In going through some papers of my college teaching years, I came upon a handout which I innocently thought would be enough to warn students out of blind faith in Spell-Check. Alas, faith is hard to shake. Here is the…
Blog Archives
Writing at the Lake
We went to a friend’s house last weekend at Laurel Mountain Lake, near Sweetwater, Tennessee. As you see: water, sky, peace. No phone, TV or internet (and I don’t have a fancy phone so really no internet). It is astonishing…
The novelist’s magic tool
Sure, sure, Google does yeoman’s service for the hard-pressed fiction writer, but if a few minutes of banging around on the internet won’t get me to the factoid I need, it’s time to get smart and . . . use…
Posted in WWWS
Odd thoughts on writing
I’m revising today, staring at the screen and perhaps that brings the odd thoughts. For instance: 1. Did it ever strike you as odd that black marks on a page (or screen) arranged in certain ways can bring an emotional,…
What Americans ate in the 1910’s, etc.
Ohh, I just found a wonderful site called Food Timeline if you’re wildly or mildly curious about what people ate in the 1910’s (my case) or in decades after. You’ll find menus, cookbooks, recipes, prices, new rages, like the “cocktail party,”…
Where do cops come from?
This time travel began some hours ago when I wanted to make sure that my character in 1911 could refer to a policeman as a cop or perhaps a copper. Would this be an anachronism? It’s a lot of work…
Posted in WWWS
Thoughts before public reading
So there you are gripping your book, literary magazine or print out of the pages you’ll read to a group of People Who Come to Readings. You are listening, you hope seeming wholly attentive, to the previous reader or else…
On killing/tormenting your characters
I heard a film director once commenting on how much she dislikes shooting scenes which need a small child to cry. I’d never thought about this but of course you can’t expect a baby or toddler to playact for you.…
Posted in WWWS
Where’s that sabrage knife?
We had a chance to buy a very nice sabrage knife this summer, but even Maurizio with his mania for acquiring kitchen things his wife finds optional drew (or cut) the line at a $500 (circa) sabrage knife. The experience…
Delicious b&b in Friuli
We just got back from Italy where we spent some days in Friuli, a beautiful, not-often-visited region north-east of Venice, a land of vineyards, quiet towns, delicious, fresh and imaginative cuisine, thoughtful and engrossing museums, festivals and Hapsburg elegance. The…
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