MOMENT of CREATION by Rob Lopresti You know what is the coolest thing about being a writer? Well, maybe it’s winning the Nobel Prize for Literature. Jean-Paul Sartre would probably say it’s turning down the Nobel Prize for Literature. Seeing your work in print is also pretty cool. And fan mail. But what rings my […]

My UNCLE’S LIBRARY by Melodie Johnson Howe Deborah’s column on libraries and reading her first “adult” novel created some powerful memories for many of us. What I recalled was my Uncle Richard’s library. He and my aunt lived in Massillon, Ohio in a big brick house on a slope of lawn surrounded by a black […]

COWBOY SONG by James Lincoln Warren There’s an ancient joke that was told back in the bronze age when I was in high school. “I don’t care what kind of music the band plays,” says the joker. “I like both Country and Western.” Like millions of teenagers, I played in a succession of lousy garage […]

HARRY POTTER and the GOLDEN COW by Leigh Lundin UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF NEW YORK –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––+ : WARNER BROS. ENTERNTAINMENT INC. : and J.K. ROWLING, : Case No. 07 Plaintiffs, : Civ. 9667 : (RPP) -against – : : RDR BOOKS and DOES 1-10, : Defendants : : –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––+ Defendant RDR Books […]

AN ELEMENT OF STYLE by John M. Floyd Since this is a site for readers and writers and — presumably — word lovers, I thought I’d cover an unusual topic this time. If my high school English teacher happens to read this, I believe she will (after regaining consciousness) be proud that I even tried […]

THE MORE THINGS CHANGE by Steve Steinbock Last week I finished one anthology of time travel short stories, and am now midway through a second. I’ll discuss the two anthologies in more detail once I’ve finished both. Needless to day, I’ve had time travel on the mind. I’ve always loved the science fiction subgenre of […]

HAMMER TIME by Deborah Elliott-Upton When I was a preteen, the city library moved from quarters in the civic center to a mansion downtown bequeathed to the city by Mary E. Bivins following her death. We rarely went downtown, but one day when my mom was pregnant with her fourth child who would be my […]