I am a writer of poetry and fiction and an avid reader. Here, I think 'out-loud' about books, movies, stories, writing and other fictions.
I lost the whole site at one point and am rebuilding old posts from my backups.
Mr. Bemis combines American myth with orphans fighting for their lives in a masterful tale in a late 19th Century setting. From the opening nightmare through outrageous characters, a traveling medicine show and a blind marksman, a pirate queen and a siren, the pace never stops. It’s the nine pound hammer and what it means that makes all the difference.
Parker is just as ready to be mean as ever. This time he’s protecting the woman he lives with.nbsp; He and a crew knock off the last show of a music venue.nbsp; They were one guy short because the guy just didn’t have it in him to do the job.nbsp; But after the money is split, they find the guy has been murdered.nbsp; Then another guy gets killed.nbsp; Parker’s contact calls him at his new residence, which he did not share.nbsp; Now Parker has to find whoever is doing the killing and stop them.
Djibouti is a gateway to the east. It sits on the horn of Africa between Somalia and Eritrea. It’s also the scene of Elmore Leonard’s story about a documentary filmmaker who hopes to add to her portfolio of award-winning films. Dara Barr, from New Orleans, and her cameraman, Xavier, go to Djibouti to film Somali pirates and get much more than they expected.
Trying to get back into the rhythm of writing again.
How many spaces between sentences?
For those of you who read this, you may notice that I still use two spaces after the punctuation between sentences. All the major style guides say the rule is a single space after a period or any other punctuation mark used at the end of a sentence.
So why do I insist on using two spaces? A few reasons.
There is a very easy way to convert from two spaces at the end of a sentence to one space, or vice-versa, if required. Simply use a global change. I increase this on manuscripts I’m asked to read so I can tell whether I’m looking at a comma or a period. For editors who request single space, I do the opposite change on the copy of the manuscript before submission. It's more important to provide the style requested than to insist on one way or another.
In this graphic adaptation of Ms. Atwood’s unforgettable novel, is a succinct reminder of how politicians can use the influence of false narration to grab power and oppress. The story is as relevant today as the dystopian future written a quarter century ago. Beware demagogues who use outrageous lies to blame the plight of the masses on rivals.
A delightful whodunit staring Myrtle Hardcastle, the daughter of the local prosecutor in an English town. Her next-door neighbor died, and no one will listen to Myrtle when she says the woman was murdered. Between her governess, her cat, her father, and a woman who might be trying to become Myrtle’s stepmother, the mystery takes a circuitous route to the solution.
Williams’ manifesto of the imagination. Two of his best-known poems; “Spring and All” and “The Red Wheelbarrow” appeared first in this volume. He alternates between an examination of how the imagination works in prose and poetry, then shows us an example in poetry.
His musings on the work on the imagination and letting the mind produce are inspiring and can be read over and over with benefits for a writer in each reading.
The sequel to The Golem and the Jinni – both characters, Chava and Ahmed, are now regarded as regular citizens of Little Syria in New York. Only their relationship is rocky at best. Theirs is not the only story. In addition to women affected by the Jinni and the evil wizard from the original book, we are introduced to a girl who becomes central to the story, Kreindel, who helped her father create another golem, Yoselle. All of this happens while the world runs into war.
A marvelous, fantastic book. I could tell ten percent into it that it deserved the Pulitzer. Ms. Erdrich has a complete mastery of storytelling and language. Her subject matter, though placed in the 1950’s is as relevant today as it was then. Her characters show us perspectives of how the government has gone back on its word to Native Americans time and again. She has certainly thrashed them like a field.
Straub shows he is a master of horror in the simplicity of a tale. He tells the story of a man who seeks enlightenment by visiting a guru in India with a German friend. As he reaches the village where the guru lives, he is asked to touch a dying boy, who immediately becomes better. Then he touches a wall which glows neon where his fingers trail. But the guru does not tell him what he expects.