It’s Banned Book Week, a great time to celebrate our freedom to read — in Wasilla or anywhere else in this great country! The ALA provides this list of the most challenged books and the reasons they caused a stir (see below for the 2007 list). Tomorrow, Thursday, beginning at 4:00, Title Wave Books in […]
Sarah’s grammar
I’m always struggling to decide how to treat the Sarah subject on this blog. Anyone reading this can guess my leanings but I try to steer clear of outright political rants (as tempting as a rant would be) in favor of approaching candidates from a literary perspective. Thank you, Slate, for providing an acceptable angle
CULT OF THE AMATEUR
As I mentioned last week, I’ve been reading Andrew Keen’s The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture. Keen proposes that blogs are part of the problem – a big problem – so perhaps a blog is an odd forum for discussing his observations. But there’s a lot to ponder in
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The best $20 an aspiring writer could spend
My online friend “Moonrat,” a working editor who blogs at Editorial Ass, is auctioning off her very valuable services as a fundraiser for a friend struck by lymphoma. This is such an opportunity to do good while getting some really affordable writing assistance. For $20 you get a chance to win a full manuscript review.
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Write visually, get “published” on gallery walls
Here’s an interesting writing opportunity with a short deadline — October 4. The email comes from Bruce Farnsworth at MTS Gallery. He wants replies by email (no attachment, put writing in body of email) to whenpoetsfly@hotmail.com Dear Alaskan Writer,I would like to invite you to participate in an exhibition at the MTS Gallery in Anchorage.
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WHY I LOVE TO PICK BERRIES
Thanks to our celebrity governor, it might seem Alaskans are all about bagging moose and shooting wolves from planes. Truth is, most of us revel in simpler and less controversial pursuits like picking berries. This hasn’t been an especially good year for berries. They arrived late and are hanging on late. But I spent two
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Contest Guest-Post Winner: Bob Marshall’s ALASKA WILDERNESS as remembered by Bill Sherwonit
Thanks to everyone who entered the latest contest: I’ll be running several more entries, including a runner-up and a youth entry, over the next few weeks. This week, I want to thank Bill Sherwonit for sharing this personal reaction to an Alaska book that shaped his life. By Bill Sherwonit My choice for an inspiring
ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP
The Alaska Sisters in Crime have much to celebrate. On Monday, October 13, the group will receive the 2007 Alaska Contributions to Literacy Award for the outstanding work they’ve done promoting literacy in our state. Also on hand will be Scottish author Donna Moore, AKSinC’s 2008 Author to the Bush, who’ll do a short presentation
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The Alaska Book guest-blog contest — enter today
Readers and writers, I need you! Until Sunday, I’m running a contest that is amazingly easy to enter (and maybe easy to win). But it’s not really about that prize, it’s about telling other people about great Alaska books. And it won’t take you very long to do. I’m asking readers to submit a short
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TRUE VOICES
I need to get out in the mountains. How’s that for a follow-up to yesterday’s post on the non-open, non-agreeable, introverted but at least non-neurotic Alaskan personality? Something happens when I get couped up for too long. We’ve been painting and doing chores and getting ready for winter around here. I’ve been tinkering with stories