Writers are often asked which books that they read in childhood were most beloved, or most influential, or … Well how about the books that were embarrassingly wrong. There was…Continue readingThe Apache who never were
Someone in my hometown is putting together a reading series and sent me an email asking whether I wanted to participate. I said sure, and asked if they had any…Continue readingWhy is ‘genre’ a dirty word?
This past Christmas two specific books found their way onto the pile: The first was a (signed no less) hardcover edition of the latest Longmire book by Craig Johnson, ‘Depth…Continue readingWhen good authors go awry
I have been thinking about trees quite a lot recently. Perhaps that is because the massive trees surrounding my home are pictures of incredible beauty as they groan under the…Continue readingDeath of the Golden Spruce
The Science Fiction Worldcon was in Yokohama, Japan, about a decade ago. I attended, as a panelist and a pro, partly because it was a chance to experience Japan, something…Continue readingA city named Hiroshima
Anybody else watching “Victoria” on PBS? Anyone else getting royally ticked off at it? Okay, let’s start at the beginning. It’s lush. It’s glorious. And I KNOW what they…Continue readingWe are less and less amused
Hatred is one of the purer emotions and it can distill into a poison. Yet the words “I hate” are oddly bereft of a stinger. It is almost a childish…Continue readingWhat do they hate?
Touting the gospel that tidiness is next to godliness, Marie Kondo’s method of ‘decluttering’ your home has been hailed by all and sundry as a revelation. It is predicated more…Continue readingYou keep using that word…
The uniqueness of story You hear all kinds of numbers for the plot lines available to authors — 27, 10, 7, 3, 2, 1. Those who favor two – “Someone…Continue readingSomething is wrong
The last line of a novel can anchor a story in a reader’s mind long after the book is finished. Let’s try a little quiz. Can you name the novels…Continue readingWho wrote this last line?