Women, Weakness, and Warfare
[Trigger warning for discussion of rape and sexual violence. Spoiler warning for Garth Ennis’ Battlefields Vol. 1.] One key decision I made while writing Among the Red Stars was the […]
writing
Filler Versus Content
Today I’m going to discuss a real writing problem I’ve run into for which I have no solution. Filler is bad. This I trust to be a universally recognized fact. […]
Showing vs. Telling: A Case Study
Today I’m going to return to the old writing principle of showing, not telling. I’ve previously expressed skepticism about the necessity of always showing. Telling can and does play an […]
Dr. Seuss
Dr. Seuss is unique. The mid-20th century was a great time for picture books in general, especially rhyming books and those with minimal words; in addition to Seuss, we had […]
Save the Pearls Readthrough (Part VI)
We’re at the end of our readthrough of Save the Pearls: Revealing Eden. Our “heroes” are living with a bunch of tribespeople who are totally in touch with nature, and […]
Save the Pearls Readthrough (Part V)
As we approach the end of Save the Pearls: Revealing Eden, today Cliff rewrites everything. Me: Was it even possible for two people to truly see each other in a […]
Save the Pearls Readthrough (Part IV)
Today in our readthrough of Save the Pearls, the good news is that the pretty white girl who thinks she’s ugly and the black animal-man leave the world where black […]
Save the Pearls Readthrough (Part III)
Continuing our readthrough of Save the Pearls, our lead guy is a black beast-man. No, literally. Also, some villains do some stuff, I think, and we have a competition for […]
Save the Pearls Readthrough (Part II)
Last time, I shared our comments about the book’s background and promotional materials. Today, we jump right in with the book itself. It begins in The Combs, a dystopian underground […]
Save the Pearls Readthrough (Part I)
Today we begin our readthrough of the extremely wrongheaded YA novel Save the Pearls, which purports to be an anti-racist parable but ends up being offensive to just about everyone. We […]