Sometimes, it’s easy to think that writing science fiction in the early 1950’s couldn’t be easier. After all, how many cliches existed at that time? Well, apparently there were plenty. Gold writes in his opening of Galaxy’s January, 1952 issue: The world today is loaded with ifs! So crammed, crowded, bulging with ifs jostling each other, in fact, that it’s a pure bafflement to see writers turning the same ones over and over, looking for some new bump never before noticed on…
Read More Read More
Maleficent (2014) Directed by Robert Stromberg. Starring Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville, Ella Purnell. Sometimes, we need the fictional villains in our life to just stay evil. Forget sympathy for the Devil: I don’t want sympathy for the Red Skull, the T-1000, Michael Myers, the Joker, Auric Goldfinger, the Dark Lord Sauron, or King Ghidorah. I especially don’t want sympathy for the Mistress of All Evil, Sleeping Beauty’s Maleficent. So few…
Read More Read More
Before I was published, I read a lot of articles and books about writing, hoping to improve my craft. As I progressed, it became more difficult to find sage advice, because so much was slanted toward the novice writer just starting their first steps on the path. What I’d like to do today is pass along some tips for the intermediate writers out there — those who have been honing their work for a couple years with the goal of…
Read More Read More
So Odysseus is still trying to find his way home, and if it feels like we’ve been talking about this trip forever, imagine how he felt. In order to get home, Circe tells Odysseus he will have to sail past the Sirens. Homer tells us these are beautiful sea goddesses who lure men to shipwreck on the rocks around their island. How? With their singing. In order to make certain this doesn’t happen to his own men, Odysseus orders them…
Read More Read More
By Aaron Bradford Starr This is a complete work of fiction presented by Black Gate magazine. It appears with the permission of Aaron Bradford Starr and New Epoch Press, and may not be reproduced in whole or in part. All rights reserved. Copyright 2013 by New Epoch Press. Art by Aaron Bradford Starr This is Part Two. Read Part One here. Twilight Falls Over the Expedition Sunset last night was an awesome sight, and I write this account by the light…
Read More Read More
One of Steven Pressfield’s main topics of focus in The War of Art is the fight against what he calls Resistance — the unrelenting struggle a writer faces to NOT write. Every day a writer has to push forward and make the writing happen. You just can’t wait for inspiration, at least not if you’re going to write professionally. I’ve found that The War of Art is one of the most useful writing books I’ve ever read because of its…
Read More Read More
Journey Into Mystery first appeared in 1952, one of a number of anthology titles from publisher Martin Goodman’s line of comic books. Over the years, the title featured a lot of short horror, fantasy, and science fiction tales, many of them collaborations between editor/scripter Stan Lee and artists like Steve Ditko and Jack Kirby. Until 1962. At that point Goodman’s comics were beginning to change direction, following a revival of interest in the super-hero genre. A team book, The Fantastic…
Read More Read More
Back in the summer, we had the pleasure of getting a behind-the-scenes look at the indy sci-fi film Outpost 13 via an exclusive interview with the creators Wyatt Weed (Pirate Pictures), Billy Harzel, and Corey Logsdon (State of Mind Productions). As you know, Black Gate loves nothing better than spotting a rising talent and when that talent is producing indy horror films, we here at Goth Chick News get as excited as a pre-teen’er in an I-heart-Edward tent, camping out for…
Read More Read More
As you know, we here at Goth Chick News are great fans of the indy film industry and there’s nothing we love better than getting a peak behind the clapboard. Well, there was that one intern who refused to watch any film that didn’t have a title soundtrack by Celine Dion, but oddly enough he got sent out to pick up a YooHoo for Scott Taylor on his second day and just never came back. Funny that. So you can…
Read More Read More
There’s almost nothing as cool as getting an exclusive — unless it’s an exclusive from an up-and-coming film maker. When one considers that every director who ever created a blockbuster was once a struggling artist thrashing about in the low-budget trenches, one imagines that when said directors finally hit the big time, they’ll remember those who recognized genius and encouraged them in their leaner years, then invite those people to high-power lunch meetings and red-carpet events which steadfast supporters can…
Read More Read More