Photo courtesy of Fynn Schmidt, Unsplash In the short story, Another, by Dave Eggers, the narrator is in Cairo against the advice of his government to deliver a package, which he successfully does in the opening sentence. We know nothing about who he works for or what’s in the package. That’s irrelevant. More [...]
I started writing my memoir, The Speed of Dark, as a series or personal essays in the literary journal Lived Experience published in British Columbia. Over nine years it crystallized into a book released this week by Adelaide Books. With the writing behind me, I reflect on the journey that became my memoir. After 50 [...]
Being a slow reader, I’ve dreamed for years how helpful it would be if I could download the contents of a book into my brain – wirelessly, of course. Imagine the time saved! I could get through War and Peace in less than an hour. “But it would take the enjoyment out of reading,” my [...]
Last night I attended the final of three excellent workshops at The Writer’s Center led by Zahara Heckscher on obtaining agents for publishing fiction and memoir. Jeff Kleinman, an agent at Folio Literary Management, was kind enough to call in and give us an informal snapshot of what agents are looking for. There are a [...]
At first these essays comprised various topics of interest to me – for example, the nature of collecting and the power of “cracks” of time. Science has morphed into history for me after some fifty years of research. I have closed my laboratory at NIH and stepped aside to become what is, kindly, [...]
After numerous family visits and other commitments, I finally had a free Saturday to get back to writing. However, the television – that temptation – hooked me on the women’s final of the French Open Tennis Championship. “What a waste of precious writing time,” I thought, angry for letting television dictate my day. Thoughts of [...]
