“Decades after the events of November 1973, I still struggled with understanding, accepting, moving on… Although I was seventeen when my father hired Jones to pour acid on Mom and my stepfather Dale, I know that by then a lot of damage had been done… Scenes gradually started to grow in my head-vignettes of smells […]
Spot Light on New Books: I Love You More, a Reluctant Memoir by Joan Burleson Read More »
This spring I was honored to be chosen by the Friends of the Homer Public Library as the recipient of the 2024 Lifelong Learner Award. This was truly a great honor in a community full of impressively smart, thoughtful, and passionate learners who generously share their knowledge, wisdom, and crafts with others. What follows is
What I’ve Learned About Learning and the Fight to Control It by Nancy Lord Read More »
Reading & Conversation Series: Elyse Guttenberg Recorded Wednesday, May 15, 2024
Reading & Conversation: Elyse Guttenberg Read More »
“Writing about your own life should feel a bit like taking your clothes off in front of strangers or saying things you would normally only tell a close friend.” This insightful advice was given to me by an author who kindly read my early draft for my nonfiction book, a collection of short stories about
Who Feels Comfortable? by Anette Coggins Read More »
“Look at the boaters down there.” As a nonfiction writer with a passion for history and adventure, I sometimes tap webs that link individuals over centuries, millennia even, and thousands of miles apart, individuals otherwise not connected. For the cover of my new collection of Grand Canyon essays No Walk in the Park, I sought
Alignments by Michael Engelhard Read More »
Don’t feel like writing today? Nor doing much of anything. Yet you know writing (something, [anything!]) is precisely the thing to do to get going. Go Birding! Fresh air, exercise – proven mood improvers. But passing time searching a marshland for ordinarily magnificent avian species… Or letting them find you. This writing-enabling potion might be
Birding and Wording by Sean Ulman Read More »
Next week, my first suspense novel, The Deepest Lake, will be published. It’s my sixth novel and a big departure from my previous genres of historical fiction and literary fiction. I don’t plan to write only suspense novels from this point, but I’m acutely aware that plunging into this genre has taught me lessons I’ll
Katie’s guest Josh Fortenbery plays live tracks and reflects on the writing of his debut album. Southeast Alaska grown and produced, No Such Thing as Forever is getting strong reviews in Americana circles from across the country to across the pond. Fortenbery’s songwriting is informed by both his immediate and the greater human family. “I’m
AVP 26: Josh Fortenberry, Writer-Musician, No Such Thing as Forever Read More »
“What’s in a title?” riffs David Petersen in Writing Naturally, his down-to-earth guide for aspiring nature writers. A good title, he answers himself, must grab a browsing reader’s attention, foreshadow what is to follow, and prompt you to flip over a book for its back cover text or, more likely nowadays, click on its link
Mao’s Head: The Quest for the Perfect Title by Michael Engelhard Read More »
Tell me, what is it you plan to do / With your one wild and precious life? Mary Oliver Today I want to talk about rabbit holes, both good and bad. Last month, I fell down a bad rabbit hole after reading about a forthcoming book and becoming interested in its author. Long story
