“The writer isn’t made in a vacuum. Writers are witnesses,” E. L. Doctorow observed. How? Why? And what about this whole crazy business, the idiosyncratic process, angst and euphoria of writing in the first place? These are are some of the wide-ranging things that author Meredith Cole and I explore with special guests on The …
At what point in writing does one book become another? In the editing, rewriting, re-editing and re-rewriting of a project engaged over years, should we just call it a different book? (The shadow question is, of course, at what point does one pack it away, brush off one’s hands, and turn to something else?) In …
I was just thinking: wouldn’t it be fun to have a spot to feature artifacts, documents, persons, architecture, anything concrete related to my historical fiction set in ancient Babylon and Persia? Perhaps provide a wee bit of commentary, maybe how the things fit into the story,…? In the absence of any nay-sayers (admittedly none nearby …
I read a great article recently, really recently, yesterday I think, about how difficult it is to be a professional writer these days. Maybe you saw it.… and can tell me where it is. The New York Times?, New Yorker? Ah, the perils of vacation. I’ve been grabbing up beautifully prepared words like some ancient …
I have so enjoyed immersing myself in historical fiction lately. Some books I’ve read as a kind of catch-up to the genre, some have been for book clubs, and some I’ve picked up simply on the recommendation of friends. What a broad spectrum — definitely not limited to the bodice-ripper British romances that I pilfered …
The new Jewish Annotated New Testament is a welcome addition to the variety (cacophany?) of voices weighing in on Christian scripture these days. It is fresh, intelligent, and informed, actually a lot better informed than most of what’s out there. Published by Oxford University Press, it includes comments and insights from Jewish scholars, some of …
The Library of Virginia sure knows how to put on an eve! With Bible Babel a finalist in 2 categories, I’m honored to have been in the company of not only the winners of those: The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and The Horse in Virginia, but also all the amazing writers and lovers of lit who were …
Did you know that the second most quoted book (second to the Good Book, of course) is Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind? Me neither. But I learned that from author Ellen F. Brown last Friday at Over the Moon bookstore in Crozet, Virginia. Ellen, with John Wiley, Jr., recently published Margaret Mitchell’s Gone with the Wind: A Bestseller’s …
By collecting the wise words, beautiful and true, of all sorts of people from any time or place, and then packaging them in a way transparently “biblical,” the atheist philosopher A. C. Grayling reveals not only an indebtedness to religion but also a propensity to trip in the same pitfalls as the religious people he so doggedly criticizes. That’s …
What a great event — the 2nd annual B.I.O. conference in DC last Saturday! Thanks to Charles Shields for introducing me to the organization and to him, James McGrath Morris, Barbara Burkhardt, and many others for putting together such a bang-up event. Only a couple hundred attendees, so it felt both intimate and professional. Lively reception Friday …
