California Writers Club Tri-Valley Branch members’ books are displayed this month at the Pleasanton Library. My anthology, Written Across the Genres, is on the top shelf to the left. I’m working on having a copy for check out in as many libraries as possible but it is a long process. So far, Written Across the […]
Billy Bob Thornton on Master Class
If you have a chance to see Oprah’s Master Class with Billy Bob Thornton, I highly recommend it. He talks about growing up with two brothers, working in a pizza place, living on pizza everyday with a treat of one doughnut on Fridays, and how he became an instant star in the movie Sling Blade. […]
The Judge Movie
The Judge is on its way out of the movie theaters but it’s worth a comment or two. Robert Downey, Jr., as usual, is a study for facial expressions. In each scene, he goes through several emotions, anger, determination, frustration, surprise, and more. If the sound track was turned off, the viewer could figure out […]
Ann Patchett and Her Dog Sparky
Ann Patchett is the author of six novels, The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft, The Magician’s Assistant, Bel Canto, Run, and State of Wonder. I’ve read each one. She’s one of my favorite authors. I met her in Danville at a reading event for her collection of essays, This is the Story of a Happy […]
Subtext in Writing Fiction
Subtext in dialogue give readers a glimpse into the characters’ underlying feelings. The words they say may mean the opposite of how they feel or how they act. Subtext is the truth which sometimes the characters don’t realize and sometimes they do but they keep it hidden. Readers need to sense the truth from the […]
Ursula K. Le Guin Book Recommendation and Quote
Ursula K. Le Guin’s birthday was on October 21st. She’s eighty-five years old. She writes mainly in the fantasy and science fiction genres. Her book titled The Wave in the Mind: Talks and Essays on the Writer, the Reader, and the Imagination has her 1992 essay “Dogs, Cats, and Dancers: Thoughts about Beauty” in it. […]
How Do your Characters Shake Hands?
Handshakes communicate dominance, submission, or equality. When hands meet, if one person turns his or her palm facing down, it’s called the Upper Hand and means that person wants control of the meeting. The submissive handshake is from the person whose palm faces upward. In social situations, women often offer a soft handshake to men […]