Category: Uncategorized

  • Journal Prompts Pay Off

    Okay, my readers know that I journal daily. Too many of those days I gripe about having nothing worthwhile to write. As of today I vow to dig deep, no more wimpy diary stuff–I fed the cat, washed the car, mailed letters. Humbug. I made a random list of things I care about: family, genealogy, organizing my…

  • Why Hiaasen?

    Currently my energy is invested in binge reading Carl Hiaasen’s work. Hiaasen has written a couple dozen books, mostly fiction, including collections of his newspaper articles, and novels for young readers. He is prodigious, prolific, wonderful and ridiculous. His bad guys are low-life, immoral, greedy and prone to shoddy commercial development of Hiaasen’s beloved home state of Florida. His…

  • Esoteric Joy

    Full disclosure: I am a detail junky, a fact addict. I keep a fat black notebook full of potentially useless information. Like if you plant an orange seed you may grow a lemon tree. That the okapi–a mammal that looks like a cross between a giraffe and a horse–is a six million year old species. That the…

  • Read for Equality, Please

    Regular readers here will have seen my postings of READ FOR EQUALITY, a habit that has grown out of my concern for the racial inequity in publishing. In honor of these concerns I am happy to turn over the blog today to Linda Thornton, who shares her unique history. Linda tells her story clearly and succinctly. I…

  • Collaborative Writing & Ghosts in the Kitchen

    Collaborative writing invites ghosts to my party, but these guests barge into the kitchen while I’m still pulling food from the oven. Who are these people? Oh, there’s the editorial board, the editor in chief, the audience waiting to see if the thing tastes as good as it smells. These unseen ghost guests elbow in and shove…