It sucks being a young adult. Too young to die, too adult to care. Everything totally sucks. You wouldn’t be surprised if the world around you were fictional, it’s so sucky. Though if it were fictional, you’re pretty sure it’d be better than this. Like, you could be anything in fiction: the heroine of a…
How To Know If You’re In A Literary Fiction Novel
Do you sometimes wake up feeling like life is too ridiculous to be sublime? That the truth is stranger than fiction? Or that your life, if made into a book, would be in danger of running into cliché, if it didn’t have so many beautiful-sounding words in it? Is it possible that you – Dear…
How to Know If You’re A Cop In A Crime Novel
Earlier, we had How To Know If You’re A Chick-Lit Heroine. But you are categorically not a Chick-Lit character. You know this to be true, because you’re so much darker than that. You feel you’re much more closely aligned to a thrilling, mysterious, dangerous situation. The sort of thing you find in crime novels, or thrillers. You’ve…
How To Know If You Are A Chick-Lit Heroine
Inspired by, and with apologies to, this piece of true brilliance from The Toast on how to know if you are in a Jane Austen novel (I love The Toast. Everyone should dip into it now and then in order to find out how many clichés they’re living with. And anyone who has ever had a group…
Up Yours, Literary Fiction
I know. How uncouth! How belligerent, sanctimonious, and other words of more than 1 syllable! Book genres have become a bit of a joke really, as I was saying in my last post regarding the nonsense categorisation of “Women’s Fiction”. Here’s another literary joke for you: ************************************************ Q. What’s the difference between Literary Fiction and Romance? A. So’s your face. ************************************************ Isn’t that…
Adventures in Book Genre Stereotyping
Another day, another Guardian article. Don’t get me wrong. I love the Guardian’s Book section. It feeds me. But I don’t like it when it makes me feel guilty and ashamed. Especially when they’re right. Today’s offensive (i.e. read: far too close to the bone) article points out that there is no such genre as “women’s…
C’mon, Writers! 5 Reasons To Ditch The Rivalry
I’ve been hearing a lot lately about rivalry in the writing and publishing industries. And it’s a sad state of affairs. Because it’s complete and utter nonsense. Rivalry is an alluring demon for authors (and, indeed, reviewers). For one thing, the very nature of writing – a solitary activity, which rarely if ever allows for human interaction in the physical act itself –…
Flash Fiction Runners-Up Too
Today’s an emotional day, when I say goodbye to the old Book Title Generator/Flash Fiction Competition. I find myself worrying about whether the people who were so close to the ones who were so close to the one that won (yes, you read that right) know just how good their entries were. I’m hoping that by seeing the…
Flash Fiction Competition Runners-Up
There were 2 runners-up in the Book Title Generator/Flash Fiction Competition which were very close. Then there were a further 3, which were again very close to the ones which were close to the one that won. Got that? But anyway, in the interests of not trying to be all things to all men, I’m forced…
Probably The Best Flash Fiction In The World
Because….. we have a WINNER! Amid much anguish, hand-wringing, and a few stomach ulcers, the results are in. The winner sprang straight out of the Literary Fiction Title Generator. There were more than several reasons for the entry published below being the winner, but fewer reasons separating it from the very close runners-up, making it a…
Tara Sparling writes 