About stories of all kinds
The conflict between Rumplestiltskin and Killian Jones (a.k.a. Cpt. Hook) is a long one—several hundreds of years long, in fact. The way it began was fairly cut and dried, with Killian playing the role of the villain, and Rumple the victim. But it didn’t stay that way. When Rumple acquired the power of the Dark… Continue reading Once Upon a Time: Hook or Crocodile?
In my first year of university, our English professor had us participate in an on-line discussion group about the texts we studied, providing us with different questions or topics to discuss. When we studied Shakespeare's Othello, the topic was the obscure motivation of Iago in his quest to bring Othello down. The professor wanted to… Continue reading On-line English Literature Discussion: Shakespeare’s Dark Knight
A couple summers ago, I got the chance to share some books I love with my older brother and sister. When I asked each of them separately how they’d liked their individual selection, I got opposite (and therefore mirrored) responses: from my brother, “You can sure tell it’s written by a woman,” and from my… Continue reading “You Can Just Tell…”
In recent years there has been growing awareness of the troubling trends in fictional romances, especially, but not limited to, YA romances. It seems to have come to the surface along with the acknowledgment of rape and abuse in society, which is telling. The issues in fiction largely centre on male love interests, particularly the… Continue reading The Wrong Man
Batman Begins--The Land of Oz As deadlines loom and assignments pile up, I'm growing worried that, like L. Frank Baum's Scarecrow, I have no brains left, or that what brains I do have only consist of the Wonderful Wizard's placebo: bran, pins, and needles. Although, I've noticed that some professors have the pictured attitude towards… Continue reading Brains of Bats, Pins, and Needles
I've loved stories since I can remember and have been reading and writing them since I was able to. But when I was probably ten or eleven years old it expanded from general love of stories to a love of books: the physical containers of such awesome worlds. That was about when lots of things… Continue reading Recovering Book Collector
Recently, swamped in the unequivocal disaster that is the second term of university, the changes in academic writing were again brought to my attention. One of my beloved professors (not even irony: she's a sweetheart) stated in her opening remarks about the expectations for her course that she doesn't mind the use of "I" in… Continue reading No Filters: sinking academic standards and how fiction-writing tips can save them
Thor movie-Mr. Standfast quote I watched The Avengers yesterday (sort of re-watching the MCU movies) so I was thinking about Thor the other day. It reminded me of this picture I put togther with a quote from Richard Hannay in a book by one of my favourite authors, John Buchan. It just seemed to fit.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that writers in possession of a good story must be in want of an equally good ending. In my own writing (and, I've been told, in many others' as well) the number of stories started is disproportionate to the number finished, regardless of polishing. Is it a sign of… Continue reading End It: Short Story, Long Story
Over Christmas, I was thinking about watching some Once Upon a Time. It just feels like a Christmas sort of show. Having watched most of the series three times, "once upon a time" as a title doesn't express the half of it. I've watched it over with people just seeing it for the first time,… Continue reading Belle Banishing the Beast (and why she shouldn’t have)
Fictitiously Yours 