my nose up (three!) at clichés, wherever I see them. But my snobbery is hypocritical: I…
Back in the fat years – two or three decades ago, when the “mainstream” media were booming – I was able to earn a living as a freelance writer. My income was meager and I had to hustle to get it, turning out about four articles – essays, reported pieces, reviews – a month at…
“If I have any advice to young people, I urge you to never write or become part of the publishing industry.” On September 26, 2014, Ed Champion stood again on the edge of a bridge spanning the East River. Champion—a blogger, critic, and unpublished novelist—had written a despairing note on Facebook the night before: “I…
★★★ The clearing where the children were waiting for soccer camp to start was still mild and shady, with a deep blue sky showing above the trees. Clover whitened the fenced-off lawn and plantain sent up its spikes. One or two dandelions, then one or two more, stood up compact and yellow. An evaporative breeze crossed…
Begin: Right Rail Advertisement Container End: Right Rail Advertisement Container Begin: WordPress Article Content I’ve gone all in with the Indie publishing movement – I’ve released three books myself and I’ve done relatively well with all of them. But the fact still remains that the entire business of books is stacked against the Indie author….