Features

The Exploration of Light

by Talia Leher The Exploration of Light should have been called A Forcible Onslaught of Banned Wavelengths. Or perhaps: The Cabinet’s Monopoly on Light for Purposes of Supposedly Dissecting the Fabric of Your Life. The misbranding frustrated Aviva.  “Citizens of Monochra,” the Weaver’s voice boomed through the speakers and echoed off the curved walls of the arena. “Welcome to the one-hundredth Exploration of Light!” He paused for dramatic effect. “We gather here tonight to test Read more

By logan.farley, ago

Secrets of the Blood

by K. M. Jackson He left me behind—my grand père, my papa. I took too long to get ready. Primping and applying foundation uselessly in the sweltering heat of Louisiana. This time, he would teach me a lesson. He would finally prove that my mouth was the only thing I ran. I hurried down the hideous green shag-carpeted stairs to find everyone gone. A look out of the kitchen window, clouds of dirt road billowing Read more

By logan.farley, ago

Ethno-Gothic Storytelling: Where Ancestral Shadows Speak 

By Kimberly Jackson There is a shadow of darkness, a looming presence that nips at the neck of progress and laughs at hope. Our terror, our fright, lives with us—or do we live with it?  This is a question that sits at the very center of the Ethno-Gothic, a genre where the past refuses to stay buried, and where horror is not a visitor but a long-time resident of the American BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and Read more

By logan.farley, ago

Not All Deluxe Editions are Created Equal 

By: Zenia deHaven  I’ll admit it: I have bought a book based on its cover before, and I will again. There are times when I don’t even read the book’s blurb and just shove that bad boy right into my basket because the cover has a cool dragon. I enjoy coming home to a collection of novels with sprayed edges and art so magnificent and heartfelt that it should belong in a museum.   But my Read more

By logan.farley, ago

When Fiction Gets You Sued 

By Jade Danelian Your ex is evil. Terrible. Wicked. There truly is no better person to base the antagonist of your novel on; everything about them screams merciless, power-hungry villain, and so, as you write, you picture the color of your ex’s hair, the shape of their eyes, and even that one sinful mole above their belly button. And when the hero of your story uncovers the antagonist’s cheating addiction, you are thrilled. Readers are Read more

By logan.farley, ago