On the eve of Justin Torres’s new release, Blackouts (coming October 10, 2023, from Farrar, Straus and Giroux), I’m reminded of his first novel, We the Animals, and what a powerful advocate it is for queer storytelling and for the creative memoir and (auto)biographical novel genres. Justin Torres’ We the Animals (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2011)… Read more »
Welcome back to The Messy Middle, where we focus on crafting complex characters and building dynamic worlds that connect with readers from marginalized communities. In a previous post, The Messy Middle: Luna & The Rise of Trans Narratives, we examined the pitfalls of the young adult (YA) novel Luna, which provided a compelling “case study”… Read more »
Though it may come as a surprise to some, I’ve only been reading romance novels for a few years now. I’ve always secretly enjoyed romance plots when they come up in other books I’ve read or movies I watched, and I’m the first to worship two characters at the barest hint of chemistry, but it… Read more »
Writers, I’d like to talk about reading. Growing up, it was the form of entertainment universally endorsed by adults. Kids could watch too much TV or spend too many hours playing video games, but rarely did one get in trouble for reading too many books. (Although I’m sure some of you reading this have some… Read more »
Not long ago, I finished my fourth read of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America. It is one of those rare texts that doesn’t just invite itself for a revisit, but is almost a necessary lifelong companion. Speaking as it does on homosexuality in America, and on the AIDS crisis (and the political mess that surrounded/continues… Read more »
Do I have a recommendation for you today, folks! If you’ve been looking for a violent, vulgar, and oh-so-satisfying story of a group of badass broads and revenge against the men who wronged them, do I have the book for you! Mean Girls Club: Pink Dawn, written by Ryan Heshka and released in 2018, was… Read more »
