KRIS ASHTON

While I can’t seem to give away a short story at the moment, I’ve been having much more success with my non-fiction writing. An essay...

There are more than the usual number of reasons to read the latest edition of Australia’s longest-running speculative fiction journal,...

I’ve previously confessed that as a teenager I used to read the dictionary for pleasure; that learning new words gave me a sense of...

I’ve blogged before about my difficulties writing satirical fiction, and in recent months I’ve discovered how hard it can be shopping it...

Full disclosure: the 1990 mini-series adaptation of Stephen King’s novel IT was one of the defining movies of my teenage years. When...

It was with some trepidation that I began watching the first series of Supergirl on iTunes. I’m a big fan of comic book superheroes, have...

Parenthood changes your life. It’s natural to rail against this change, to try to retain your ‘old life’ as much as possible, but it’s...

I grew up with grandparents who seemed to know everything about the natural world, even though they’d never had a lick of formal...

Last week I finished reading the grandfather of the small-town horror novel, The Body Snatchers. Enough has been written about Jack...

The latest historical context essay from the excellent ‘Stephen King Revisited’ website showed up in my inbox this week. If you’re a King...

The introduction to The Bazaar of Bad Dreams is made entirely from recycled parts and isn’t the most auspicious welcome to King’s sixth...

Most writing advice comes in for criticism now and again, but remarks directed at ‘write what you know’ in recent times have been...

How conscious are you of a novel’s setting? Have you ever thought about what goes into creating it and how it is used? Good use of...

One of the guiding philosophies in my life goes like this: Don’t change something unless that change is for the better. Moving forward in...

What I couldn’t comprehend was how two readers – both self-proclaimed King fans – could have such a different opinion about the same...

There was a time when I had seen almost every horror movie on the shelves at my local Videomania. What can I say? I was influenced by...

I am going to disagree with Stephen King. Again. A link to an interesting article popped up in my Facebook feed this week. Penned by...

The essays and autobiographical writings of Stephen King have served as an intellectual touchstone throughout my life. It was through...

A clear pattern has emerged in Stephen King’s writing over the past 20 years. Whenever his story or novel is a period piece – think The...

Books that try to teach writing often run into trouble, because writing is not a one-size-fits-all occupation. What works for one writer...