There is a path to fiction writing success that is quick and sure, even obvious. It’s a path that’s simple to explain. In fact, I’m going to explain it in this short article. And when I’m finished, most of you who read this will nod and say to yourselves, “I knew that.” Then you’ll move [...]

Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130” is unique in its unglamorous portrayal of the so-called “Dark Lady” to whom it is addressed. In it, the narrator offers us a startlingly generous list of differences between the Dark Lady and your stereotypical beauty: she has ugly lips, a bad complexion, frizzy hair, colorless cheeks, smelly breath, an unmelodic voice, [...]