Grappling with Stephen King’s IT

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As previously threatened, my latest horror lookback has been to Stephen King’s monster novel It. Interestingly, my feelings about the book and where it went wrong are unchanged. I hope, though, that time and more experience–life experience, writing experience, feminist experience–has sharpened my analysis.

You can read my essay here.

Exquisite Words had a great time at SiWC

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Today’s snippet is from Stephen King’s It.

The lightning plays fitfully across his face and although he does not know it, the day has just turned. May 28th, 1985 has become May 29th over the dark and stormy country that is western Illinois tonight; farmers backsore with plantings sleep like the dead below and dream their quicksilver dreams and who knows what may move in their barns and their cellars and their fields as the lightning walks and the thunder talks? No one knows these things; they only know that power is loose in the night, and the air is crazy with the big volts of the storm.

We have a character on a journey here, and this conveys that–time passing, miles traveled, and storms ahead.

There should be a review of It up soon on Tor.com, by the way, as part of my look at Eighties horror.

“I tried to think of something that would never hurt me…”

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This is a picture of me at VCon, being menaced by the star of the most quotable movie ever, Mr. Staypuft:

Me and Mr. Staypuft

The Ghostbusters presence at the con was mighty and well-costumed.

The convention itself was the usual bag of fun. My reading went well, I got to hear the opening chapter of DD Barant’s Better Off Undead, and the workshop was a terrific creative cauldron.

October is convention month for me! Even now I am at the Surrey International Writers Conference in just a few weeks. Anyone else going? Look for me there!

More Torrors… and all that Shat

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My second look back at Eighties horror novels is up on Tor.com. It’s called “The Dog Who Played with Scrabble” and is about Dean Koontz’s Watchers, which I remembered quite imperfectly.

I am now one thousand pages into Stephen King’s It. Part of me wishes I’d picked Christine instead, for reasons having everything to do with time management. But It has been very fun and thought-provoking. I’m enjoying it immensely.

In between the two–and ain’t this a bit of a head-twist?–I have also read and reviewed Shatner Rules: Your Guide to Understanding the Shatnerverse and the World at Large, by William Shatner. My thoughts on that are here.

Now appearing at a conference near you!

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I am pleased to announce that I will be presenting two workshops at the Surrey International Writers’ Conference this weekend. One will be a worldbuilding workshop based on my ten-week “Creating Universes, Building Worlds” course. The other is called “Taking Baby to the Story Doctor.” Essentially, it’s a trouble-shooting overview–a starting point for for critiquing your own novels and short stories.

I have been hoping to have the opportunity to be a part of this particular conference for some time. It has such a terrific reputation, and the guests this year are amazing (they are always amazing).

When I’m not actually in a workshop I will, of course, be mingling. Let me know if you’re going to be around and would like to connect.