The “What If?” in Storytelling: Villains, Retellings and Writing Prompts
It’s fascinating to think if you change a moment or two in a story it can change the projection of said story. What if Simba from the Lion King never returned to his birth place? What if Voldemort did successfully kill off Harry? What if Cruella Deville actually did...
What’s in a Name: A Word on Pen Names
Whenever I imagine my dream job as an author, I picture myself writing under a different name—a pen name. It’s been this way since I was twelve years old, scribbling furiously in the pages of my notebook. Over the years, my reasons why and the names I’ve invented have...
Review: Monstrilio by Gerardo Sámano Córdova
MonstrilioGerardo Sámano CórdovaZando ProjectsMarch 2023ISBN 978–1–63893–160–7 Grief eats you up from the inside, as is shown in Gerardo Sámano Córdova’s debut novel Monstrilio, published under Zando Projects. Córdova’s novel is an exploration of grief, identity,...
Review: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros
ISBN: 9781649374042by Rebecca YarrosEntangled Publishing, 2023, 512 pp., $14.99, paper “A dragon without its rider is a tragedy. A rider without their dragon is dead.” ― Rebecca Yarros, Fourth Wing In a world of betrayal, secrets, heartache, misfits, and cutthroat...
Review: What Kingdom by Fine Gråbøl
Psychiatric facilities are not welcoming places. Despite their goal of rehabilitation and healing, they are often dull, concrete-laden and washed in fluorescent light. Except, however, when it comes to Danish author Fine Gråbøl’s vulnerable portrayal in her debut...
Imagination’s Ballot Box: Literary Figures Casting Their Votes
Literature has become my spectator sport since crossing the threshold into the literary world; it made me discover more about people I knew in every book, poem, or short story I encountered. In 2017, while reading a short story on a major publishing house's website,...
A Spooky Read for a Spooky Month
“White is for witching, a colour to be worn so that all other colours can enter you, so that you may use them. At a pinch, cream will do.” ― Helen Oyeyemi, White Is for Witching What better way to celebrate the spookiest month of the year than to read a spooky novel?...
How to Homebrew: Worldbuilding, Writing, and Utilizing the Strengths of the Tabletop Form
I’ve been playing Tabletop Role-Playing Games (TTRPGs) for years. I’ve been running a game for close to four. Since then, I feel like I’ve learned a lot—about being a GM (game master), about writing and worldbuilding, about my players, and (unfortunately) about...
Growing Your Literary Circle
Many of us have experienced it: that feeling when you pull out a thick novel or a recognizable classic from your bag and crack it open—whether on the bus, in a waiting room, or at a cozy coffee shop. When reading in public, an air of superiority may swoop over you...
Writer’s I’d Workout With
Like Socrates famously said, “It is a shame for a man to grow old without seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable.” As writers we often spend days, weeks, months, even years sculpting our characters to be as perfect to us as possible. Yet,...
Review: The Wings Upon Her Back by Samantha Mills
The Wings Upon Her Back 336 Pages $10.49 9781616964146 Tachyon Publications Genre fiction can be hard for new properties to break into. Any new work set in a world outside of our own must sell the reader on the reality of that world. As such, it’s easier for ...
Books from Childhood: Do They Hold Up?
There was a big question that was written on the board one day that inspired this entire entry, along with passing by Barnes and Nobles and seeing a big red children’s book with a small teddy bear in green overalls, reaching for the button on the front of the book,...
