I have a few friends who are taking creative writing classes, and some of their comments have gotten me thinking about why I’ve never taken on the job of teaching such a class. First of all, I know that I should just get over it and teach a class the next time I get the…
Read more
I am giving away 2 signed copies of my novel, Take Back Tomorrow, on Goodreads. The contest runs until the end of this month. Like what you see? Please share!PinterestTwitterTumblrFacebook
During the last few weeks, the concept of cultural literacy has come up in some of my classes. My students–mostly 18-20 year olds in college writing classes–insist that they’re getting along just fine without knowing where Aberdeen is or who invented the cotton gin. Their defense is that if they need to know something, they…
Read more
I first came across a reference to Don Ryan when I was reading Kevin Starr’s Americans and the California Dream series, a remarkable history of California. Starr identified Don Ryan’s Angel’s Flight as one of the first novels about Los Angeles and Hollywood, and since that was the focus of my dissertation, I sought out…
Read more
I had the opportunity to participate in Fullerton College’s Faculty Reading Event last month–a good experience and a nice chance to read some of my work for an enthused and appreciative audience. Before reading from her novel in progress, one of my colleagues made a joke about “book envy,” in reference to the copies of…
Read more
If you’re thinking about turning that manuscript into a Kindle file and starting on your own path to indie authorship, you’re likely to find it a pretty easy process–but maybe with one exception. Your Kindle file is going to need an active Table of Contents so users can go to the different chapters in your…
Read more
So the editor of the Times Literary Supplement feels that book bloggers are doing a disservice to literary criticism, watering it down. Anyone with enough know-how to set up a blog and read a book can become a literary critic. On the one hand, there’s a legitimate concern there. The proliferation of voices on the…
Read more
I’ve just finished listening to the audiobook version of Neil Gaiman’s Neverwhere, the preferred text read by the author. It’s been said that writers are often the worst readers of their own work, which may be true in some cases, but not this one. Gaiman’s rendering of the different characters’ voices is brilliant, vivid, and…
Read more
I still have the comb Mrs. Muus gave me for Christmas when I was 12 years old. That was 35 years ago. I know that makes me sound like a hoarder, which I’m not. Very few things have followed me from childhood to the point I’m at in life now: a couple of toys that…
Read more
I’m pleased to announce that my new science fiction novel, Strictly Analog, is now available in print and e-book editions. The cover art is by Mark Walsh, and I’m really pleased with the way it turned out.Here’s a taste of the first chapter: I was dreaming about Las Vegas again when the ferret woke me.…
Read more
