A True Fan My ninety-one year old mother is a spunky, lifelong baseball fan. Thelma grew up in Cleveland, and she was in the stadium, cheering wildly, when the Indians won the world series in 1948. At one time, she could tell you all the ball players’ stats, who was traded where and when, if they were married, where they lived, and probably even give you the names of their children. She has … [Read more...]
“Try to do it” vs “Try and do it”
I hate to be a grammar snob, but this colloquial construction of “try and” irks me: I will try and do it. The team will try and get a touchdown on this next play. We will try and attend the party. It's bad grammar. According to alt-usage-english.org: "Some commentators maintain that there is no semantic difference whatever between try and and try to; certainly in many contexts they are … [Read more...]
Do Mindless Activities Help a Writer?
When do you get your best ideas? Frosting a cake, working out, jogging, taking a shower, washing dishes, folding clothes, doodling: these are essentially mindless activities. You're not focused on critical thinking or problem solving. Your mind wanders. This is good for writers. The reason why is that writers often carry their work with them. The poem or story that they're currently working on is … [Read more...]
Channeling Intense Emotions with Writer Cheri L. R. Taylor
Susannah Suffolk struggles to defend her most public court case while she returns to Walloon Lake to arrange a funeral for her mother, in Cheri L. R. Taylor's debut novel, Leaving Walloon. Susannah is foggy with memories of her mother's tirades, the sound of a pot being banged on the kitchen counter, watching her meals fly out the door at her mother's hand, and punishment that came with pain. … [Read more...]
The Mourning Hours: a Novel set in the Rural Midwest
In some novels, setting exists as a character of its own, exerting forces that move the story forward. One such book is The Mourning Hours, authored by Paula Treick DeBoard, which takes place in rural Wisconsin. The story pivots on the disappearance of a sixteen-year old girl, Stacey Lemke. Her boyfriend, Johnny, the narrator's older brother and high school wrestling star, is the last person to … [Read more...]
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 104
- 105
- 106
- 107
- 108
- …
- 115
- Next Page »