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Janet Skeslien Charles
Moonlight In Odessa, the debut novel from Janet Skeslien Charles, is a warm and funny story of the bleak and deceptive world of mail-order brides. Its heroine and central figure is Daria, an intelligent, strong, and educated Odessan woman who finds a job working for a ‘matchmaking service,’ and ends up one of its clients, to her eventual sorrow. It’s a marvelous book, witty and subtle and affecting, and a page-turner on top of it. Published by Bloomsbury, Odessa has been reviewed positively by the New York Times, …

In the lands of old when time was yet a toddler, there lived an owl. His name was Dell. Dell was a simple, modest owl but he had a special gift. He could sing better than any other bird in the world, the rest of whom could only make a variety of modest calls. His voice was so gorgeous that animals from all corners of the land would come to hear its magical sound.

I had always wanted to read Stephen King’s Cell.  Despite the intriguing central concept of cell phones turning people into zombies, I somehow never took the plunge and bought it.  This is probably due to the fact that the book was slightly larger than most paperbacks, which, I am convinced, was done solely to artificially inflate the price of the book. So I was quite excited when my editor, the living breathing anachronism, plopped an audio version of it onto my desk. 1
“Kid,” he said, a lit cigarette dangling from …

The neo-slave narrative, as defined by literary critic Ashraf Rushdy, is a genre of work that grew out of the awareness and turmoil of the 1960s Black Power movement. As a genre, the neo-slave narrative “assumed the form…and the first-person voice of antebellum slave narratives,” while attempting to position itself in the burgeoning debate between mainstream and minority opinion on history and cultural critique of the era.  While the 60s saw an explosion in critique based around deconstruction of dominant genres, like the novel or the tragedy 1, the neo-slave …

original via www.donewaiting.com
While my time in California over the past two years was captured in Idyllwild Dreaming, I am now in a new city–Columbus, Ohio–with a new set of dreams. This new collection, Measures of Silence picks up where Idyllwild Dreaming left off this February with four untitled poems, “I have a wall to break”, “in your goodnight I hear him”, “drops of water” and “his favorite phrases spewl”. While my editor Matt Kessen was engaged in moving to the east coast and establishing himself there, I would like to …

With time, unfound gems will be uncovered, newly discovered favorites will be shelved and I’ll be a richer person from the experience. I’d now like to reflect on those stories that count most to me and have left the greatest impact: my favorites.

If you’re a frustrated genre novelist, aspiring fantasy screenwriter, or fanfic writer in the making — and really, who isn’t? — you’ve probably found yourself standing at a bewildering crossroads of dramatic options. Should you rip off Star Wars, or Batman?  What does it truly mean to be human in an age where technology itself blurs the definitions of humanity? What are the limits of love in the face of our own cosmic mortality? Would The Matrix have been cooler with lasers? Fear not. The guideposts to your literary journey …

I passionately love fairy tales. I love the act of storytelling-using words, tone, and gesture to conjure scenes. I love stories told of heroes, fools, and villains in comedic upsets, heart-rending drama and inevitable resolutions. I love being in the audience, watching a master at work and envisioning all they convey; to be immersed in a well-told story is as nourishing for the soul as a bracing meal is for the body. Even if we no longer confine the telling of tales to winter firesides or quilting racks but include …

That's not a ship….. it's a SPACE STATION. –Alex M.
In honor of the release of Star Trek, Playtime is running science-fiction themed articles during the Month of May. And what could be more apropos than talkin’ about some of the most badass spaceships to be put on-screen? Regular Playtime contributors and posters were asked to submit lists of their Top 5 Starships. In Part 1 of 2 of Playtime’s Top 5 Starships, we have culled three of the most interesting submissions, covering everything from Star Wars to the legendary saucers …

To me, the Chronicles of Prydain were a revelation. Until then, I had never been enthusiastic about reading, seeing it more as a chore than as a pleasure….It wasn’t until my dad came home from a library sale with that battered copy of The Book Of Three that I discovered not only a true passion for reading, but for all things fantasy.