Review Tales
Trusted Reviews and Author Features Since 2016
Thoughts on writing a collection of interlinked stories by Elizabeth Merry
Carey Harrison, novelist and playwright, said once, that if you get into the habit of writing novels, short stories, plays, or television scripts, then every idea you get turns itself into the appropriate length. And to avoid that, you should aim for different lengths, different structures. Although I have written two novels for children and a collection of poetry, that was a long time ago, and for many years now every idea turns itself into a short story. I don’t mind though; it seems to suit me best, and works best for me too.
Read MoreFollowing Hollywood on location by Richard Starks
Write what you know. That’s one of the rules for creating good fiction, so as much as possible you should draw on your own first-hand experiences. Not easy to do when you’re writing historical fiction (unless you’re two hundred years old), in which case you need to up your game when it comes to research.
Read MoreReality is Elusively Absurd by Brian Petkash
Reality is elusively absurd. To render in art the every day, the rhythm, and meter of life, can be a fool’s errand. One must first set out to define what is real, it seems, and then develop a method of sending one’s fictional reality to invade another’s actual reality. This is no easy thing.
Read MoreLiterary Devices Make Writers Giggle by John Espie
Back when I was taking Lit classes, I kept learning about allegory and extended metaphors and allusions and lots of other fancy words, and the whole time I couldn’t help but think, Are these professors taking this stuff way more seriously than the actual writers did?
Read MoreWriting the Gift Story by Alex Bernstein
No one likes staring at a blank page. Fortunately, many writers cultivate all sorts of prompts and tools to conquer that authorial vacuum as much as possible – whether it be leaving the previous day’s writing off on a cliffhanger – or maintaining an endless List of Ideas forever begging to be written.
Read MoreInterview With Kathy Davis
- What’s your favorite thing you have written?
Probably the poem that closes Passiflora, “Girls, She Falcons, Be Thin: Let Us Work Ourselves Asleep Against You,” because the hawk’s rise at the end feels so hopeful. Also, the title comes from a book of poetry someone gave me as a gift when I was in college but that I didn’t read until more than 20 years later. You never know what’s waiting on your bookshelf to be pulled down and read at just the moment when it will mean the most to you.
Read MoreWriting Even When You Don’t Think You Can By Kristin Durfee
Writing a novel can sometimes it can feel like being in one of those old cartoons where the character makes this herculean effort to get to the top of a mountain…only to see thousands of other mountains along the horizon.
Read MorePrintable Magic by Kathy Martone
What lies behind the eyes shines with an unearthly gleam and sparkle, a treasure chest of magic if you will. Gathering the letters, words, and images hidden deep within the soul’s retinal landscape becomes an act of worship, kneeling before the altar of inspiration.
Read MoreThe Price of Publication and Self-Publication in the Literary World by Ren Powell
The Price of Publication and Self-Publication in the Literary World
There is a term “pay for play” that is used about political donations and political appointments, for stand-up comics paying for stage time, and even for artists who pay for exhibition space. I have never heard it used when discussing literary publishing, but maybe it is something that needs to be discussed.
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