Movies About Writing

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I enjoyed this article by Michael McGrath on The Millions about how movies so poorly depict writers. Mostly by ignoring the writing and focusing on the rest:  The darker elements of creation are excellent fodder for thrillers and effective platforms for comedies. These films take the work itself less seriously (often a lack of literary merit is part of the joke) and instead focus on the pitfalls of the creative life. They ignore the words for the work and all that can inspire and disrupt it: psycho fans, ex-wives, portals to the Underworld. This is partly true, but honestly, I Read more…

Pay Whatever Your Want For The Marinara Murders! Really.

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There’s been so much going on these past few months (a baby, a new job with Mary) that I haven’t written as much about writing as I would have liked. I’ve got three projects in the works, all of which I’m very excited about. Mystery, sci-fi, and another book for small nonprofits. But right now I want to talk about books that are already out. Maybe you haven’t gotten around to checking out The Marinara Murders or The Saints Go Dying. That’s totally ok! Because now you can do it totally risk free. It’s part of a very special “bundle” Read more…

XOXO

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I’m in Portland this weekend for the first ever XOXO Festival, The festival describes itself as an “arts and technology festival celebrating disruptive creativity.” That was enough right there to get me interested. But then they continue: “We’re bringing independent artists who use the Internet to make a living doing what they love together with the technologists building the tools that make it possible.” I couldn’t resist. I bought a ticket within minutes of them selling out, and now we’re finally here. I’ll be at the festival for the next two days while Mary and Hannah explore Portland. Already we’ve had Read more…

The Audacious Charles Dickens

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See the full gallery on Posterous I spent some quality time last weekend finishing A Tale of Two Cities. The last time I read it was my freshman year of high school. I’m not sure how much I actually understood of it back then. 18 years later, I remember the ending. Madame Defarge knitting. And the literary symbolism that wine = blood. Which wasn’t exactly an insight, because Dickens pretty much beats you over the head with that: Those who had been greedy with the staves of the cask, had acquired a tigerish smear about the mouth; and one tall Read more…

Parks Are For Everyone

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This article from The Atlantic about the history of London's private parks opening to the public during WWII is fascinating. In the early 1940s, in the name of the war effort, the British government ordered citizens to tear down the tall, black railings that surrounded London's many private gardens. Cast iron barriers were cut from all the city's exclusive parks, supposedly bound for munitions factories and then, in another form, to the Continent. George Orwell hailed the removal as a "democratic gesture."   Formerly private gardens like Russell Square spent several years during the war open to everybody. At the Read more…

Nature Is Magical, Exhibit A

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Fast forward this video to the 1:40 minute mark for the good stuff. [vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/47138207 w=500&h=283] This just made me happy. An HD camera, a torpedo with a GPS guidance system … and a pod of dolphins. Voila! A long shot from inside the pod like no one's every filmed before. From Kottke.

I can’t say enough nice things about Tana French’s Irish mystery novels

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Tana French is a fabulous mystery author. Her books are moody, atmospheric, and page-turners. In order, they are: In the Woods, The Likeness, Faithful Place, and Broken Harbor, which came out last week. They all stand alone, but they probably should be read in order, due to her shifting narrators. A character that first appears in the first book narrates the next book; a character in the second book narrates the third book, etc. So there is a nice progression of character development as you get to know the Dublin Murder Squad: Rob, Cassie, Frank, and Scorcher. French clearly loves Read more…

Missing this kid like crazy

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Mary and Hannah are in Eastern Washington right now. I'll be joining them Thursday, but after 30 hours, I've been missing Hannah like crazy. She's slept overnight elsewhere before, but this is a long time. This picture, in particular, is killing me.