Author: Kelly Caldwell

Good news: Monsters are back.

There’s a new book out now by historian Leo Braudy tracing modern storytelling’s affair with monsters of all stripes, and a new movie titled simply, A Monster Calls. FX has ordered an eighth and ninth season of American Horror Story, which embraces the whole monster community. At the movies, we seem to finally be parting company with a long cycle of sexy vampires and hipster zombies, and turning to artisanal micro-brew monsters like M. Night Shyamalan’s new villain, a serial killer with no less than 23 personalities. Continue reading “Truth and Monsters”

Last year as the holidays loomed, the language geek in me got an early gift, when the Washington Post finally allowed using “they” as a singular pronoun, and then a national linguists’ association named the singular “they” its Word of the Year. Another thrilling season for language nerds may be upon us, because the stylebook editors are at it again. Continue reading “The Right Word”

Halfway through National Novel Writing Month, and the pressure is high. That’s the point, really—pressure writers to sprint through November, so they cross the finish line clutching a first draft.

Lately, though, it seems no longer enough to produce 50,000 words in 30 days. Look at these recent articles, ostensibly “encouraging” NaNoWriMo-ers during their marathon: Continue reading “Beautiful Pieces”