The End of Good Writing: The Damage of Twilight, Harry Potter, and Their Friends
(Disclaimer: I do not hate Twilight–not really–nor do I despise the things I am going to talk about here. I am simply pointing out a potential problem that nobody has solutions for.) There has been a resurgence of crap in the last few years. I don’t mean published crap, but crap in relation to writing […]
Why WISB is a Safe Place: I Won’t Call Your Employer
I have access to every IP that comes to this website. I also have some detailed information for all of those IPs. But guess what: I’m not going to report you to your employer if you post a vulgar or just downright stupid comment. Not like this guy (and there’s more here). And you want […]
Cultural Literacy and Genre Fiction
I’ve been researching this concept called “cultural literacy” in preparation for my final paper in my pedagogy course. In doing so, I’ve come to an interesting “revelation,” if you will. Science fiction and fantasy are part of our culture as much as something like math or English; they are unconscious elements present in all of […]
The Strange (n.) – Being intrigued by something that doesn’t make sense!
I’ve had a most curious epiphany. Apparently if the description of the book is so far out there, so absurdly bizarre and unimaginably unintelligible in the light of logic, then I’m instantly fascinated by it and must have it in my collection. I don’t mean books with twisted or disturbing plots, but books with plots […]
A Reiteration: Books and Music; Lovers, But Not Twins
I am consistently shocked by the persistence of the belief that books (and particularly the book industry) are somehow exactly the same as music (and the music industry). While there are certainly analogous relationships between the two, the idea that consumers view them as the same is absurd. Let’s break this down, because it needs […]
Survival By Storytelling: Now on Lulu and CreateSpace
I just wanted to remind all of you that the first issue of Survival By Storytelling is available on Lulu ($9 in print; $5 in digital) and CreateSpace ($9 in print). It will be on Amazon.com soon, and, as soon as we can figure out how to properly format the book for the Kindle, it […]