I haven’t reviewed a book on my blog recently, and it troubles me. It isn’t because I haven’t been reading, but because I haven’t fallen in love with the book in my hands. So I’m asking your help. Send me the title and author of the best book (or books) you’ve read this year, plus […]
Another Kudo for HOME FIRES
HOME FIRES, a finalist for both the Pacific Northwest Writers Association’s Nancy Pearl Award and Readers Favorite Realistic Fiction award last year, has won first place in Contemporary Fiction for Chanticleer Review’s Somerset Award. This makes it a finalist for Chanticleer’s Grand Prize. Winner will be announced at Chanticleer’s Award Banquet on September 29th. To […]
Bringing HAWKINS LANE Alive
I’m going to be reading from and discussing HAWKINS LANE at Village Books in Bellingham on Sunday August 30th (4PM for those of you who are local), so am considering how best to bring the story alive with just a few snippets. I’ve summed up HAWKINS LANE in a number of ways. It’s a […]
Entering the Atomic Age
In my last blog, I delved into the magic of storytelling–or more specifically, the birth of stories, a subject that came up in my interview with Liz Adair. I promised to share the memoir that came to me in an afternoon, the first story I wrote. The drawings, which i’m embarrased to claim, are […]
The Magic of Storytelling
In my recent interview with author, Liz Adair, I talked about the origin of stories, and I found myself thinking about its magical qualities. Why, when I sat down to write a story for the first time, a childhood experience that later won a essay prize emerged full blown in an afternoon. Where did […]
HAWKINS LANE – Book Giveaway Contest
Judith Kirscht, author, announces a book giveaway contest of her latest novel, HAWKINS LANE, starting Friday, July 31st 2015.
Sailing With Impunity: A great read
Join This Adventure! I write mostly about fiction, as my regular readers know, but once in a while I’m attracted to a non-fiction, especially memoir. Though Sailing With Impunity will especially appeal to sailors, and I am very much a city-bred landlubber for whom sailing the Pacific in anything but a cruise ship would be unthinkable. […]
HAWKINS LANE: What kind of Fiction?
I’ve always envied authors who have no trouble answering that question–it’s a romance, a mystery, a thriller, a western … HAWKINS LANE is all of those and none of them. It doesn’t fit the conventions of any of those genre. It’s fiction. General, contemporary, realistic, mainstream fiction. Not very helpful, so let me give you […]
HAWKINS LANE IN PRINT
For those of you who want a book to hold in your hand, flip back and forth, mark up, etc. HAWKINS LANE is in print. You’ll fine in by order at your local bookstore or on Amazon. And here is a taste of the latest review; this one by Chanticleer Reviews An engrossing story of […]
The Creation of Hawkins Lane
In my recent interview with author, Liz Adair, I said that HAWKINS LANE began with the image I woke with, one morning, of a child in a wooded lane sensing that the trees had taken everything up into their boughs, leaving the lane untouched. Images are not stories, but they raise a […]
HAWKINS LANE and the Power of Place
How important is place to a story? Do you skip all description or do you want to be swept into the jungle, the dessert, the city street, the cottage by the sea? For the writer, creating a place that comes alive as a character rather than detail to be skipped over is a challenge, […]
HAWKINS LANE Opening Chapter
How do you select a book in this world drowning in e-books? Reviews help. They at least tell you whether it’s the sort of story you enjoy–or not. Here’s a link to author Robert Mottram’s review of HAWKINS LANE: Sometimes in spite of one’s best intentions, life can unexpectedly self-destruct. And when it happens to […]
