One of the things that drive me nuts in reviews and workshops is when the critic critiques a story based not on what it is, but rather what he or she wanted it to be….
Browsing Category Books
Everyone should just stop writing stories about offices now
If I had a dollar for every time I have referenced, linked to, or told someone about Daniel Orozco’s short story “Orientation” (which you can listen to right here, fast forward to about 50:45), I…
Like the biggest, best issue of Tiger Beat ever
I was so firmly ensconced in Team Ponyboy that when I saw the movie version of “The Outsiders” in 1985, my loyalties immediately set up in the C. Thomas Howell camp. In fact, it wouldn’t…
Delivering noise & real tough boys
Reading Bob Mould’s autobiography, See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody, is a little like indulging someone you adore as they tell you about a dream they had about you last night….
Very many Arthurs and all of them good
The novelist Arthur Phillips had me when the character Arthur Phillips mentioned the Minneapolis Star back when Minneapolis was a two-paper town. I have no idea why this small bit of Minnesota trivia charmed me…
The 5 stages of reading Genre Fiction
I don’t often read genre fiction (mysteries, horror, sci-fi, fantasy). It’s just not my thing. I prefer fiction where the story is moved forward by characters and character development. Genre fiction, in my experience, is…