halloween treat: the crows of pearblossom by aldous huxley

I’d been meaning to do this for a couple years now, and this week I finally figured out how to make the scanner work, so…
When I was a kid my mom signed me up for the Weekly Reader Book club one summer.  I don’t remember how often them came but in between book shipments there [...]

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a cultural history of manga… through french eyes

The revision work is slow but steady.  But every once in a while I need a break and that means playing around, usually on the computer.  Playing around usually means unfocused wandering, clicking through from one site to another, opening new tabs and travelings down new electronic avenues that lead to new alleys, until thoroughly [...]

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poetry friday: NOT william carlos williams

An original, though not really and not very.  What is it about the snap of cold weather that increases the hunger?  Are we really still just nature-attuned mammals, fattening ourselves up for the winter, hunkering down for the scarcity of food?  Anyway, in a fit of hunger I foraged the refrigerator yesterday and spied some [...]

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bad, bad blogger! no donut!

This was supposed to be where I talked about this process of writing and getting the MFA.  And what have I been doing?  Spouting off on politics and industry gossip and whatnot.  Time to get real.
Actually, things have been very real, I just haven’t blogged them.  Since the first draft of the middle grade, novel [...]

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starting a magazine

Something positive for a change.
Not that I haven’t been thinking about this for some time, because I mentioned my intention to start up a magazine a few years back when I was interviewing for a editorial position. I’ve had this idea floating around for nearly a decade now.  But it’s still going to be a [...]

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national book award synchronicity

How often is it that you finish a book, put it down, go to the computer to check on news of the world and find that the book you just put down was one that was nominated as a finalist for the National Book Award in young person’s literature?
Weird.
Having not read them all, nor understanding [...]

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the terrorists among us

* a person, usually a member of a group, who uses or advocates terrorism.
* a person who terrorizes or frightens others.
* a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells; often uses religion as a cover for terrorist activities
We call Osama Bin Laden a terrorist. We [...]

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the not-roger-hargreaves, political edition

I see teens and hipster kids wearing the various Hargreaves characters all the time.  You know, the Mr. Men and Little Miss booklets that showcased a variety of moods and behaviors?  No?  Go here for a refresher, then continue.
Okay, so it’s no secret that I wanted to be an animator when I grew up.  Grow [...]

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avoiding revisions with apple butter

So the first draft of the middle grade novel is done and the results are back: it needs work.  Well, duh.  No, that isn’t what my advisor said.  She didn’t say it needed work either.  What she did was give me a very thorough rundown of where she saw problems and some general reactions to [...]

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energy crisis: or, pay as you grow

First, this isn’t about the current economic meltdown.  Unless you consider a patty melt gone bad a crisis.
No, it occured to me that we have this problem where it seems like good, wholesome food is more expensive than crap.  And as I was looking at a band of chunky high school kids rolling out of [...]

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my titles can beat your titles

Huh, where did I go? Must have had a packet of writing due for school or something…
So, I like to think I’m pretty good with titles.  A lot of time, a story doesn’t click for me until I really feel I’ve got the title.  Since I have yet to have anything published, and there [...]

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