It’s easy to fall in love with fiction. If the writer’s done his/her job, a reader can sit back with a well-formed story, a balanced plot and distinctive characters with unforgettable lines. Everything should work out in fiction. Non-fiction’s not quite so easy. Perhaps the hero didn’t have a memorable speech or the author missed meeting that all-important member of the cast.&n...
I’ll never forget reading that blurb. It was on the back of a beige book my mother had brought from the library and when I read it, I said, “Well, that’s a bit much. I flipped the book over and looked at the pen-and-ink cover drawing and the red and black type underneath. It still didn’t look very promising. I looked askance at my mother who shrugged her shoulders. “Read it or ...
Is it true that children no longer read The Sword in the Stone? A friend of mine with kids says so. Between dystopias, vampires, diseases and monsters, kids are skipping the fantasy that stood the Arthurian legend on its head and that makes me sad. Almost two generations of readers have come of age with no idea of White beyond a Disney movie or a Broadway show their grandparents talked about. Forgive them, ...
I’m a fool for those that make me laugh. If you want me to endorse a candidate, follow a flag, babysit kids or be nice to your Mama, make me giggle. That’s been true for a long time and that’s why I champion Florence King. I’ve never met the lady, don’t expect to meet her and I don’t endorse many of her positions but she has my undying devotion (and I read whatever she writes) becaus...
Everyone has obsessions: mine are centered around entertainment and art but my husband is obsessed with disasters. There’s history in these tales and often the tragedy of hubris and the indelible courage of the fallen and the survivors. Disaster stories are all about humanity at our best, how we recover from the worst and I think that’s why my husband likes them. Consequently, I’m always o...