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Musings & Rants
April 1 / / Musings & Rants

[Women in Genre, Day 1] J.K. Rowling and The Dawn of the Reader

Day one, everyone. Here is my first story about women in genre. J.K. Rowling’s name has been thrown in more than one conversation, because she has effectively shaped a whole generation and coincidentally, it was Rowling who got me into reading books for pleasure and taught me how to appreciate the written word. Rewind the tape, please.

As a kid of the 90s, I grew up with an unconditional love for my television set. Cartoon Network had invaded my life since I was six year old and has stayed there. Then came RTLII with German-dubbed anime and Fox Kids with the X-Men. Heaven had set up camp in my living room and I’d no intention to fall from grace any time soon. Read More [Women in Genre, Day 1] J.K. Rowling and The Dawn of the Reader

April 1 / / Musings & Rants

Women in Genre: A Month Dedicated to Female Genre Creators

Welcome to “Women in Genre Month” on The Alternative Typewriter, running from April 1st to April 30th. I hope you can spare me a few minutes and hear what I have to say. Genre fiction and its surrounding community has brought me many joys over the years. Most of the happiest moments I had as part of this community have been brought by women – wonderful, crazy talented, passionate and generous women.

Women in genre have brought me into reading and writing. The books crucial to my growth as a person and creator have been written by women in genre and serve as foundation to my craft. My period as a reviewer saw a great many women influence me in my technique. Women in genre have taught me how to be honest online without being offensive. It’s safe to say I’m who I am in the genre community thanks to the women in genre.

I love the women in genre. It’s that simple. My relationship with them runs deep and is powerful, so I get aggressively defensive when they’re questioned. I’m tired of the magical hunt for women in genre, because someone can’t think of a woman writing X, Y or Z, or doesn’t trust a woman to write X, Y or Z. Read More Women in Genre: A Month Dedicated to Female Genre Creators

March 18 / / Musings & Rants

What a Movie about Porn Taught Me about Being a Writer

Last week I watched “About Cherry”, a movie about white trash heroine who stumbles into the world of porn. It’s a rather uninspired and bland movie. My biggest problem is that it presents an almost utopic face of the porn industry as a female led and female friendly industry, proving that perspective is the most powerful tool in storytelling.

However, I’m not talking about the movie or its highly improbable story, but share the brightest moment in the script. The scene takes place in a museum. Cherry/Angelina (Ashley Hinshaw) and Francis (James Franco) have just snorted some coke and discuss Francis’ failed art career and how he chose law instead. Read More What a Movie about Porn Taught Me about Being a Writer

March 17 / / Musings & Rants

5 Things Song Covers Taught Me about Writing

Editing “The Girl with One Eye” has been a rather cathartic experience, because for the first time I didn’t stare at the piece and rely on intuition alone to solve its inherent problems but look into it as a composite of elements, clank my wrench against them and decide what needs fixing. I’ll have to talk about what being a grown-up writer is all about in a future post, but for now I’ll stick to the lessons my soundtrack taught me about writing. Read More 5 Things Song Covers Taught Me about Writing

January 29 / / Musings & Rants

Decisions, decisions, decisions

As part of the recovery process, I shouldn’t really exert myself with unnecessary typing. This lil’ peace of heaven pretty much fills up this category. I have made a promise to provide a content as a means to facilitate my personal and professional growth, yet I’m positive my writing right here will amount to less than expected. Read More Decisions, decisions, decisions

January 7 / / Musings & Rants

Making a House Out of Words: First Post

Well, hello there.

I want to welcome you to my brand new home on the Internet. Since it’s good manners to extend the welcoming mat, I’ll do a brief introduction post. Those who do know me know me as Harry Markov, but that’s not really the whole story. My whole given name is Haralambi, something not many people knew about me, because I have preferred for the longest of times to go by the short and far less confusing moniker Harry. Read More Making a House Out of Words: First Post