Can I just say that Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games deals with so much more than a futuristic nation’s sadistic starvation game in which 24 youths are chosen from twelve districts (one girl, one boy) to compete in the Capitol–until death…on TV? Sounds gruesome, doesn’t it? It is. But, sadly, it’s an excellent portrayal of […]
Art & Children’s Book Characters
Do I have some fun for you today, brought to my attention by Alison Morris of Publishers Weekly! And it’s not just delightful fun for adults, but for kids, too. I confess. I’ve read Gaiman’s dark book Coraline, but I’ve not seen the movie. I will after viewing these exquisite behind-the-scenes videos on how Coraline […]
Why Can’t We Be Good?
This is the most fascinating book. Needleman is a philosophy professor at San Francisco State University and the author of numerous books. This one drew my attention, because of the book I’m writing now. Needleman starts with a story, which you may have heard already. Bear with me. There are two men facing each other–a […]
Moses and the Shepherd
For some time now, I’ve enjoyed the brief encounters I’ve had with Rumi’s thoughts and poems. Rumi, by way of introduction, is a 13th century Persian mystic who wrote down bits of wisdom along the way, and we are the joyful recipients of it. You may be familiar with this quote from “A Great Wagon”–a […]
Reading Like a Writer
I’ve just finished a second run-through of Francine Prose’s book Reading Like a Writer. I read it when it first came out, but this time, I gleaned much more, perhaps because I’ve written a novel in the interim…and know where my weaknesses lie. Sadly, the book left me feeling inept and incapable, especially as I […]