John Wayne Cleaver has some (most) indicators that he’ll probably be a serial killer one day: The superficial/not actual indicators: His middle name is Wayne, his dad is named Sam (which makes him the Son of Sam), his last name’s Cleaver, he’s obsessed with serial killers. The real: The “triad”–bedwetting, animal cruelty, and a compunction towards arson. Oh yeah, and he’s a sociopath. But as much as John studies serial killers, he keeps telling us and his therapist that he’s studying them so that he […]
I mean, he *says* he’s not
This is one of those books with a twist that will make it or break it for you. I personally felt hooked until the twist, and then thought it went pretty much downhill from there. Your mileage may vary, however. “I’ve been clinically diagnosed with sociopathy,’ I said. ‘Do you know what that means?’ ‘It means you’re a freak,’ he said. ‘It means that you’re about as important to me as a cardboard box,’ I said. ‘You’re just a thing – a piece of garbage that no […]
If Dexter Had A Baby with Supernatural
In theory, Dexter crossed with Supernatural sounds like an interesting idea. In practice, it’s more like mixing chocolate with guacamole. Of course, being being forewarned is forearmed. I went into this book thinking I was going to read something more in a serious vein, like We Need to Talk about Kevin; the summary on the back doesn’t suggest any paranormal themes. John Wayne Cleaver (named after the cowboy, not the deranged clown) knows he is a sociopath. He has rules for himself to fit in. No […]
This anthology is so inside baseball.
I think we can consider this experiment a success. I would definitely read more anthologies with insights into the writing and editiing process. It’s fascinating. Writing Excuses is a podcast hosted normally by writers Brandon Sanderson, Mary Robinette Kowal, Dan Wells and Howard Tayler. (Sometimes they have other guests.) It’s a pretty cool podcast. They give writing advice, talk about all the different processes of writing, and even workshop stories on air. Some of the excerpts in this book were podcast segments. I haven’t listened […]