Dec 5th, 2011
On Not Releasing The Sea of the Missing (yet)
For me, the world seems somehow more balanced with book 2 off the shelves. Today I stopped to examine why I, as an author who likes having an audience, am perfectly happy to keep this one to myself.
Jun 10th, 2011
The Wisdom of Athena: On Standing in the Corner
My daughter Athena is 2, and this is common in my house: Parent, exasperated: "Athena, you can do what I tell you right now or go stand in the corner!" Athena, contentedly, almost sing-song: "Staand in tha cor-ner."
Apr 16th, 2011
30 days of music
day 01 - your favorite song day 02 - your least favorite song day 03 - a song that makes you happy day 04 - a song that makes you sad day 05 - a song that reminds you of someone ... I love this kind of thing
Apr 13th, 2011
A short Mockingjay review
Collins creates a compelling argument in three books, and long before she puts her message directly on the page, we have plenty of evidence to believe that “something is significantly wrong with a creature that sacrifices its children’s lives to settle its differences.”
Mar 31st, 2011
Editing fatigue, and what’s next
These first two books — and perhaps the sequels that will complete the story — feel like "the books before the books." If I have the good fortune of writing more novels, I think these will become, in hindsight, my equivalent of those early works that help authors purge the overt, self-indulgent autobiography from their art and give them the closure they need to start something truly fresh.
Mar 16th, 2011
Personal armageddons
A few streets over, there is a skull-covered truck that advertises the end of the world on May 21, 2011. I want to scoff, I want to take a picture and post it online in June, but tonight I've been reconsidering that.
Mar 14th, 2011
The Poisonwood Bible
The Poisonwood Bible contains as much philosophy as plot and description, and they are so tightly wound that it’s difficult to isolate only one facet. Nonetheless, here’s what I liked best: The intricate colonization metaphor, which is multiplied on every level: the family, the village, the country, Africa, the tyrannical way our own thoughts colonize our [...]
Mar 3rd, 2011
Fabricating stories and a writer’s value
I've never considered writing workshops or conferences -- because in their session descriptions I hear echoes of the sure-fire formulas and motivation rituals that advertisers sell to aspiring authors with the promising of making them real. I object, both to these systems and to the insecurity they create by implying that writing does not make one a writer.
Feb 26th, 2011
Catching Fire, misdirection, and monkey torture
What struck me most about Catching Fire was the amount of thought that must have gone into it -- and in particular, the diabolical creativity that built such a world of horror for the protagonists, but this is, of course, how great fiction is made
Feb 19th, 2011
The Hunger Games, dystopia, and watching people hurt each other
I almost quit The Hunger Games at chapter 3 -- not because it's bad -- it's exceptional, but for the same reason I still haven't seen Schindler's List. Why would I want to read a story about 24 children thrown into a ring to murder each other for the pleasure of others? There are good reasons.
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