The other day I finished reading The Book Thief. A couple days after that I read Mockingjay, the third book in The Hunger Games trilogy. Have you read either of them? They are filled with death. So many characters die in both books. I feel drained. How do you feel when you finish a book? …
Category: story
The Watership Down Effect
I found a beat-up copy of Watership Down on my mother's bookshelf. I was in the 7th grade and especially interested in reading what my mother read. A few weeks after finishing the book, I read it again. And before 7th grade was over, I read it a third time. The next summer I tried …
Welcome to Twin Peaks
Recently I wrote about Star Trek's place in my life. But I first fell for Star Trek as a child. Some loves came into my life later. Twin Peaks premiered after I'd moved to Ohio for grad school. I'd made a few friends at Kent, but I felt alone and out of my depth in …
Drains!
The drains are gone! If you've ever had surgery that required post-op drains, you know how awesome it is to be drain free. If you don't know what I'm talking about, google Jackson-Pratt drain. I chose not to take a picture of mine. It's kind of hard to make them look pretty. Writing about difficult …
Why is it dark in here?
Recently I joked, "I could've written a light comedy." And my husband replied, "I don't think you have light comedy in you." A friend said, "It's odd because you're a funny person." Hey, I didn't set out to write a dark, emotional novel. I started with an image and went from there. But I don't …
The Light around the Corner
Sending your work out into the world is an adventure--no matter the path. E-publishing is a widening path these days, but that doesn't make it easy. Friend and colleague, Niamh Clune, launched her book a few weeks back, and due to technical difficulties, has had to launch the book again. Many lessons learned, including--Amazon isn't …
Brimming Over
Sometimes the mind just brims over with ideas. Do you ever have trouble deciding what to focus on or what to pursue? I'm going to pursue as many as I can. One is the idea of a princess detective. I want to try to write a princess that isn't what most people think. I'm writing …
Fandom
Are you a true fan of anything? Ever written fanfic? Worn a costume of a favorite character? Waited in line for hours to meet a singer, writer, actor you love? Or have you ever wanted to but didn't because you were afraid of the looks you'd get? In time for our housewarming party, I turned …
What a tender world that would be.
In the BBC's Sherlock, Sherlock Holmes does have a heart to burn. Though you couldn't blame most people from thinking otherwise. But the episode A Scandal in Belgravia has a moment--a slight moment--of tenderness. Sherlock comes home to 221B Baker Street to find Mrs. Hudson held by hired thugs. It's obvious she's been dragged and …
Belief
Have you ever seen something--a garden gate perhaps, a picture hanging on a cafe wall, an odd, unexpected object in an odd and expected place--that made you stop and look again. That stirred your heart, maybe your gut, a place deep within? I love connecting with a picture, a story, a random object. Imagine if …
Marta Bacon 