If you’re a fan of sea legends, like the Flying Dutchman, or puzzles from the past, like Dan Brown’s Da Vince Code, I invite you to read Michael Hurley’s The Prodigal, a novel that mixes the aura of such mysteries with parables and romantic suspense for a lively and absorbing read. Kirkus reviews […]
I’ve been writing novels (for forty years or so) and blogging about them for quite a while. High time for a break. I love short stories and have always long to master them. For writers, they are a wonderful antidote to wordiness, an astringent for the mind. They remind us of the […]
Mysteries make good reading. Some are perfect for an afternoon at the beach, and some challenge your logical expertise. A third group absorbs you thoroughly, solving the mystery by a slow unraveling of the characters’ inner life. For me, this is the group that is memorable, for they open new areas of the human soul. […]
My apologies to anyone trying to read my blog in the last couple of weeks. We were having technical difficulties and it took a while to solve them. Also, I’ve been off to writer conventions—The Pacific Northwest Writers Association in Seattle and the Chanticleer Reviews in Bellingham—getting refueled. My own latest book, Home Fires, was […]
I’m sitting here wondering what to write about for my next blog—and the one after—and the one after that. My brain is in neutral, so I bounce about other people’s blogs hoping to spark a response, or a topic. They say you should pretend you’re at a cocktail party, flitting between groups, picking […]
Last week I talked about the disadvantages of fencing yourself into reading categories such as “mystery,” “romance,” etc. and about the rewards of reaching beyond those walls to find books that sweep readers into characters lives and move them to a different perception of the world or themselves. I discussed my own writing and reading […]
An all to frequent response to my books is, “I don’t usually read that sort of book, but I really got into it.” So what “sort of book” do I write? Stories that sweep you into the life of the characters and move you, change your perceptions or your sense of your own life. But […]
As another of a series of reviews on the rewards of reading “reality” or”serious” fiction, let me introduce Eleanor Brown’s New York Times bestseller, The Weird Sisters ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ “We came home because we were failures.” So Eleanor Brown opens her debut novel of three sisters, born in a college town of a father immersed […]
We’ve been talking, in recent blogs, about the rewards of reading novels. I discussed my own preference for stories about characters involved in our culture’s current dilemmas, but my recent reading reminds me that stories of the past bring to life issues that never grow old. The book I’ll talk about today, Melanie Benjamin’s Alice I […]
Earlier this month I urged readers to “Drop Out and Read” , and talked about its value to me. I was delighted to see that a good friend and marvelous writer, Toni Fuhrman, had blogged on the same subject, so let me share with you a brief excerpt and link. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Why read a […]
In last week’s blog I talked about the power of the novel to carry us into other lives and change our perspective on our own. I also talked about my own preference for characters confronting the crises of contemporary life. Laurie Frankel’s novel, Goodbye For Now, is an excellent example of both. You will […]
I’ve dropped out. Reinvented Sunday. I’ve given myself permission to not read my e-mail, catch up on Facebook, converse with other writers on LinkedIn, or review in my head all of the things, including writing my blog, that I ought to be doing. I feel liberated, relaxed, utterly euphoric. I dip into one magazine […]
Judith Kirscht lives and works in the beautiful Puget Sound area. She is the author of four published works of fiction with more to come soon!
