About stories of all kinds
Folklore. Fairy-tales. Horror stories. Urban legends. Mythology. What is it about the inexplicable, the fantastical, and the outrageously unrealistic that captures the human imagination? For that matter, what is it about the human imagination that causes it to manufacture these things, if indeed there is no outside originator? It was while studying "The Old Nurse's… Continue reading On-Line English Literature Discussion: Not Natural
If you've read widely at all, you've probably read a book that's been translated. Easiest example: the Bible. All translated unless you're reading it in ancient Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Books have been and are being translated by the millions. I feel as though most are probably translated from English into other languages these days;… Continue reading Books in Translation: author’s voice or translator’s voice?
In any work of writing, even this blog, whether we are conscious of it or not, there is a voice that comes through. It's what you hear in your head while you're reading. It's how it makes you feel--is it whimsical? Informative? Tense? Know-it-all? It's up to how you interpret what you're reading on the… Continue reading Writing in Style: Authorial Voice
The desert isn't as empty as we think. Sands crawl over sands, rippling with wind or the tracks of sidewinders. Ruins gape, abandoned by the men who made them and left for an inheritance of the relentless sun. But it's not only elements, lesser creatures, and the relics of human habitation that fill the desert.… Continue reading Gods and Saints: Setting in Story
A couple summers ago, I got the chance to share some books I love with my older brother and sister. When I asked each of them separately how they’d liked their individual selection, I got opposite (and therefore mirrored) responses: from my brother, “You can sure tell it’s written by a woman,” and from my… Continue reading “You Can Just Tell…”
In recent years there has been growing awareness of the troubling trends in fictional romances, especially, but not limited to, YA romances. It seems to have come to the surface along with the acknowledgment of rape and abuse in society, which is telling. The issues in fiction largely centre on male love interests, particularly the… Continue reading The Wrong Man
Batman Begins--The Land of Oz As deadlines loom and assignments pile up, I'm growing worried that, like L. Frank Baum's Scarecrow, I have no brains left, or that what brains I do have only consist of the Wonderful Wizard's placebo: bran, pins, and needles. Although, I've noticed that some professors have the pictured attitude towards… Continue reading Brains of Bats, Pins, and Needles
I've loved stories since I can remember and have been reading and writing them since I was able to. But when I was probably ten or eleven years old it expanded from general love of stories to a love of books: the physical containers of such awesome worlds. That was about when lots of things… Continue reading Recovering Book Collector
Thor movie-Mr. Standfast quote I watched The Avengers yesterday (sort of re-watching the MCU movies) so I was thinking about Thor the other day. It reminded me of this picture I put togther with a quote from Richard Hannay in a book by one of my favourite authors, John Buchan. It just seemed to fit.
It is a truth universally acknowledged that writers in possession of a good story must be in want of an equally good ending. In my own writing (and, I've been told, in many others' as well) the number of stories started is disproportionate to the number finished, regardless of polishing. Is it a sign of… Continue reading End It: Short Story, Long Story
Fictitiously Yours 