Lately I’ve found myself with mixed emotions about psychological thrillers. It’s fun to read novels that have that “unputdownable” quality. I love the tension and the impulse to read it in one sitting. But only to a point. I’m not sure if thrillers are becoming more intense, but more and [...]
How many of us, when young, viewed older generations as “clueless,” only to grow older ourselves and realize how impactful those elders were in our lives? My paternal grandmother was central in my life as a child. My grandparents lived a block from my family and with two working parents, [...]
Traveling to different periods in time -- the descriptions of the physical environs, the windows into the thoughts, desires and concerns of the characters, and the culture of a time in history – all pull me in when I read Historical Fiction. I’ve described my love of this genre in [...]
I have to admit, I’ve always had some amount of fascination with Hollywood, especially the Golden Age when movie stars seemed untouchable and otherworldly. Social media has made current day performers more accessible, but there is still the intrigue of a lifestyle so removed from the everyday lives that most [...]
Guest post by Carole Bumpus As an author, I have often been considered a ‘genre-straddler.’ I suppose that’s not a positive thing, but, silly me, I took it as a badge of honor. You see, when I began to write, I had never taken a writing course and the thought [...]
Guest Blog by Carolyn Lee Arnold What does it mean for women to be brave? In her song, Brave, Sara Bareilles sings, “I wonder what would happen if you say what you wanna say. And let the words fall out. Honestly, I wanna see you be brave!” Memoirists know what it [...]
Guest blog by Valerie Taylor Here’s a fun fact and opinion: A 2010 study of “professionally published novelists found the average age of first publication to be 36 years. Given that many novels take many years to perfect, it stands to reason that late twenties, early thirties are prime time [...]
Guest blog by Rachel Michelberg In the four months since my memoir Crash: How I Became a Reluctant Caregiver was published, I’ve lapped up its praise like a kitten slurping milk (while also cringing at every critique.) My favorite accolade? “It reads like a novel. I couldn’t put it down.” [...]
Since beginning this blog in March 2018, I’ve often found there isn’t a clear way to classify many books. Some books cross genres. Others have multiple themes. If you’re a regular reader, you know I love books about books or bookstores or libraries and have included many in earlier columns [...]
Guest blog by Rebecca D’Harlingue Historical fiction authors are often asked whether the events in their book really happened. The answer to that question can range from, a lot of it did happen, to, I have imagined what might happen within that time and place. Readers will usually accept either [...]
