April 20, 2018
“April showers bring May flowers.” It’s an old saying, and one that got me thinking about the nature of storms in storytelling. Storms are perhaps one of, if not the most, versatile of narrative devices. First of all, there are plenty of storm flavors: thunderstorms, tornadoes, blizzards, hail, hurricanes, etc. And in speculative fiction, they can be brought on by…
January 23, 2018
A Wrinkle in Time (1962) Written by: Madeleine L’Engle Genre: Science Fantasy/Young Adult Pages: 228 (Paperback) Publisher: Macmillan Why I Chose This: I missed out on this classic while growing up, so my 2018 Resolution Project was to read the book before the movie is released in March. Success! The premise: It was a dark and stormy night; Meg Murry, her…
December 26, 2017
The Neverending Story (1979) Written by: Michael Ende Translated by: Ralph Manheim (1983) Genre: Fantasy Pages: 377 (First Edition Hardcover) Publisher: UK/Allen Lane Why I Chose It: In January 2017, I resolved to reread The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. That seems so long ago and at the same time just yesterday, because this year rolled by pretty fast. I…
December 13, 2017
Taste of Marrow (2017) Written by: Sarah Gailey Genre: Alternate History Pages: 192 pages Publisher: Tor.com Why I Chose This: I loved the first part of this series, River of Teeth, and I was super ready to jump back into hippo-infested water. The premise: A few months ago, Winslow Houndstooth put together the damnedest crew of outlaws, assassins, cons, and saboteurs…
November 20, 2017
They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week we sit down horror aficionado and writer R.J. Joseph. What does she love when…
November 7, 2017
In early October of this year, the Internet was alive and buzzing over the latest, greatest Thing. I was, as per usual in this situation, ambivalent. What was the cause of so much excitement for seemingly everyone but me? The newest trailer for the forthcoming Star Wars installment, The Last Jedi. I was happy that my friends were happy, to…
October 19, 2017
A high school boyfriend once took me to see a Friday the 13th film on our first date, quite possibly hoping horror = fear = girl clinging to his arm. Instead I spent the entire film laughing my ass off, as I’d laughed at many a Friday the 13th film before it. But that was a case of unintentionally funny…
October 18, 2017
If I close my eyes, I can still picture it. In fourth grade, my teacher asked us to write a book report and to attach a bookmark featuring a scene from the book. I remember sitting at my desk, pencil poised over the narrow strip of white paper while I waited for inspiration. When it finally came, I drew an…
October 5, 2017
Walking into a bookstore you’ll find a plethora of categories. Fantasy, science fiction, history, children’s picture books, cookbooks, and so much more. But not every store will have a section for every genre. This includes horror. While horror is still a strong subject, there are plenty of stores out there that tend to put those books into other areas. Some…
October 2, 2017
They might not be raindrops on roses or whiskers on kittens, but that doesn’t mean that we love them any less. Welcome back to My Favorite Things, the weekly column where we grab someone in speculative circles to gab about the greatest in geek. This week, we sit down with writer and editor Erin S. Bales! What does Erin love?…