So this will sound like sacrilege, I’m sure, to some but I don’t recall ever hearing about the character Jack Reacher until the year 2012 while working a flood in North Dakota when a former co-worker, Jean Riendeau, was complaining … Continue reading
A couple of months ago I was reading about a new book coming out titled “The Oracle Year” by Charles Soule (the “e” is silent) and what caught my attention in the review was that the writer was also a … Continue reading
A few weeks ago Book Riot ran the results of a survey they took about the “10 Scariest Books You’ve Read” and while the outcome was not all that surprising (Stephen King books grab the majority), I thought I’d throw … Continue reading
It was on this day 105 years ago that the man who is often quoted as saying “The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated” did, in fact, really die. What Samuel ‘Mark Twain’ Clemens actually said to the … Continue reading
Neil Gaiman says just write; just get the words down; don’t worry about your first draft, no one will ever see it; get the ideas and the words down. Just write. That is hard advice for me to follow. I … Continue reading
It was on this day in 1850 that “The Scarlet Letter” by Nathaniel Hawthorne was first published. I remember my 11th grade American Literature teacher in high school assigning it to us to read and how legalistic in their religious … Continue reading
Back on Sunday, February 8th, New York Times bestselling author Tim Dorsey was appearing late in the afternoon at the downtown branch of the Orlando Library. I really wanted to go, but I already had a previous engagement that prevented … Continue reading
Laura Ingalls Wilder was born on this date in 1867 in Pepin, Wisconsin. I have to admit I’ve never read any of her books, though I used to immensely enjoy the TV series “Little House on the Prairie” starring Melissa … Continue reading
It was 78 years ago today that “Of Mice and Men” by John Steinbeck was first published. I remember reading it for the first time in my 10th grade American Literature class 47 years ago and it’s probably time for … Continue reading
Last week, actor, comedian and author Patton Oswalt was interviewed for the New York Times’ “By The Book” Sunday feature. I always love reading these because I usually come away from them with a new perspective on a book I’ve … Continue reading
Today would have been the 123rd birthday of J.R.R. (John Ronald Reuel) Tolkien, born in 1892 to English parents in Bloemfontein, South Africa, where his father was working in a bank. Tolkien was always fascinated with languages; he went to … Continue reading
Today would have been Madeleine L’Engle’s 96th birthday, had she not passed away in 2007. Madeleine L’Engle was the author of the Newbery Medal Award-winning novel “A Wrinkle in Time”, which is one of my favorite books from my childhood. … Continue reading
If I recall correctly, the first Stephen King book I read was “The Stand”, though that was actually his fourth novel. After that I HAD to go back and read his first three; “Carrie”, “Salem’s Lot” and “The Shining” but … Continue reading
From The Writer’s Almanac: Jack Kerouac’s beat classic “On the Road” was published on this date in 1957. It’s the mostly-true story of a cross-country hitchhiking trip Kerouac and his friend Neal Cassady took in the late 1940s. Legend — … Continue reading
It’s the birthday of Mary Shelley, born Mary Godwin in London on this date in 1797. Her mother — feminist advocate Mary Wollstonecraft — died of complications after giving birth to young Mary. Her father, philosopher and author William Godwin, … Continue reading
If there is anywhere in the world I’d love to be during the next 16 days, it would be the Edinburgh International Book Festival 2014 in Scotland. When we were in Scotland in 2006, we visited Edinburgh twice while there; … Continue reading
Beginning writers typically seek out advice from the masters of the craft to try and learn the secrets of writing successfully. Books like “On Writing” by Stephen King, “Zen in the Art of Writing” by Ray Bradbury and others are … Continue reading
Over at BookRiot they’ve posted a sort of point/counterpoint issue centered around the question of: what do you do when you find out an author, even one you may have previously considered a favorite of yours, is a monster? Kit … Continue reading
