Things Like Mythical Unicorns: Female Comic Book Readers?
The title is intentionally provocative. Why? Because I think it is utterly ridiculous that an organization claiming to be about “the news” needs to do a story about a guy who threw a party to prove female comic book geeks exist in order to put this whole B.S. argument to rest. And here’s why I […]
The Arts Are Amazing — And Here’s Why
I thought I’d share a little something I posted on the Google+ page for The Skiffy and Fanty Show. Why? Because I love the arts and the impassioned mini-rant I posted sums up how I feel about literature and film and music and other art forms. Before you read it, though, ask yourself why you […]
Literary Space Opera: Does it or can it exist?
I’ve been mulling over the idea of writing a space opera, tentatively titled The Reorientation War. One of the things that strikes me about space operas is the epic scope; much like epic fantasies, space opera offers an immense field in which to play. For me, that means a lot of people, a lot of […]
Replacing Your Favorites: How Do You Survive When the Series Ends?
I recently had a brief, but amusing discussion with one of my friends in my graduate program about surviving the end of a series. I’ve probably noted something like this before, but the completion (or cancellation) of some of my favorite series (books, TV shows, and movies) has left an endless void in my life. […]
Dear Publishers: I Want to Read Stories With LGBTQ, “Colored,” and Minority Characters
If you’ve been living under a rock today, then you might have missed this disturbing news from Publishers Weekly (the Genreville blog): The agent offered to sign us on the condition that we make the gay character straight, or else remove his viewpoint and all references to his sexual orientation. Rachel replied, “Making a gay […]
It’s Still Not New (Literary Genre Fiction — Pah!)
Kim Wright has an interesting article on The Million about why literary writers going out to write genre fiction. Here’s a rather amusing set of paragraphs: It will probably always be open to debate whether these innovations are the result of writers seeking creative expression and wider audiences or a calculated move on the part […]