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

Hi Panchomanyeti, Want to welcome you as a follower.  Don’t hesitate to chime in.  Love to hear your thoughts. Caroline

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

AS FORD WENT SO GOES THE PRINT NEWSPAPER? A lot of debate is going on about the future of print newspapers. People aren’t reading them as much anymore and revenues are down. The electronic media is blamed because TV and online news are free. Rupert Murdoch, the media mogul, wants to

A SKULL AND CROSS BONES DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN POISON I added a new link to my section on Writers Resources recently; or rather Mark did at my request (Mark is the brains behind the layout of this blog). The link I added belongs to a writer named Jack King. His page is called “Spy Wr