Ania Ahlborn's Blog, page 5
February 25, 2014
Neil Gaiman on The Truth of Fiction
ARTICLE VIA CRITICAL MARGINS
In a recent article, novelist Neil Gaiman argues for literacy and libraries, but he also argues for fiction’s role in helping children understand the real world.
Have we failed children by prescribing what they should or shouldn’t read in school? Neil Gaiman thinks so.
In a recent lecture on reading, re-printed inThe Guardian(“Neil Gaiman: Why our future depends on libraries, reading and daydreaming”), Gaiman argues that our future depends on allowing children to rea...
February 20, 2014
Give a Hoot, Don’t Pollute: A Closer Look at Today’s Self-Publishing Market
If you travel back in time, or at least dig into my blog archives, you’ll find a lot of self-publishing talk. I can remember the very first entry I ever posted without having to look it up. It was a confession, AA-style: “Hi, my name is Ania, and I’m a writer.” Because back then hardly anyone knew. And then I came out of the closet, slapped a little book titled SEED onto the self-publishing scene, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Except that was then and this is now. As with everything i...
February 16, 2014
25 Steps to Edit the Unmerciful Suck Out of Your Story
ARTICLE BY CHUCK WENDIG VIA TERRIBLEMINDS.COM
I’m editing a book right now. It is its own happy brand of hell — but, for all its hellishness, it’s also a process I dearlylovebecause it’s like purification through flames. It’s a powerful step in storytelling — often, I find that editing is the part where the story is truly constructed.
So, here you go: steps I sometimes go through to get the job done. Other times: I go through an entirely different process. These are not set in stone or meant to...
February 11, 2014
Crazy Literary Conspiracy Theories
ARTICLE BY NOLAN MOORE VIA LISTVERSE
If you read between the lines of your favorite novel, you might discover a crazy conspiracy theory. From Elizabethan England to the 21st century, people have made some pretty weird claims about books and the folks who wrote them, ranging from secret identities to dastardly deeds.
10 Is J.K. Rowling Real?
J.K. Rowling was just an average working mom who became a world-renowned, uber-wealthy author. At least, that’s what the Bloomsbury publishing company wants...
February 6, 2014
The Uncanny Factor: Why Little Girls Scare the Shit Out of Us
ARTICLE BY ROBBIE BLAIR VIA LITREACTOR
Many of the common human fears have reasonable explanations. Snakes and spiders have venom we’d do better to avoid, heights can lead to the accidental (and temporary) ability to fly, killers tend to kill people, and so on. But of all our dread fascinations in recent years, one common trope seems especially peculiar: The creepy little girl.
Why is it that little girls scare the shit out of us? It boils down to the uncanny factor.
The Rise of the Creepy Littl...
February 1, 2014
12 Unpublished Novels We Wish We Could Read
ARTICLE BY JOSHUA CHAPLINSKY VIA LITREACTOR
Starting in 2015, fans of J.D. Salinger will be treated to a treasure trove ofpreviously unreleased work, including new stories about the Glass family and a sequel toThe Catcher in the Rye. In the wake of exploding heads and spontaneous bowel evacuations prompted by that announcement, I got to thinkin’: What other famous authors have work that’s never seen the light of publication? Work their fans would kill to get their ink-stained mitts on, regardl...
January 20, 2014
The 5 Creepiest Urban Legends (That Happen to be True)
IMAGE VIA CINEMA-WAY.COM
ARTICLE VIA CRACKED.COM
The best creepy campfire stories are always the ones that end with the words, “…And it’s all true, because I have the damned documentation here to prove it!”
In that spirit, we’ve tracked down five of the creepiest tales and urban legends that really happened to real people, proving once and for all that nothing is more terrifying than everyday life.
The Dead Body Under Your Freaking Mattress
The Legend:
A couple checks into a hotel and have to put u...
January 14, 2014
Numbers and Nerves: About Sales and Author Anxiety
I fully realize that I talk (and post) about Stephen King a lot. I’m fascinated by him for various reasons–the fact that he came from nothing to become the king of the literary world, the fact that my writing philosophy is almost completely in line with his (when I read On Writing, I had an eerie sense of deja vu throughout nearly all of it, because the stuff he said was the stuff I spewed out on a regular basis online, to friends, etc.), the fact that at the end of the day, he’s just a norma...
January 9, 2014
Novel Resolutions for 2014
imagevia wallsfx
ARTICLE BY DONALD MAASS VIA WRITER UNBOXED
On Sunday it rained heavily. Driving to Connecticut to visit my family was like swimming underwater. Our tinny little Zip car hydroplaned slowly up Interstate 95. The windshield wipers swung frantically back and forth, overwhelmed by the tire spray from an army of semis. My grip on the steering wheel was white knuckled.You can do this, I told myself.
In the back seat my six-year-old got car sick.
More than anything I wanted a clear view...
January 3, 2014
The Most Anticipated Horror Movies of 2014
ARTICLE VIA RHINO HORROR
Last year, just as 2013 was rolling in, I made a list of the most anticipated horror movies of 2013. Some of them turned out to be a hit likeStoker, The Conjuring, ByzantiumandEvil Deadwhile others were quite the disappointment as we sawbothCarrieandOldboyfalling short of expectations. Now, I’ll be turning my attention to what horror has to offer in 2014.
Below is a list of not only my most anticipated horror films of 2014, but a lot of what you’ll be seeing around thes...
