THE TRUTH OF FICTION I’ve just finished reading a novel by Richard Clarke, his first, called The Scorpion’s Gate. Normally he writes non-fiction. His best seller, Against All Enemies, deals with his experiences in the Middle East while he served in military and national security p
THE ORIGAMI OF LIFE I was amazed. I admit it. I’d never paid much attention to the art of origami before, but after seeing the film “Between the Folds,” I experienced a revelation. Of course, I’d seen women at the Japanese Garden fold birds or flowers from a single sheet of
WHAT ALAN FUNT AND CANDID CAMERA SHOULD HAVE TAUGHT ME In the 1950’s I loved a television program called “Candid Camera,” moderated by Alan Funt. The premise was to put people in whacky situations to see how they behaved. One of my favorite skits involved a talking mail box. Whe
LIVING WITH THE MASTERS Sometimes when I go to the movies, I emerge from the theater feeling like one of the characters. I did this with Norma Ray. In real life, I was as a union organizer at the time, so by identifying with Sally Field’s character I felt ennobled by my work. But I
MY MOTHER’S ODYSSEY My mother is 94-years old and when I took her to lunch last week, she announced she’d decided to write a short story. She told me what it was about, an adaptation of an event in her life she thought worth preserving. She’d listened to a radio interview I’d
HOOKS, ANGLES AND AGENTS, OH MY! For those of you who might be curious about the book I bought a while back by a writer I didn’t know (See: “One Grain of Sand at a Time,” Blog for Tuesday, July 20), I have my verdict. I regret I can’t recommend it though I don’t consider my
THE MYSTERY OF THE HARD BACK Since I published my first novel, I’ve grown wiser about the publishing industry and as I continue to write, I hope to learn more. One practice that baffles me, however, is the continued existence of the hardback book. I heard or read somewhere that hard
ERUDITION AT THE DOLLAR STORE Monday, I went to the Mall on an errand. As I walked back to my car, I noticed a sign in the Dollar Store window that read: “Martha Grimes and other books for $1.00.” As I am a Grimes fan, I hurried in on impulse. In the corner several works were on d
THE BAROMETER OF BOOKS On Saturday, I did the unthinkable. I turned down the armload of books a friend offered me when we met for coffee. She’s a reviewer for a small newspaper so she receives a steady stream of new arrivals. I know how quickly new releases can accumulate when a per