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, …
No one else will
I recently went to lunch with some coworkers, and while we were eating an elderly woman fell and hit her head. An instant after it happened, two of my coworkers rushed to her side and were helping her up. They sat and talked with her till the ambulance came. None of the other perhaps 30 …
Baby steps
The idea of writing a novel seems way too big when you think about it as a whole. But take baby steps, and you'll get there, one tiny shuffle forward at a time. Try not to think of it as a huge project. If you keep thinking you better watch that sword that's hanging over …
Multiple I’s
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World is written in first person, from two viewpoints. I don't see how the two stories are related just yet, but I expect it will become clear. Writing two different characters from a first person point of view seems strange. I would be wondering, as a reader, if …
Intentional annoyance?
I'm on to my next audiobook, and this time it's Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, by Haruki Murakami, who I've heard many good things about but have never read. The opening of this book takes place in an elevator. An extended elevator ride that is described repeatedly, in an overly-long and quite annoying way …

