April 12, 2021
By Paul Goat Allen
Amidst the backdrop of a pandemic killing millions of people worldwide and the planet in the death throes of environmental collapse, debut novelist Elly Bangs has released a post-apocalyptic thriller that is simultaneously terrifying and hopeful. Set on a future Earth where humankind is largely relegated to existing […]
February 9, 2021
By Paul Goat Allen
So, while the content included in this blog seems to be stating the obvious—it’s not always apparent to writers who have had their heads immersed in their respective writing project for years. (Insert “can’t see the forest for the trees” idiom here.)
I’m talking about understanding reader expectation: knowing what narrative […]
January 26, 2021
By Paul Goat Allen
As a genre fiction book reviewer for almost the last three decades, I’ve seen firsthand the slow but persistent evolution of all genre categories—science fiction, fantasy, romance, mystery, horror, etc.—and it has been a glorious growth to witness. There is no question about it: today’s genre fiction is much different […]
December 16, 2020
By Paul Goat Allen
If you’re writing a novel with the hopes to entertain—to facilitate the literary escapism of your readers—you want those readers to pick up your book and not be able to put it back down. I’ve described these kinds of reads as “unputdownable” in the past—they’re page-turners, and everyone loves a […]
December 9, 2020
By Paul Goat Allen
The pseudonymous N.L. Holmes burst onto the literary scene in 2020 with not one but two stellar sagas: the Lord Hani series, a historical mystery saga set in pharaonic Egypt during the reign of Akhenaten; and the Empire at Twilight, a historical fiction series which takes place in the last […]
November 17, 2020
Besides reviewing genre fiction for companies like PW, Kirkus, and BlueInk, I work as an instructor and mentor in Seton Hill University’s Writing Popular Fiction program. During my time with these student writers, we discuss the respective strengths and weaknesses of their manuscripts in great detail, as well as how […]
November 2, 2020
By Paul Goat Allen
Well-developed and complex characters are integral to creating a novel that resonates with readers and critics alike. Even with other noteworthy narrative attributes like readability, immersion, plot intricacy, and thematic profundity, a storyline is inevitably going to fail without interesting and identifiable characters.
October 21, 2020
Growing up and now living back in Upstate New York, I’ve always loved Halloween. The temperatures drop, the leaves on the trees turn kaleidoscopic colors, and the air smells like ripe apples and cinnamon sticks. Yeah, there’s the trick-or-treating and the gluttonous consumption of candy afterwards but seeking out and […]
September 21, 2020
I’ve worked in the publishing industry in various capacities for almost three decades and as long as I can remember Tuesdays have been the days the vast majority of traditionally published titles are released. Since most major bestselling lists are compiled on Tuesdays, the wisdom seems to be, a Tuesday […]
September 9, 2020
By Paul Goat Allen
Pseudonymous dark fiction writer K.P. Kulski’s debut novel Fairest Flesh is a blood-soaked fusion of the historical account of infamous 16th century Hungarian serial killer Erzsébet Báthory, a beloved German fairy tale, and profoundly powerful themes that are just as timely today as they were almost 500 years ago. And […]
