Month: January 2013

I write hundreds of words daily for my day job. Writing for a news outlet and novel writing have similarities but significant differences. I spent two decades growing my craft as a journalist. I worked to get better details and verbs into stories, and pushed sources for better quotes to make a story sing. Gobbledygook was verboten. I realized last week how much my novel writing is growing. I was thrilled to be tagged in a game that has you post on Facebook seven lines from page 7 or page 77 of your work-in-progress. I was pleasantly surprised by how

January 18 is the birthday of Peter Mark Roget, perhaps best known for writing the first thesaurus. Like me, Roget used lists as a coping mechanism (no word on whether he had more success completing the items on his than I have with mine). The first edition of Roget’s Thesaurus of English Words and Phrases Classified and Arranged so as to Facilitate the Expression of Ideas and Assist in Literary Composition (Note: this is why publishers want to approve your title…) was published in 1852 and went through 28 printings before Roget’s death in 1869. In honor of the occasion,

Many Westerners know the words “shogun” and “shogunate,” but fewer recognize “bakufu” – even though the concept is familiar. “Bakufu” (幕府:ばくふ) is the Japanese term for the shogunate or, more specifically, the shogun’s government. The term translates “tent office” or “field headquarters” and implies a government of temporary duration. The Japanese emperor originally established the shogunate on a short-term basis. The title “shogun” was given to military commanders who led campaigns on the emperor’s behalf. By the medieval period, however, the shogun became de facto ruler of Japan, and his “field headquarters” took on more permanent status. The emperor remained

Today’s Monday Blog Game topic: pets and their quirks.* My favorite smallest cat, Oobie, has a number of quirks, one of which causes me almost constant amusement. Oobie likes to sit on important things. If she perceives that an object is important to me, she sits on it as quickly (and as often) as possible. Leaving the desk guarantees she’ll take the computer, and also that she’ll be put out when I reclaim it upon my return. Two weeks ago, when the copy edited manuscript of Claws of the Cat arrived for review, I had to persuade her to surrender

I was delighted when this week’s blog topic was pets’ quirks. Our beloved Australian cattle dog, Lucy, is a walking quirk. After all, the spoiled dear thinks she is a four-legged human. And wouldn’t you if you were a dog and had your own queen-sized bed in your own room to sleep in any time you desire? So many quirks to choose from, but Lucy and I agreed I would share her disdain for water and love of snow.Lucy is a stray we rescued literally from the middle of the road in southeast Arkansas where snow is a rarity. Unlike