I arrived in El Paso to research a baseball player named Hal Chase; I left spellbound by ‘Sister Aimee,’ the borderlands, and the Mexican revolution. That last exit in El Paso turned out to be an on-ramp to a whole new world for me as a writer. I just didn’t know it then.
There’s been a story going around lately in the news and on social media about Jolabokaflod, a gift-giving tradition in Iceland, where people give each other gifts of books on Christmas Eve and everyone spends the night snuggled down with a good read. This “Christmas book flood” is illustrative of the strength of reading in […]
Immersed in editing a historical fiction novel, I’ve had occasion lately to reflect on the different feelings that come with different kinds of writing. The first draft experience, fueled by pre-dawn caffeine, was energizing, even a little addictive. There were piles of reference books ringing my desk chair, a pack of post-it notes in my […]
It’s that time of year when people get nostalgic for the good times in their lives, when they start collecting tips and recipes for the perfect pumpkin pie or stuffing or turkey, when the to-do lists start and the holiday boutiques and open houses and parties crowd the calendars like flies on honey. It’s also […]
I’m one of those people who love the camaraderie of talking about books with like-minded readers but despise having to read selections that don’t interest me. Or titles so poorly written it’s an affront to spend the time to finish them. Creating a literary salon is a way to share the love of reading and […]
We’re a culture in search of a past. We travel around the world to visit iconic sites of ancient history. . . Stonehenge or Petra or Giza or northern China. Without fail, visitors are two or three or ten deep, craning their necks for a closer look. When we walk away, we may be awed […]
It’s always been a habit of mine; I visit a friend or acquaintance and can’t help myself. I scan their bookshelves to see what they read, or at least, what they own. Equally important is how they have their books shelved. Sometimes there are no bookshelves to scan and I wonder what they do at […]
13 days in Oklahoma City in steamy July tends to shrink one’s focus to two or three things: stay cool, stay hydrated and eat something besides ice cream. The climate slaps you in the face every time you step outdoors; you look up into the towering bowl of sky and trudge across the parking lot […]
Maybe it all started with Shoeless Joe. Riding the Metro to the end of the blue line to finish the nondescript paperback I’d picked up over the weekend at the local Crown Books inside the Beltway. Nondescript on the outside, maybe. Inside, it was pure magic. A lovestruck voyage into vintage baseball from the vantage point […]
I’ve done my share of wine tastings, especially given my proximity to California’s wine country. But until a few years ago, I’d never heard of a vertical tasting, let alone tried one. It was a fascinating experience; we tasted the same wine from a single winery—I think it was a cab tasting at Wente—across a […]