Thanks to Loren Rhoads for posting her own bucket list and inspiring me to do the same. A bucket list is a list of things you want to do before you die, a bookish one just means all the items on the list are writing or reading adjacent. 1. Take a course through Second City. … Continue reading A Bookish Bucket List

Compared to spring, summer has been used in loads of horror films, but why? The sun is shining and the livin's easy. Where does summer go wrong? 1. Unexpected Death We are more likely to be victims of murder, drowning, drunk driving, and burning in the summer. Because we are out and about more, we … Continue reading 6 Reasons Summer is Scary

Last week, Jami Gold participated in the My Writing Process Blog Tour, and she invited fellow writers along for the ride. Jami writes "beach reads with bite" ('tis the season for beach reads--hooray!) and blogs regularly on topics for writers of any kind. Thanks for the invite, Jami! The My Writing Process Blog Tour is … Continue reading My Writing Process Blog Tour

After reading Vincenzo Bilof's post on how zombies have lost their fear factor, I began to wonder if he was right, and if so, why. Bilof's work seeks to reclaim zombies as terrifying antagonists, taking the focus off of survival because it's hopeless. In a sense, his observation is dead-on. According to Mark Nichol, there are … Continue reading 4 Reasons Zombies Aren’t the Bad Guys

Alina Borger sent me this tweet (on a dying battery!), because she was curious what I thought. My first thought was to disagree, because it's in my nature to disagree with any sweeping statements, but I thought a little longer, and here was my response: I'm inclined to agree. The stories have a certain archetype, … Continue reading Character vs. Plot in Horror

https://twitter.com/LZats/status/457289999973896192 Laura Zats is a literary agent at Red Sofa Literary. She gives great information on what she sees in publishing (follow her!). It's also important to note the part about Christian ideology--perhaps those creatures in another cultural framework would fare better (free idea, everyone!). The previous week, she posted a similar response about zombies. … Continue reading Everyone Secretly Loves Horror