Books may well be the only true magic.
—Alice Hoffman, American novelist (b. 1952)
Blog
Bad Kindle Marketing: Don’t Do It!
I am continually amused (?) by the ads my Kindle displays when I open it for use. With two exceptions (Norelco men’s electric shaver shows up occasionally, and the Phillips Wake-up Light), they are always books (which would make sense), and I can tell at a glance they...
#WordUse Series:
The Eyes (Don’t) Have It
Kids, we need to talk. You’ve just got to stop with the locking eyes. They locked eyes. Their eyes locked. It’s cliché, it’s overdone, it’s so stinkin’ melodramatic it makes me want to throw a fit in the middle of your manuscript. So I’m doing it here instead. A...
Romance: A Sign of the Times
Why, yes—I am still “reading light.” Or lite. As you wish. This seems to include a lot of romance—though don’t make assumptions when you read that word. Romance is a wide, wide category. And a popular one. So popular, in fact, that the Washington Post devotes a...
Who Are You Calling an April Fool?
A friend of mine wrote: I’ve never been able to decide for certain whether it’s “April Fool’s Day” (i.e., a day belonging to a fool or fools) or “April Fools Day” (i.e., a day celebrating all the fools in the world).* What’s your opinion? I confess I’d never really...
It’s a Literary Device, Dear Reader
I love learning the names for editor-y things. Like parallel construction and hiatus break and inciting incident and rhetorical device. Sometimes I make up names for problems I encounter when I don’t know the Official Editor-y Terminology—like name-calling and...