Tag Archives: featured article

Creature Feature – Knock, Knock by Tay Laroi

In the few short decades of its existence, the Internet has become a staple of society and revolutionized how we do just about everything: the way we shop, the way we talk, the way we meet people, and the way we travel, just to name a few. Most surprisingly, it’s changed the way we scare others as well as ourselves…. Read more »

Creature Feature – The Zombie You Thought You Knew by A. Fae

When I first began looking into a creature I love, zombies, I thought I knew quite a bit.  I thought I’d read and watched enough that I had my bases covered.  Ha!  Boy was I mistaken.  Not only did I learn that there are different types of zombies, but there are tons of zombie myths and legends around the world…. Read more »

Creature Feature – Dying to Meet You: The Redcap of the Borderlands by Tay Laroi

What sort of creature do you think of when you hear the world “fairy?” Odds are, thanks to popular media’s portrayal, images of Tinkerbell, tiny homes built into trees, and dresses made of leaves and flowers come to mind. While the innocent, playful, light-hearted fairy is familiar to most, you would be hard pressed to find anyone who saw them… Read more »

October Event – Creature Feature

It’s October and you know what that means!!! HALLOWEEN!!!!! I don’t think I’ll ever grow out of Halloween. The costumes, the candy, the pranks, the movies, I love all of it. No other holiday captures our imagination and creativity like Halloween. No other holiday brings out the creepy, crawly, whimsical, and wonderful quite like Halloween either. That’s why, on every… Read more »

TV Wrote the Book by A. Fae (Inspiration Investigation: TV)

Being disabled, television has become my lifeline to the outside world.  Be it the news, a 30-minute sitcom, or an hour-long drama, they occupy a majority of my free time – which is more than I care to admit.  So, to think of television is a seamless thought that runs as smoothly through my mind as if discussing or thinking… Read more »

Hanging by a Moment: TV Episodes & Chapters by Tay Laroi (Inspiration Investigation: TV)

Love it or hate it, it’s impossible to deny that The Walking Dead has left a mark on the popular psyche and isn’t going away anytime soon, especially since it’s been renewed for at least twelve seasons. At first, that news made me roll my eyes. After how bad season two was, I wondered how they could keep up momentum… Read more »

Guest Post – Real Science in Fiction: The Power of Writing What You Know by Samuel Marquis

  When it comes to getting the scientific details right in fiction, the clichéd advice to “write what you know” is one of the best pieces of literary advice. Why? Because if your actual background is well-grounded in science and you can turn a proper phrase, your science-based novel is going to be a hundred times more authentic than even… Read more »

The Song of My Life by Ashley Fae (Inspiration Investigation: Music)

Music has always been a huge part of my life since I was very young.  My mom tells stories about how to get me to go to sleep at night, she often had to put me in the car and drive around listening to music.  In our house, music was always playing.  And despite the fact that I couldn’t sing… Read more »

Word of Mouth: Lyrics and Dialogue by Tay Laroi (Inspiration Investigation: Music)

I don’t remember a single day of my life that wasn’t surrounded by human speech. If I wasn’t talking to family, I was talking to friends. If I wasn’t talking to friends, I was listening to teachers. If I wasn’t listening to teachers, I was listening to music or nearby chatter. If I wasn’t listening to music or chatter, well,… Read more »

Music, Sweet Music by Bob Boze (Inspiration Investigation: Music)

Does music inspire me to write? I guess you could say it inspires me to do just about everything. Okay, almost everything. By that, I mean that music puts me in a certain mood and place, and that, often guides whatever I’m doing. If I’m trying to decide what color to paint a wall and a lively song comes on?… Read more »

Whydunnit: We Know the Who, But Why? by A. Fae (Inspiration Investigation – Film)

Since before I left home and went away to college, I can always remember having quite an avid interest in anything pertaining to the way the mind works.  I tended to always enjoy the “whydunit” (to coin my own new phrase) rather than the whodunit type of movie.  It always came quite easy for me to quickly solve the mystery… Read more »

Ishtar Rides Again by Bob Boze (Inspiration Investigation – Film)

  A quick diversion if I may. What I think you will love about this series is that Tay, Ash and I are very different. We think differently. We were raised differently. We write in different genres. We live in different areas of the country. We have different likes and dislikes. We are not ALL female. (Hee hee.) I know… Read more »

Animated Magic: Joy and Fiction by Tay Laroi (Inspiration Investigation Series – Film)

  I lived off a steady diet of cartoons growing up. Disney, Cartoon Network, Nickelodeon, Dream Works, Don Bluth, Studio Ghibli, and probably more I don’t remember. If it was animated, odds are I watched it or at least knew about it. I liked plenty of live-action stuff too—I watched Jumanji a million times, despite the nightmares, and Disney Channel… Read more »

Introducing the Inspiration Investigation Series!

When you first become a writer the first piece of advice you hear is, “Read!” After you’ve been at it for a few years, maybe have a few pieces published, maybe not, the most common piece of advice is still “Read!” Read inside your genre. Read outside your genre. Read style guides and how-to books. Read the classics. Read pop-literature…. Read more »

Featured Article – “So You Agree? You Think You’re Really Pretty?” by Tay Laroi

In 2015, 18-year-old blogger Gweneth Batemen conducted a personal experiment: when men on social media complimented her on her appearance she would acknowledge that what they said was true. The men would usually revoke the compliment as if Batemen’s confirmation somehow voided the fact that she was physically attractive. Whether she was polite or snarky to the people in question,… Read more »