As anyone who knew me as a youngster can attest, I grew up in a haze of solitude and nerdiness. Not this nouveau nerdy, the kind where a person as attractive and as popular as Kaley Cuoco claims to be a huge geek because she likes The Big Bang Theory. I was honest-to-goodness, all-my-time-alone-in-my-room nerdy. Many of … Continue reading »
“Neurologically Speaking,” by Mercedes Lawry (first appeared in Issue 6 of elsewhere) Poems from Superstition Review, a brief interview in Agave Magazine.) This (very) short prose work begins with a quotation from Louis Pasteur. Ms. Lawry uses Pasteur’s words as a jumping-off point for what appears to me to be a look at how Ms. Lawry believes her mind … Continue reading »
“Requiem, for Solo Cello,” by Damien Angelica Walters (first appeared in Issue 69 of Apex Magazine) Interview with Shimmer, From Strange Horizons: “The Serial Killer’s Astronaut Daughter” I’ve written before about the challenges posed by the popularization of short short fiction. As I pointed out then, there’s nothing inherently inferior about any medium. Genres and forms are like tools; they … Continue reading »
Friends, FJ Contreras is an interesting gentleman. Please check out Mexican Driving, his cultural criticism/writing craft blog. You will also find some of his work at Hades United. Mr. Contreras is a writer and scholar and you would do well to follow him at @mexicandriving. Today, Mr. Contreras gives us a look at what we … Continue reading »
For better and worse, the Internet is here to stay. (Yes, I borrowed that sentence from 1995.) It’s still possible for writers to avoid the Information Superhighway completely, of course. Unless I’m mistaken, Cormac McCarthy is still 100% old school. (And aren’t we jealous?) For the rest of us, however, it’s probably a good idea … Continue reading »
Friends, I spend a lot of time hating on the Internet and resenting the way that the contemporary media environment has narrowed thought and turned American journalism into an endless series of Kim Kardashian pictures and speculation as to how the Charlie Hebdo massacre will affect your favorite YouTube stars. You know what? I have occasion … Continue reading »
Title of Work and its Form: Impulse, novel Author: Ellen Hopkins (on Twitter @EllenHopkinsYA) Date of Work: 2007 Where the Work Can Be Found: Impulse can be found in independent bookstores everywhere. If you don’t know where to find the indie bookstore closest to you, IndieBound will be happy to point you in the right … Continue reading »
Friends, one of our greatest strengths is one of our greatest sadnesses. There are so many fantastic writers out there, so many beautiful books, so many powerful short stories and poems that we will never have time to read all of them. I know; there are worse problems to have. Just like you, I could … Continue reading »
Say it with me: verisimilitude! What a beautiful word. One of the big responsibilities we have as writers is to do as much as we can to breathe reality into our inherently fictional worlds. Fiction writers must keep the reader enthralled by the spells we cast on the page; nonfiction writers have an even greater … Continue reading »
Title of Work and its Form: “Leap of Faith,” short story Author: Brendan DuBois Date of Work: 2015 Where the Work Can Be Found: The story made its debut the February 2015 issue of Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. The fine folks at that magazine have posted an excerpt of this equally fine story. Bonuses: Here … Continue reading »