Where Do You Get Your Story Ideas (Part 10)

by | May 9, 2016 | Creativity

Almost three years ago, we were discussing a national poll that asked, “When thinking creatively, do you think in pictures, words, or sounds?” Fifty percent of the respondents said they think in pictures. My answer at the time (need you ask?) was I “think [creatively]...

Proper English: Us Versus Them

by | Apr 4, 2016 | Words & Language

A writer friend of mine posted a little meme* on Facebook the other day: Never make fun of someone if they mispronounce a word. It means they learned it by reading. I doubt there’s any data to support this but I feel the truth of it in my bones, having been a child...

Is That a Flaute, Good Sir?

by | Jan 11, 2016 | Words & Language

Recently I was editing a manuscript whose author had used the word flautist. Having been raised in a musical household and taken classical piano lessons for many years, I am familiar with the word; as a child I was informed flautist was the appropriate [English] word...

The Book As Gift

by | Nov 30, 2015 | Books You Might Like, Miscellany

My parents always had a huge built-in bookcase wherever they lived (my father built them). They were primarily filled with the novels my mother had accumulated in her youth and all sorts of books my folks acquired as a young married couple, including museum exhibition...