Lucia Berlin was a brilliant but mostly unappreciated author of short fiction. According to The Guardian, Berlin focused on working class jobs in her stories, as she was from a scrappy working class background herself. At one time, she had a job as an emergency room nurse. That is not surprising, as her flash fiction piece, My Jockey provides stunning medical details combined with an ironic sense of humor and wit. At the beginning of “My Jockey”, she states that she likes being an emergency …
Celebration! First Draft Done!
I'm celebrating! I just finished my first draft of latest novel, MYSTERIES AND MARTINIS. (Last word = fly) Because the online tools I have make it so easy, I composed a fantasy cover & ad. But now the real work begins. On to revisions, queries, and putting myself out there! …
Writing Prompt Video: Paradox
Use this video that explains paradox, gives examples, and provides a writing prompt as a warmup activity for your students, or to spur your own creativity. Enjoy! …
Book Review: The Lies We Told by Camilla Way
The Lies We Told is the first novel I've read by Camilla Way. Now that I know about her, I will be looking up her other three novels. Because, The Lies We Told is a twisty, suspenseful novel that's full of surprises throughout, and with a huge surprise at the end that I never saw coming. There are also smaller surprises that come one after another, all building up a story that I couldn't put down.
The Story:
There are …
Book Review: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle
“I don't understand it any more than you do, but one thing I've learned is that you don't have to understand things for them to be.” - Madeleine L'Engle
My first experience with A Wrinkle in Time, was in fourth grade, when our teacher read it aloud to us. The part where Meg uses her love for Charles Wallace to face down the monstrous IT stayed with me for years. I then read the book on my own, as a kid. Decades …