Are Alaskans neurotic? Open? Agreeable? Conscientious? Extroverted? Using a 44-question test to evaluate these five personality traits in 600,000 Americans, researchers have profiled all 50 states, with results reported in the Wall Street Journal’s “The United States of Mind,” . Some states fit existing stereotypes; some didn’t. As one might expect, our state’s profile was, […]
THE ALASKAN STATE OF MIND Read More »
Nope, I didn’t forget about our “What Alaska Book To Send Obama” challenge — I was just distracted by all the other political shenanigans of the last few weeks, and also waiting to see how the Alaska Obama campaign regroups. Energy and passion are still out there, with a rally planned for Oct. 4 at
The Obama Book Survey Continues: Vote for your favorite Alaska book! Read More »
As if the writer’s path weren’t challenging enough, career specialist Penelope Trunk offers Five Reasons Not to Write a Book. If you’re looking for a platform for self-promotion or a surefire way to pad your bank account, book writing is hardly the way. I recently learned a new legal term for what I do: “voluntarily
I was out of town last week when most Alaskans had their $3269 PFD/resource rebate check direct-deposited, so I missed the crazy crowds at Best Buy as people lined up to buy big-screen TVs. Other people paid in advance for the coming winter’s utility bills or donated to political campaigns. Most years our newspaper is
Investing in yourself as a writer Read More »
Just when I’ve decided I can’t read one more sentence about Sarah Palin, another Alaskan author pens an essay that gives me pause. Today it’s Scott Woodham’s “Why Sarah Didn’t Blink,” in The Alaska Dispatch. Pundits have been dissecting Sarah’s non-answer to Charlie Gibson’s question about the Bush doctrine. Ironically, what caused the non-answer is
ALASKA’S BUSH DOCTRINE Read More »
The talk of the publishing world this week: Boris Kachka’s article “The End,” in New York magazine. It’s a lengthy tome, but well worth the read. Kachka’s hardly the first to declare the end of publishing as we know it, but the fact that the business is dying a slow death can’t stop the funeral
ALASKAN AUTHORS WEEKLY ROUND-UP Read More »
Did you read Elise Patkotak’s column this week in the Anchorage Daily News? She writes, “There was a time when I thought John McCain really was a different kind of politician, one who would put his country above his personal desire for grandeur. I stopped thinking that the day he announced Sarah Palin as his
She’s mad now: getting (politically) engaged with columnist Elise Patkotak Read More »
“I’ve lived in Alaska for ____ years.” Fill in the blank, the bigger the better. We’ve heard it often of late, especially as our rank and file have weighed in on the Palin candidacy. I invoke it myself, because in Alaska, years-in-state offer street cred. Where else do residents talk about everyplace else as “Outside”
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN HERE? Read More »
I know you’ve seen the image before, but I’m posting it BIG to celebrate the release, last week, of the paperback edition of my debut novel. Any of you who want to be virally helpful by telling potential readers about my novel, you will have earned my deepest gratitude. Word of mouth is everything these
Visit me at Librarything! Read More »
Still pondering that pesky distinction between fact and fiction? Never fear, the Truth Squad is here. Yes, according to KTUU and confirmed in the Alaska Dispatch, John McCain has sent his self-proclaimed Palin Truth Squad to set you straight on the ever-complicated details of Troopergate. You thought a bipartisan committee voted 12-0 back in July
