How Acting Class Made Me a Better Writer
Let’s start by admitting I was never really any good in my acting class. At university I took an arts degree with a heavy dose… The post How Acting Class…
Mark A. Rayner
Exeunt, Chased By a Bear: When Stage Fright Bites
Okay, strap yourself in for my harrowing tale of stage fright. Imagine, gentles, we are back in the author’s undergraduate days, and his required history… The post Exeunt, Chased By…
Hitting People in the Feels
Review Roundup of The Gates of Polished Horn I’m not sure if “hitting people in the feels” was the goal for this collection of short… The post Hitting People in…
The Toronto Star Reviews The Gates of Polished Horn!
My new book in the big leagues Well isn’t this lovely. The Toronto Star reviews The Gates of Polished Horn in its roundup of new… The post The Toronto Star…
The Datasphere Is Coming
The Gates of Polished Horn has many science fiction stories that are preoccupied with the notion of what I call The Datasphere. This is more… The post The Datasphere Is…
Italo Calvino and His Invisible Cities
Italo Calvino is a writer I’ve admired for some time, particularly his book, Invisible Cities. Somewhere in the middle of my new collection, The Gates… The post Italo Calvino and…
Close to the Wind
“Close to the Wind” is the sequel to the first story I’d ever had professionally published, “Any Port in a Storm” (Parsec, 1999). They both… The post Close to the…
What Wine Pairs with Hitler?
What wine pairs with Hitler? I mean, if you do use his flesh in a spicy stir fry, I’d guess a sweeter Gewürztraminer would work.… The post What Wine Pairs…
Time Travel Insanity
Do I have time travel insanity? Am I obsessed with time travel stories? I don’t think so, but I seem to have written more tales… The post Time Travel Insanity…
Kurt Vonnegut on Swooping Versus Bashing
Kurt Vonnegut is my literary hero, who called himself a “swooper.” A swooper is someone who lets the story appear, higgley-piggley, in the first draft.… The post Kurt Vonnegut on…
Nine charming quotes about writing
Quite often I find that when writers write about writing (yes, I just did that) the advice is prescriptive, and so, useless. These folks, however,… The post Nine charming quotes…
Review: The Fellowship of the Ring and Tom Bombadil
Mark examines the role of Tom Bombadil in the fellowship of the ring. The post Review: The Fellowship of the Ring and Tom Bombadil appeared first on mark a. rayner.
Review: People of the Sea
Irish thought exploded into my consciousness during my undergrad. I read Seamus Heaney’s first collection of poetry within a few weeks of being introduced to… The post Review: People of…
All hail the talented editor!
One of the great joys of writing at a professional level (however you define that) is getting to work with a talented editor. I’ve been… The post All hail the…
From Pirates to Pellucidar
Before I ever discovered Pellucidar, I was into pirates. In fact, one of my first memories is of reading my favorite book, Look Out for… The post From Pirates to…
Why it’s not safe to snuggle with a Gila Monster, or, the life of Jim Fowler
Jim Fowler died at the age of eighty-nine, quietly, in his home in Connecticut. I only learned this sad news yesterday, though he died in… The post Why it’s not…
Time travel is human nature
Time travel has been on been on my mind lately, and in that context, nostalgia. As someone who meditates, and who, at one point, was… The post Time travel is…
Leaving Las Metas
Is the act of removing myself from Meta’s walled hellscape — deleting Facebook and Instagram — a kind of digital suicide? What will happen when… The post Leaving Las Metas…