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
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
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?
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
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
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
It’s not uncommon for the hobbyist reader to completely abandon classics and more retro or vintage literature once they’ve moved on from reading for academic purposes. Why not? So many new books come out a year that just getting through all the new releases you’re interested in is a task unto itself. But then, on… Continue reading Why Read Genre Classics if they Come With So Many Problems?
In the real world, when it comes to language about queer identities, we often find ourselves in a bit scuffle with pre-conceived linguistic notions. What’s the actual difference between pan and bi? What are the different ways non-binary identities (genderfluid, genderqueer, agender) interact with each other? What about the micro-labels that pepper the asexual spectrum?… Continue reading Creating a Queernorm Fantasy Setting: The Language Around Attraction
I made a decision very very early in honing my writing as a craft. I was never going to center a story around what someone of a certain gender could or couldn’t do.You’re not going to read a story from me about a young girl who has to pretend to be a boy to join… Continue reading Creating a Queernorm Fantasy Setting: Exploring True Gender Equity
In an effort to create a queernorm fantasy setting, one of the things I found myself doing was experimenting with ways to dislodge reproduction from gender and sexuality. Why? Because, collectively, we struggle with the idea of “non-reproductive” coupling. This manifests in different measures with childless couples and same-sex couples. While the former has their… Continue reading Creating a Queernorm Fantasy Setting: Disabling the Link Between Reproduction and Sexuality
