Since fear practically saturates every area of our lives, readers are gravitating more and more to books that allow them to put a face to the fear and then kick its metaphorical @$$. We can’t do much of anything about escalating tensions with Iran and Iraq or the Fukishima reactors that continue to pollute the oceans. And, since we DO NOT LIKE feeling powerless, these stories hand us back some form of agency and ease our terrors.
Category: Speculative Fiction
Sep 14 2018
Time as a Literary Device: Flashbacks vs. Non-Linear Structure
Time is one of many tools we authors can use when crafting a story. This said, bending time takes training and skill because it’s one of the toughest techniques to pull off well. Even those who bend time masterfully will have their fair share of critics because most audiences are accustomed to linear structure. This …
Aug 29 2018
DysFUNctional: World-Building from Orwell to Apocalypse
Say it with me: world-building is fun. Seriously! It’s the only way—aside from global domination—we will ever get to arrange the world exactly as we want. Don’t like green peppers on your supreme pizza? Banish them! Hate people who squeeze the toothpaste tube from the middle? Declare them subversive enemies of the regime! Yet, some …
Aug 21 2017
Back to School – New W.A.N.A. Classes for September!
It’s back to school for everyone – not just kids. Vacation’s over. Fun’s over…or maybe the fun is just beginning. This fall, W.A.N.A. is back with new classes, new instructors, and lots of exciting announcements coming up. Bookmark W.A.N.A. and make sure to subscribe to my blog to stay up-to-date with all the news! Don’t forget …
Aug 04 2017
What Becomes of the Broken-Hearted? Why Fiction Heals Like Nothing Else Can
Lately we’ve been talking a lot about what differentiates the decent stories from the ones that gut hook us and don’t let go. In my opinion the truly superlative stories stand out in one way. We are not only entertained…we are changed. We aren’t the same person we were when we flipped open to page …
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