The Writing Life
Well, hello. Apologies for the monumental delay in finishing Write Right’s Alphabet Adventure. It’s a bit like getting to the end of the alphabet game—the one where you go on a trip and try to name an alphabetical list of animals or fruit or some other entity—and struggling to successfully complete, and win, the game. Alas, no prizes will be awarded to Write Right.
[Read more…] about Alphabet Adventure: X, Y, and Z
I debated the title of this article throughout the morning, which is no surprise. I frequently argue with myself about words and punctuation marks. (Is this a sign I’m a writer? Perhaps, perhaps.) Should I say “best” or “favorite”? “Best” implies a standard of quality—one hopes an objective standard, yet the word often falls victim to conceptions of taste rather than quality. Not “best,” then.
[Read more…] about Favorite Reads of 2021
Welcome back to Write Right’s Alphabet Adventure! I apologize for the delay; raising support for a residency, being a resident at The Austin Stone, and starting a new job commandeered my life. But we — I — return with a more-or-less regular installment of the series in hopes of concluding it before the end of 2020.
[Read more…] about Alphabet Adventure: W is for Wit
The letter “u” regularly acts as a best-supporting character. For example, it accompanies the letters “m,” “p,” and “q.” It often appears beside “n,” too, typically revealing a negative or opposing action: unhand, unconscionable, unappeased, unbelievable, et cetera, et cetera.
When Barnes and Noble shared a post about road trips with favorite book characters, I immediately wondered with whom I’d want to adventure. I then thought about strategy. Some characters, after all, are funny or morbid but relatively useless in the day-in, day-out activities of life. If they were put under the pressure of a road trip — and almost anyone would agree that lengthy trips bring out the best and worst in people — they’d succumb to anger or petulance.
[Read more…] about Ten Book Characters You’d Want to Go on a Road Trip with
Most people likely think of termagant as an adjective describing a person prone to being overbearing or shrewish. I, however, conjure an animal, two, to be exact: the married badgers, Crab Apple and Fussbudget. The couple makes its appearance in Ken Gire’s Adventures in the Big Thicket, a children’s book similar to Aesop’s Fables.