Monthly Archives: January 2011

Football Haiku

Posted on January 29, 2011 by

For a moment put aside the extracurriculars of professional football-the money, the smack talk, the police records of prominent players-and just watch the athletes. Watch a play set in motion, the choreography of who runs where, the focus, grace, and … Continue reading →

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Novels Best (And Worst) Adapted For the Screen

Posted on January 27, 2011 by

Kudos to The King’s Speech for its twelve Oscar nominations; I can’t wait to see it. While many of the nominated movies were made from original screenplays, like The King’s Speech, some were adapted from best-selling books, some done better … Continue reading →

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10 Guilty Pleasures

Posted on January 21, 2011 by

What I love about guilty pleasures is the way they humanize us. Could you even imagine that your firebrand English Lit professor reads romance novels like popcorn? Or that your macho, beer-guzzling neighbor melts while watching Disney princess movies with … Continue reading →

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7 Things Bugs Bunny Taught Me About Writing

Posted on January 20, 2011 by

Since childhood, I’ve been a huge fan of the cartoon rabbit that animator Chuck Jones called “an amalgam of Dorothy Parker, Rex Harrison and D’Artagnon.” Watching Bugs and his Looney Tunes pals again (thanks to a friend’s gift) reminds me … Continue reading →

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One Man’s Freedom Fighter Is Another Man’s Antisecrecy Group

Posted on January 18, 2011 by

Listen to the news sometime. I mean, really listen, beyond the sound bytes, hairstyles, and the cringe-worthy way some of them pronounce “often” and “inundated.” Or that one American network that thinks we’re so stupid, a world map graphic is … Continue reading →

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Wackiest Writing Advice I’ve Gotten

Posted on January 17, 2011 by

I don’t know why, but tell someone you’re a writer and more often than not, you will walk away with unsolicited advice, maybe from a tidbit that person heard on Oprah last week. Even asking for advice can be trouble. … Continue reading →

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Keeping A Reader’s Trust: It’s All In The Details

Posted on January 15, 2011 by

I am a detail person. Others define this as a “picky pain in the ass.” But I see it as a positive attribute. It’s important to have a detail person on your side, someone who will find your errors before … Continue reading →

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Sling A Little Slang

Posted on January 13, 2011 by

I’ve always loved listening to the music of language, especially those words and phrases outside the tidy boundaries of Merriam-Webster. Somewhere in the Exurban Dictionary of my brain, I filed them away, the associated gray matter swelling with each new … Continue reading →

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Imagine, as you hold it in your hands…

Posted on January 12, 2011 by

(Note: this sprang from a Plinky prompt, “What are you looking forward to?” Thank you, WordPress.com Post-A-Day people!) Years ago, at a writing workshop, I did a guided imagery exercise that involved visualizing my first published book. After the workshop … Continue reading →

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Side Effects of Writing Fiction

Posted on January 11, 2011 by

A few weeks ago, Health magazine came out with a ranking of the ten most depressing jobs in America. Writing came in at number five, right after Justin Bieber’s bodyguard and Lindsay Lohan. Reasons cited were frequent rejection, irregular pay, … Continue reading →

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