Opinion
Miserable Fiction
I was reading a book the other day. It was a very good book, extremely well written, very imaginative. The...
In Praise of Difficult Genre Fiction
A while back I was fortunate to read, in close succession, three masterful works in the science fiction/fantasy genre that...
Some Thoughts on Emotion in Writing
I have this good friend who's utterly obsessed with a certain band. Mostly, he's into indie electronica bands, and this...
Fictional Family Ties
It’s been said that families are like fudge—mostly sweet with a few nuts. If we’re lucky, the balance between the...
Celebrating PRIDE Month: A Dozen LGBTQA SciFi/Fantasy Books I Would Highly Recommend
As a middle-aged, monogamous white CIS woman, it may seem strange that I’m recommending LGBTQA books in the scifi/fantasy genre...
Staff Rec: The Clothing of Books & Boy Erased
The Clothing of Books by Jhumpa Lahiri "How do you clothe a book?" is the how this small, but powerful...
Bond Instead of Ban
I confess that I was one of those mothers. You know the type, the one who screened everything my kids...
The Heartache We Take As Normal
There is a baby in my home. Evidence of his existence is littered around us, blocking the sparse surroundings with...
OpEd: Young Adult Lit and the Classroom
A few years back I was asked by a dear friend if I teach the classics and I answered with...
Remembering Carrie Fisher
An Actress, Yes, But Also an Amazing Writer I first came across Carrie Fisher, as so many of us did,...
OpEd: The Varying Poverties of Now
The Varying Poverties of Now In the appendix to his brief but radiant 2010 manifesto ‘Reality Hunger’—a supremely confident and...
Traveling Light: Unpacking a Story
So there I am, in a small hotel between the Costa Brava and Sitges, once again unpacking the bag I’ve...
LitStack Recs: Pushcart Prize 38 & Leviathan Wakes
Pushcart Prize 38: Best of the Small Presses, ed. by Bill Henderson Now in its thirty-eighth year, the Pushcart Prize...
LitStack’s Recs: Shakespeare’s Sonnets & Writing Inspiration
William Shakespeare The Sonnets It may be a day late to pin this recommendation to the 450th anniversary of the...
Thanking the Gatekeepers – One Writer’s Views on the Advantages of Traditional Publishing
Paolo Bacigalupi is an award winning science fiction writer. Author of the amazing book, The Windup Girl (which won the...
Op Ed: The Wheelbarrows of Violence
The Wheelbarrows of Violence After missing a 7:15am train on my way upstate last Saturday, I was talking to a...
A Hunger for Downton Abbey
As American viewers await the start of Downton Abbey's fourth season, the entire season has already aired in Britain, and...
Bastian Bux, I Am
I'm sure you've seen the movie. A mouse of a boy runs down an indifferent city street, three larger boys...
“Sweet Children” and Trust
I remember when I first received my first Harlequin book. I was 13 years old. I don’t remember anything about...
Beth Revis Discusses Representation in Fiction
NY Times Bestselling author of the Across the Universe series, Beth Revis, published a post on her blog yesterday, discussing...
Wisdom Gained from the Wise Owl Bookstore
I opened my bookstore on May 15th, 2011. I will be closing my bookstore on August 30th, 2013. I guess...
The Ugly Myth of “Too Much Reading”
When I read Gawker's post on Marie Gandron, director of the Hudson Falls Public Library, admitting to telling nine year...
Speculative Fiction Sucker Punches, Part 3 – Upper Cuts, Body Punches and Haymakers
So we've covered convenient magic and uber leetness as speculative fiction sucker punches; the right hook and left hook, respectively. Now...
Speculative Fiction Sucker Punches, Part 2 – The Left Hook: Uber Leetness*
So if the right hook in Speculative Fiction Sucker Punches is convenient magic (as discussed in my earlier essay), what...
Speculative Fiction Sucker Punches, Part 1 – The Right Hook: Convenient Magic
I’ve read quite a bit of fantasy fiction, from JRR Tolkien to China Miéville and a lot in between. I’ve...
Writing in a Dandelion Future
From the Guardian UK: According to Neil Gaiman, writers should be less mammalian. But can you build a literary career...
Pen Names and Query Letters
From the Writer's Relief staff: There are a lot of reasons for a writer to have a pen name—from a...
OpEd: The Other Moral Dilemma of ‘Ender’s Game’
This piece comes to us from our good friend Tee Morris: The Other Moral Dilemma of 'Ender’s Game' Orson Scott...
Nora Ephron’s Son Writes About Her ‘Final Act’
Jacob Bernstein, a contributor to The New York Times and son of the late writer, Nora Ephron, wrote a beautiful...
Hugo Winner Jo Walton Explains Why She Reads
In her Tor.com piece, Hugo winner Jo Walton talks about purposeful reading: In the comments to my post “Is There...
When the Troops Rally: Kickstarter Campaigns for Jay Lake Reaches Goals in Opening Day
Image courtesy of The Acts of Whimsy Kickstarter There's a kinship in genre fiction. I'm sure that can be said...
Gimbling in the Wabe: The Best Of, In My Humble Opinion
It’s all the rage at this time to come out with massive amounts of “Best Of” or “Top” of the...
LitStaff Pick: Open Thread
It's nearly year's end, when the best-of lists proliferate like winter grass in California's rainy season. These reading lists are...
Thoughts from the Editor: Shabby Chic Writing
You may not know it, but one of my many obsessions is home decorating. I stalk blogs, I learn and...
Essay: Refuting Tolkien
Steven Lloyd Wilson, Associate Editor of the website Pajiba, uses Tolkien as a jumping off point to explore how some...
Word Nerd
I was never going to be a math wiz. Figures and formulas weren’t my forte; I'm very right brain, I’ll...
Living Long and Prospering: There Are No Prodigies Here
There Are No Prodigies Here I’m going back to the Atlantic again this week, where I found this piece highlighting...
Living Long and Prospering: Gulliver’s General Assembly
Gulliver’s General Assembly I should here observe to the reader, that a decree of the general Assembly in this country...
Setting from the Ground Up
Awhile ago, during a workshop discussion of a story set in 1950s rural England, the topic turned to detail. The...
Patience, Grasshopper
As someone who has just completed an MFA program, I have one word of advice for anyone attempting to grow...
Living Long and Prospering: Separating the Message from the Medium
Separating the Message from the Medium When I needed to clear some space in my apartment upon entering my last...
