The clearest explanation of the differences between fantasy and surrealism I’ve yet to see comes from Ursula K. Le Guin’s essay “The Critics, the Monsters, and the Fantasists.” … More 3 Steps to Tell Surrealism from Fantasy Fiction
Thankfully, the definition of speculative fiction simple: Speculative fiction is any storytelling possessing elements that aren’t feasible based on modern technology or elements that cannot be explained by modern science. … More What Is ‘Speculative Fiction’ and How Do We Define It?
A kdrama podcast! The first for this blog! The transcript (or a rough approximation thereof) can be found by looking at the previous blog post Korean Drama Review: Oh My Ghost. This podcast covers the same material, and opinions, just in audio form. Why? Because I enjoy playing with different forms of media. It turned … More Korean Drama (Podcast) Review: Oh My Ghost
I’ve been watching Meteor Garden as well as the live action Japanese version of Boys Over Flowers, which I’ll refer to as Hana Yori Dango for clarity’s sake in this post. This brings me to three viewed adaptations total. While I’m not finished watching either of the above, and I’d really like to take a … More Bring On the Boys (Over Flowers)
A drama that promised to combine the best parts of Pasta (the kitchen drama), The Master’s Sun (the crazy-but-loveable woman who can see ghosts), and Arrang and the Magistrate (the amnesiac ghost trying to discover who she was in life and the truth of her death, complete with shaman frenimy)—AND IT DELIVERED! On all these promises and more. … More Korean Drama Review: Oh My Ghost
In early 2016, I was ask to participate alongside other small press editors as a panelist in the day long event “Get Published! 2016” at the Herrick District Library in Holland, Michigan, hosted by MiFiWriters. The programming mainly focused on the mechanics of publication, so that’s what I’d prepped for. But there were a couple … More When To Kill a Character
Splash Splash Love is a two-part 2015 Korean web drama (I watched it on Viki). Yes, just two episodes. Totaling just under two-and-a-half hours, it’s meatier than most feature films but briefer than most TV dramas. Consequently the focus stays tightly on the lead character without much visual “down time” or delving into secondary characters. But … More Korean Drama Review: Splash Splash Love
Beginning writers are often given the advice “write what you know.” It’s not a rule, not by a long shot. It’s advice. And it’s not even advice that applies long-term. It’s training wheels. When you’re starting to write, you have a lot of brand new considerations to make. You’re learning to balance craft — storytelling, grammar, … More Writing What You Know and Researching What You Don’t
Hyde, Jekyll, Me (also titled Hyde, Jekyll, and I) could have been far more awesome than it actually was. It opened with such great promise, but episode after episode, the promise fizzled into just-another-kdrama. … More Korean Drama Review: Hyde, Jekyll, Me
