BlindsightPeter WattsScience Fiction-2006 From Storygraph: "It's been two months since a myriad of alien objects clenched about the Earth, screaming as they burned. The heavens have been silent since - until a derelict space probe hears whispers from a distant comet. Something talks out there: but not to us. Who to send to meet the… Continue reading October Reads and Reviews
Tag: writing
The Application of Camp in Horror Media
We’re at a stage in the media landscape where I sometimes wonder if we should ever so slightly gatekeep the word camp, if only to preserve some sense of meaning. For the sake of this thought experiment, imagine camp in your head. Further imagine camp horror, specifically. Because we do this thing where we’ll say… Continue reading The Application of Camp in Horror Media
Deconstructing Genre Expectations Through the Lens of Horror
For horror movies, I love a good paranormal story. Something with demons or ghosts that present this sort of otherworldly threat. Mostly because I have the audacity to think I could take out a slasher, alien, monster, or otherwise corporeal menace. So I like a real threat.It's also one of the very few genres where… Continue reading Deconstructing Genre Expectations Through the Lens of Horror
Acting and Set Design Theory for Books
There’s this really annoying (to me) piece of advice that gets flung around in writing circles about the use of dialog tags. The short is just to not use them at all. Just use “said.” On the surface it’s that same sort of blanket advice that doesn’t actually work and isn’t reflective of real life… Continue reading Acting and Set Design Theory for Books
Acting in Book Form
There was this very interesting thread of videos that popped up on TikTok one time which was essentially just making fun of the way physical actions are described in, typically, romantic works. And not the sexy actions. But things like he “his eyes darkened” or “his mouth curled into a grin.” Because these are a… Continue reading Acting in Book Form
August Reads and Reviews
AbaratClive BarkerYA Dark Fantasy-2002 From Storygraph: "It begins in Chickentown, USA. There lives Candy Quackenbush, her heart bursting for some clue as to what her future might hold. When the answer comes, it’s not one she expects. Welcome to the Abarat, a vast archipelago where every island is a different hour of the day. Candy… Continue reading August Reads and Reviews
Do You Have Onscreen Dragon Money?
While traditional novels and short stories are the things I always come back to eventually, I’ve spent a lot of time working in other storytelling and writing mediums. I wrote plays as part of my theater education, audio-dramas as part of a larger team, and, for a number of years, narrative video games. And while… Continue reading Do You Have Onscreen Dragon Money?
How House of Seven Gables Almost Ruined Jr. High English Class
In fourth grade one of the whole class (not pull-out group) required readings books was a novel called Finders Keepers by Emily Rodda. This is one of those books that sort of fundamentally changed me as a person, but I’ve not met anyone else who remembers reading it. Even people I went to elementary school… Continue reading How House of Seven Gables Almost Ruined Jr. High English Class
An English Class Case Study
In honor of the new school year, I made a cheeky little video on TikTok about required summer reading, what my local school district required of its high schoolers, and how it compared to my own summer reading back during my school years. It opened this very interesting little conversation in the comments about other… Continue reading An English Class Case Study
July Reads and Reviews
Check the end for promos, free books, and special sales. SolarisStanislaw LemScience Fiction-1961 From Storygraph: "When Kris Kelvin arrives at the planet Solaris to study the ocean that covers its surface, he finds a painful, hitherto unconscious memory embodied in the living physical likeness of a long-dead lover. Others examining the planet, Kelvin learns, are… Continue reading July Reads and Reviews
Pixels and Pins Studio 