Most of us like to think that we are rational beings—that we make decisions on the basis of factual information, interpret observations through an accurate lens, and draw conclusions that reflect the reality of the natural world. We like to think that in life, but in fiction we seem to favor the magical, spiritual, and otherworldly over the cold, hard facts. I’ve noticed that in stories when a rationalist is pitted against a person with a spiritual, religious or fanciful inclination—the magical perspective beats the rational. Even an emotionally or socially adept person beats the true rationalist in fiction. There’s
Read More

The summer is winding down and I thought I’d take a look back at what I’ve read. It’s been a wild mix of indie, conventional, classic and new, in a range of genres from historical & paranormal mysteries to literature and non-fiction, with detours into romance, science fiction and fantasy. Once again, my Kindle has proven to an indispensible travel companion. Torturous airport delays and jetlag inspired sleepless nights are so much better with an entire library in my bag. Almost as good as afternoon coffees in cafes and time set aside just to read. That’s what I call reading
Read More

There are classic scary places—a spooky old house, a dark basement during a power outage, a deserted parking lot, and my favorite—Dracula’s castle. But less obvious places scare individuals all the time. One person’s comfy antique-filled study is another person’s creepy attic lair. We approach places from our unique perspectives, so the place that scares one character in a story might be HOME to another. This is an inherent conflict that can be the backdrop or the point of a story. This came to mind when I was perusing the summer travel posts of friends on Facebook. In theory, I’m
Read More

A couple of weeks ago a man told a story to a friend of mine. It was an odd story. He said that he was responsible for a series of anonymous markers, distributed around his hometown each one heralding a forgotten historical event that he believed should be remembered. Why did he tell her this story? Why did he reveal his secret to a woman he barely knew? You guessed it. He wanted her to find him intriguing. Perhaps he didn’t think she found him physically attractive? Perhaps he just wanted an edge—in marketing terminology a unique selling proposition (USP)—so
Read More

It’s time for the “dog days of summer” in New York. Most days are hot & humid. Some are just hot & less humid. There are frequent thunderstorms and rainbows. The public pools are crowded. Many locals desert the city for beaches on Long Island & the Jersey Shore or head north to lakes and mountains. Everything slows down—except the floods of tourists from around the world. I like it! It’s not that I’m crazy about the heat, it’s more that the odd quiet of the laundry room in my building and the “gone fishing, be back after Labor Day”
Read More

My mother is ailing. She is 89 and, until early June, was living an independent life—reading as voraciously as ever on her Kindle, playing bridge, contemplating which shows she wanted to see in the new theater season, and looking forward to hearing stories about my travels. She even booked a fall foliage cruise up the eastern seaboard. That life came to a halt with a stroke on June 4 and now everything is different. I was talking to my cousin, she’s a few years older than me and her late father was seven years older than my mom. We were
Read More