But which world is ending? I have just finished Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and over all found it thought provoking and entertaining, if a bit obscure. There were a lot of ideas in this novel, some strange, some confusing, some interesting, some mundane, some--seemingly irrelevant. We follow two sides of one consciousness. …
Tomorrow is always one more day away
"Ever read The Brothers Karamazov?" I asked. "Once, a long time ago." "Well, toward the end, Alyosha is speaking to a young student named Kolya Krasotkin. And he says, Kolya, you're going to have a miserable future. But overall, you'll have a happy life." Two beers down, I hesitated before opening my third. "When I …
Finishing things
I feel as if I have a new super power, ever since finishing a draft of a novel. I can finish anything! Short story? Cake. Novella? Pie. Another novel? Doable. All it takes.. is starting. It's like I blinked and the sky moved ever so slightly, and now I can do things I couldn't before. Required …
Transitions? Forget about them
The obsession with transition negates a basic truth about writing, a magical truth. You can get anywhere from anywhere, always and almost instantly. - Verlyn Klinkenborg We've all been there: cold moon, dark sky, watching our minds disappear as we try to figure out how to get our character from point A to B. She's …
The power of good description
I'm still being awed by The Crimson Petal and the White. Even though there is not much going on as far as plot or intrigue goes, the characters are more than enough to keep me interested. It's not in the way they look, or the things they say or do--they are just so well described, …
Jonas David 