I feel like these year-end posts are the only thing I put on this blog anymore. Maybe I’ll make an effort to post more in 2023? (Ahahahaha. No.) So, let’s get to it! I watched approximately 55 TV/streaming shows this calendar year. And read 155 books. No, I did not plan for “55” to be… Read More Mala’s Best of 2022 Pop Culture Round-Up
I thought 2020 was long, but 2021 felt endless. The infinite slog. So I’m pretty proud of myself for tracking my media consumption through the never-ending muck. I’m someone who barely remembers what she ate for lunch the day before, so this is top-tier organization as far as I’m concerned. I hope you enjoy my… Read More Mala’s Best of 2021 Pop Culture Round-Up
2020 was eleventy billion months long. I barely remember most of what I consumed, but I think I managed to keep a decent list going here on my blog. It’s by no means comprehensive. I bet you I’m leaving off a book, a movie, or a performance that really made me flail! I’m not going… Read More Mala’s Best of 2020 Pop Culture Round-Up
Yes, it took me more than a week into 2020 to get my year-end post up. Things happen! Here is a look back at my 2019 in pop culture—from things I wrote, to things I watched, to things I read. All the loves and raves in one place! Best Interview I Did: I am… Read More Mala’s Best of 2019 Pop Culture Round-Up
In the wake of marathoning 20 episodes of NBC’s Good Girls in two days, I’m thinking a lot about dark romance/romantic suspense worldbuilding and how character dynamics are incredibly important when it comes to pulling off love stories (or at least root-for stories) with antiheroes and criminals. Why does a pairing like that of suburban soccer… Read More Good Girls, Bad Boys, and the Worlds They Live In
They say everyone loves a bad boy, but judging by the pop culture zeitgeist, bad boys might just be getting worse. We have serial killers as romantic heroes on Days of our Lives and General Hospital. Former Gossip Girl star Penn Badgley has had to push back against fans gushing over his murderous protagonist on Netflix’s You.… Read More Mad, Bad, and Way Too Dangerous to Know
I’ve been thinking a lot lately about characterization and plotting on soaps—as kind of an expansion on a Twitter thread I wrote back in 2017. When it comes to most kinds of fiction writing, there are “plotters” and there are “pantsers.” A plotter outlines and diagrams every beat, every decision, that goes into creating a… Read More Soap Writing 101: Plotting, Pantsing, and Pretty Little Liars
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