WHAT DO WE seek from the horror genre? In his essay on philosophical pessimism, The Conspiracy Against the Human Race (2010), Thomas Ligotti deploys Peter Wessel Zapffe’s concept of “sublimation” to explain the artistic creation of horror. Ligotti reminds us that some people are brooding, and their thoughts have cursed them. Like occultists who have […]
Writers come in as many species as there are birds. Some enjoy writing. Others resemble Gloria Steinem, who said, “I don’t like to write; I love having written.” I like to write. But I lack the calling to teach remedial writing. I like to coach people who write decent sentences and who want to write […]
Microsoft 365. Microsoft may provide Office users a way to write text for projects by incorporating AI technology from OpenAI into its apps. AI has become more prevalent in creative fields over time, with tools like Stable Diffusion creating artworks from simple prompts. It now seems that Microsoft is considering using that same technology to […]
Jen DeLuca was born and raised near Richmond, Virginia, but now lives in Arizona with her husband and a houseful of rescue pets. She loves latte-flavored lattes, Hokies football, and the Oxford comma. Her novels, Well Met, Well Played, and Well Matched, were inspired by her volunteering as a pub wench with her local Renaissance […]
Author Mark Stevens discusses the importance of grief and loss in fiction and why readers latch on to a character’s ability to overcome adversity. Batman’s parents were murdered. Hamlet’s father, too. Dorothy Gale lost her home. (Well, maybe everything.) Scarlett O’Hara fell from high society. And privilege. If you got all four to sit down […]
