Articles, Notes & Squibs

News Squib: Language Rules: Why You Are A Silly Old Fool & Not An Old Silly Fool?

It’s Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read –or done– this week: The Language Rules We All Know But Don’t Know We Know

I came across an English language rule (actually two of them) this week that I had never learned in more than 60 years of studying and using the language.  The information came to me courtesy of my brother Michael in Prague. He sent me a link to a story that appeared in BBC Magazine last year about a tweet that went viral from BBC Culture editor (@MattAndersonBBC) who copied a paragraph from a book titled The Elements of Eloquence. Continue reading “News Squib: Language Rules: Why You Are A Silly Old Fool & Not An Old Silly Fool?”

News Squib : A miracle herb for aging well ? Seriously?

It’s Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read –or done– this week. Today: Rosemary with Anchovies, Anyone? 

 

After you reach a certain age, it’s always a relief to find that you’ve made it to a new year. Then, immediately comes the thought: Will I still be here for the next one? And, on its heels, the more important question: What shape will I be in? Will my knees be my own? Will I still have my memory? Will I still be able to pout and look insulted when the airport security guy asks me if all my parts are my own –or will medical hardware holding knees and hips together set off the metal detectors? Continue reading “News Squib : A miracle herb for aging well ? Seriously?”

I. Need. To. Do. What ??? (Behind the Scenes #4)

I’m going Behind the Scenes today  to recall some of the major “highlights” of being a writer in 2016. As you’ll see, none of them have anything to do with the actual writing of my new thriller.

I’m not totally sure, but I think Ernest Hemingway would consider himself fortunate for dying before it became a requirement for every author to have a website, and to blog, and to post regularly on social media sites like Facebook.

Returning to fiction writing (after twenty years away) has been quite an eyeopener. You must have a website, they said. An agent won’t even glance at your manuscript if you don’t have a website. Oh, and way before anyone accepts your book for publication, you’ll need to build an audience by blogging on the website, and posting on social media. Continue reading “I. Need. To. Do. What ??? (Behind the Scenes #4)”

News Squib#15 – A High for the Holidays

It’s Squib Saturday. Time to share the best, most interesting (or most entertaining, or most outrageous) tidbit of information I’ve gleaned from all the stuff I’ve read –or done– this week. Today: Brave New Weed – the perfect book gift for anyone who ever wanted to smoke a joint– and now lives in (or is visiting) a state where it’s legal.

 

Joe Dolce, the author of this terrific tome, subtitled Adventures into the Uncharted World of Cannabis, begins by setting out the conundrum which has perplexed me (a Sixties flower child who once enjoyed hard liquor and tobacco) and those members of my generation who have for decades resisted lighting up a joint.

Namely: “If pot is as benign as its adherents claim, and such a miraculous and versatile medicine on top of that, how did it acquire such a bad rap?” Continue reading “News Squib#15 – A High for the Holidays”

Getting Into The Holiday Spirit with The Palm Beach Writers Group

It’s News Squib Saturday — but instead of posting News Squib#14, I’m taking a break from the news (both real and fake) this week to share some highlights and tips from writers with whom I got together last night at the Leopard Lounge, in The Chesterfield, a historic landmark in Palm Beach.

 

 

Swanky

The Leopard Lounge, once described by a Palm Beach Post reporter as the kind of  “dark and swanky” bar that “Don Draper might have taken a paramour during Mad Men‘s first season,” was the location for a holiday gathering of some 35 writers and editors last night. The evening was organized by Cathy (Kat) Helowicz, (aka Hostess with the Mostest) and author of a children’s book,  On Grandpop’s Lap. She is in the middle of writing her first novel for adults, and told me she recently enrolled in author James Patterson’s MasterClass, a series of 22 video lessons on how to write a best-seller. Continue reading “Getting Into The Holiday Spirit with The Palm Beach Writers Group”