“If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all.” – Oscar Wilde A SIGNIFICANT milestone for me in 2024 was releasing my first Gay Paranormal Romance novel, The Night Belongs To Lovers, part of the ghost story-themed “Own-Voices” project: Haunted Hearts. This series features […]
WHEN examining the concept of the “Trauma Narrative,” it’s evident that many literary works—spanning genres from horror to romance to dramatic fiction—adhere to a recognizable yet troubling pattern. At the center of these stories often lies a protagonist or antagonist ensnared by a singular, overpowering emotion that casts a shadow over their entire narrative […]
“You feel so alone and scared, but you cover it up with a bravado that nothing has changed. But everything has changed, hasn’t it? You’re changing, and it scares you.” – Shane K. Morton, Shadowing My Dreams LIFE changed for Jack Thompson when a car hit him, and he died for a few minutes. Three […]
A BOOK with two time periods is called a split-time novel or a dual-timeline book. These books combine two stories into one cohesive narrative and often feature one storyline in the present day. The alternating timelines create a sense of mystery and suspense that keeps readers engaged and intrigued. The pacing of each timeline is […]
“THE TERMS gents, bad boys, and barbarians have, in a way, nothing to do with the poets themselves or their works; and I certainly don’t intend them to be indicators of how a writer should or should not write. Think of them, rather, as impressions that might be drawn, tendencies that seem to point in […]
“It begins with letting him win / allowing him to see what’s within / without knowing if he’s kin.” – Mark Ward, Circumference (2018) ADMITTEDLY, I have never been a huge modern poetry connoisseur. I appreciate the power poetry has to express human emotion and tell stories more lyrically and fluidly than fiction; still, I’ve […]
“He was cadaverously thin, almost shockingly pale, and stared at the writer from dark-shadowed eyes set deep under a pale, high brow that melded into a pale, bald scalp. A few strands of graying hair lept out from the sides of this skull-like visage.” – Dan Simmons, Drood THE NOVEL Drood, by Dan Simmons, is […]
“Surprises, like misfortunes, seldom come alone.” ― Matthew Pearl, The Last Dickens The literary works of Charles Dickens have been widely acclaimed since the 19th century. One of his most famous works is his final, unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, published as sequential instalments. In this era, production in book form often followed serialization, which […]
“But to die as lovers may – to die together, so that they may live together.” ― Sheridan Le Fanu, Carmilla Note: I’ve added images of reference texts that delve into the topics of vampires, sexuality, queerness, and 19th-century literature within their pages. These are but a few, though ones I’ve quite enjoyed. This post […]
“This place is damned.” – Mark Gulino, Upon the Pale Isle of Gloam: A Gothic Horror Novella A DARK, atmospheric, often pensive narrative, Upon The Pale Isle Of Gloam: A Gothic Horror Novella by Mark Gulino, presents a moral tale about choices, accountability, and the possibility for redemption, but at what cost? The author delves into the […]
