the latin word nefas is a combination of the word ne, meaning “not,” and the word fas, which transliterates as “right,” but that’s not exactly right. it was more than that, something closer to dao, although romans were not […]
The Art of the Collage: Visions of Excess
If you don’t follow the art world — which is its own thing separate from the art itself — you may not know that the collage, once the pinnacle of fourth-grade art class, has made something […]
Where Have All the Villainesses Gone?
“Isn’t it time to acknowledge the ugly side? I’ve grown quite weary of the spunky heroines, brave rape victims, soul-searching fashionistas that stock so many books. I particularly mourn the lack of female villains — good, […]
In Which I Break My Own Advice and Respond to a Critic (or three)
As a general rule, it’s a bad idea for authors to respond to their critics. There have been enough real world examples in the past year alone that prove it’s rarely, if ever, a good […]
On Perversion
Pervert can be noun or verb. When we pervert something, we alter it from its intended course — we distort or corrupt — while a pervert is the thing distorted or corrupted. As a noun, […]
The Rationality of Disenfranchised Non-Voting
In college, I took a poli-sci class on the American Presidency. One of the things we learned was that the president’s party tends to lose seats at midterm elections and that this effect is often […]
Carnival of Loss
in my writing i often tackle the carnival-esque-ness of contemporary culture, but i do so ironically. much of the media we consume is self-consciously mythic, which doesn’t necessarily mean it has swords and wizards and […]
