Category Archives: Reader Friday

Reader Friday: Favorite Novel

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Last week we asked about your favorite movie of all time. What’s your favorite novel? Or let’s put it this way: What’s the one you’d take to that fabled desert island? (If you must, you can have a couple).

But also why? What is it about this particular novel that speaks to you? What can other writers learn from it? 

Reader Friday: Health Insurance and the Self-Employed Writer

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Many in the thriller writing community are aware that writer Tom Piccirilli is battling brain cancer. Surgery to remove a tennis ball-sized tumor was successful, and now a long recovery and ongoing fight are in store. So are medical costs. Which brings up the issue of health insurance for the self-employed writer. Thanks to frequent commenter Terri Lynn Coop for suggesting this as a Reader Friday topic. Let’s start a discussion on strategies for writers who must find their own health insurance coverage. 

[NOTE: This is not a political forum, so let’s keep partisan politics out of it. This is about what to do right now with options currently available.]

Meanwhile, if you’d like to help Tom out, here are some options. 

Reader Friday: Time For a TKZ Redesign?

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UPDATE: After a spirited discussion in the comments, we have decided to keep the template as is. For those of you who prefer black-on-white to read, we remind you (as commenter K S Ferguson did) that you can scroll down to the end of the post and click on “comments.” Just under the title you’ll see “Show Original Post.” Click on that and you’ll get the simple text. We trust that will take care of the major issues discussed here. Thanks, everyone, for chiming in.

From time to time, loyal readers, we have gotten a tweet or a toot or an email asking if we might consider changing the look of the Zone from white-on-black text to black-on-white. It is said the latter is easier on the eyes. And while we like to make trouble in our fiction, we don’t want to do the same to our readers.

So let’s talk about it. Would you like us to make the switch? Do you feel strongly one way or the other? 

Reader Friday: Knock Out!

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What’s the first book you can remember reading that really knocked you out? That carried you away into a story world that you didn’t want to leave? That got you hooked on reading?

I read The Hardy Boys as a kid, but the first “real” novel I remember getting hooked on was Tarzan of the Apes.

What about you?

Reader Friday: I Wish I’d Written That!

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We’ve all read (or heard in a movie) a line we wish we’d written. 

Here’s one of mine. It comes from a classic hard-boiled noir by Dan J. Marlowe, The Name of the Game is Death:

I’ve been in front of X-ray machines that didn’t get as close to the bone as that woman’s eyes. 


Okay, now it’s your turn. What line do you wish YOU had written?

Reader Friday: Stop It!

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Welcome to Reader Friday, your chance to dive in and make your voices heard! Today we present an opportunity to share a pet peeve you see in novels and film. 

Here’s mine: I was watching a recent, and forgettable, movie via Netflix streaming the other day, and up came a line of dialogue I can just as well do without, thank you very much. There was a tense emotional exchange, then this:

“It’s not about ____! It’s about ____!” 

How many times have we heard this? I thought so! So I just want to say, Stop it!

What about you, dear reader? Here is your chance to tell filmmakers and novelists alike, Stop doing that! 

What’s your pet peeve?