STEPHEN KING SHOULD HAVE BEEN A MEDICAL WRITER The number of people who earn their livelihoods as writers is staggering if one considers almost every enterprise needs them. There are pamphlet writers, tech writers, writers of instruction manuals, ad writers, medical writers and so on.

THE WRITER’S HEART IS A LONELY HUNTER I’ve talked about the solitary nature of writing before. One isolates oneself from others in order to create stories one hopes others will read — which means the end game is anything but isolation. I thought about this irony the other da

WHEN WORDS COLLIDE Several years ago, when I lived for a time in England, I read a book called “The Singer Not the Song” written by Audrey Erkin-Lindop. A film was later made of it which seems to be more famous than the book for there is little written about the author or

A NEW BREED OF PARASITE Recently, I attended a speech by former book agent who has dissolved her partnership to begin a business that purports to provide a launch pad for writers who self-publish. Amazon already has a vehicle for this but no matter. Under the new rules, the agent serv

In honor of the memory of a great man and after the wars, the shooting in Arizona, the fiscal debt, the drug wars, the high unemployment, the housing bubble, the divided Congress, I hope each of us will pause to consider our dream for our country and our personal responsbility to ca

T.S. ELIOT HAD A POINT During one of my lunch hour reads I came across a comment by the actress, Natalie Portman. She was being interviewed for her recent movie, “The Black Swan” in which she plays a dancer who explores the good and evil aspects of her character, hoping to

THE ART OF SAYING NO Monday is my day to grocery shop. Tuesday and Thursday, I take my walk in the park. I consider these events similar because they are the times when I do my best thinking. Browsing supermarket aisles or walking a tree lined path, I allow my mind wander wherever it

LET ME NOT TO THE MARRIAGE OF TRUE MINDS….          One of my favorite writers on women’s issues is Barbara G. Walker the authoritative author of “Myths and Secrets,” a huge tome of information on women’s mythology, anthropology, religion and sexuality which

WORDS NOT TO LIVE BY People seem to like making lists: best restaurants, best hotels, and best movie or actor to name a few.  But Lake Superior University (Yahoo news, 1/1/2011) offers a list each year of the ten worst and overused words that should be banished.  In 2010 they includ

THE ART OF MOUTH BREATHING, SOMETIMES CALLED LAUGHTER A while back a friend who knows I practice yoga bought me a gag book entitled “Downward-Facing Frog” illustrated and written by Joan C. Gratz. It’s one of those novelty books that poke good natured fun at the practice