To deal with conflicting cultures is to be American. If you’ve grown up and passed through adulthood without dealing with religious, national, racial, or social class conflict, you are probably unusual. I grew up– in an Ivory Tower community attended elementary school with children primarily from Appalachia in a city know as a great cultural […]
In END OF THE RACE, the polarization caused by the Vietnam War is almost fifty years old; the racial split is, of course much older, but Ezra Klein, in WHY WE’RE POLARIZED, sees a radical shift in political attitudes caused by the Civil Rights movement in the Sixties. Living through those times in a college […]
The culture conflict discussed in the last blog is a thread that runs throughout END OF THE RACE, a sub-plot but not the novel’s central focus. That came while idly reading a news article about a missing man and wondering “Why?” “What’s the story?” Those questions drive the story, but the content and depth arise […]
In the last post, I talked about how fiction transforms my conflicts and struggles into story, and that is probably why I’ve found my home in contemporary fiction. However, occasionally non-fiction strikes home, too, and Ezra Klein’s, WHY WE’RE POLARIZED, examines an issue I’ve struggled with all my adult life. The culture conflict that divides […]
But once triggered, every story takes it shape from the mysterious convergence of many strands, conscious and unconscious, so it is always a source of amazement, to me, that the result is a coherent whole.
In my opening blog last week, I promised more about End of the Race, my new contemporary mystery, coming May 5th and now available for pre-order on Amazon and Barnes and Noble . Talking about a book is always a poor substitute for opening it, so here is a taste. Chapter 1 2007 Annika […]
Greetings, everyone, I’m delighted to introduce my new contemporary mystery, END OF THE RACE, a family drama surrounding an Olympic hopeful swimmer whose husband and coach mysteriously disappears in the midst of training for the China Olympics. Progress on this novel has been slowed by the turmoils of the national scene, which consumed my head […]
My many thanks to Chanticleer Reviews for honoring my novels among their Somerset Prize winners, especially because, though many times a finalist, I’ve never won the grand prize. Let me also give thanks for the help and encouragement they’ve given me and so many aspiring others. If you are a writer and haven’t discovered their […]
If you’re wondering why vote, you don’t understand what’s going on in this country. If you’re sick of politicians and consider them a bunch of crooks, your negative judgment is contributing to a problem that is consuming the democracy you take for granted. Democracies die of apathy and cynicism. Wake up and look at […]
Are we all so caught up in mobocracy we can’t change course? Is hatred really so much fun?
The Camera’s Eye has to be one of the best thriller/suspense novels I have ever had the pleasure of reading …
“In the Midwest, in the spring, there are a few days so warm and soft, so gently in motion, so tenderly inviting, that we forget the ravages of the winter just behind us, the heavy breathless summer days just ahead; we accept that we are home, that we are where we belong.” Thus Toni Fuhrman […]
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!
