Hometown writers miss the boat when they think everything’s been said about where they grew up. Then, to save their careers the turn their focus to their hometown. More like they use a sense of home to lure readers in. Like Thomas Wolfe.
DISAPPOINTED WRITER? AREN’T THEY ALL
January 12, 2023 by
The disappointed writer hides their feelings in their work. If it’s not their subject, it’s their characters; if it’s not the setting, it’s the theme. The disappointed writer always falls back to their comfort zone. Instead of man vs nature, or man vs society, it’s one whiney writer vs themselves.
DIE WRITING, OR DIE TRYING?
January 9, 2022 by
Who wants to die writing? A yes answer means one thing: Death is a metaphor. Unless it’s s sudden death and they keel over on their keyboard, no writer dies writing. But something does die in a writer who does everything they can to succeed before giving up. Who’s ever done that? One comes to […]
HEMINGWAY LIFE STORY BEST OF ALL TIME
April 7, 2021 by
The Hemingway life story by Ken Burns is a sure sign, but of what? That he grew up in what amounts to a fundamentalist family? With a mother that logged all of her sacrifices for him? Then held it against him? Add a father with well defined ideas on how to behave. And Ernest disappointed […]
Today Is A Special Day For Someone, What’s Your Day Like
July 12, 2018 by
Coaches have had a grand time reminding their athletes that, “There’s someone somewhere training just as hard as you. Time to step it up.” They say this right after you’ve had a special day of success so you won’t let it go to your head too fast. Or, “Someone is training harder […]
AUTHOR PHOTOS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS? Pt.2
March 17, 2018 by
Exercise your laser beam eyes? Nothing says “buy snake oil” either in print or bottle, than an expression that includes laser beam eyes. This author looks like a button downed English professor forced to read WR121 funnel essays year after year. With that in mind does he have laser beam eyes, […]
Life Plan? What To Do When Life Moves On
September 12, 2017 by
If I read a book I turn the page. That’s how it works with book reading. Turn the page, then another and another until there’s no more pages. Call that story a page turner. A life plan when life moves on without you feels the same. Maybe you didn’t turn the page, but […]
GREAT WRITERS ON GREAT LAKE TAHOE FIND THEIR VOICE
May 9, 2017 by
“To breathe the same air as the angels, you must go to Tahoe” -Mark Twain Emerald Bay, CA side That’s how it feels on the wild side in the time of Twain. Readers will have a much deeper appreciation for Mark Twain and the Lake Tahoe region, a place where he found his […]
LOOK HOMEWARD HILLBILLY ANGEL, LOOK HARD
January 7, 2017 by
What does a hillbilly see when they look homeward? From all appearances I’m not the only blogger with a Thomas Wolfe fixation. Yet anyone who takes the time to look homeward as an adult, especially an adult writer with a Thomas Wolfe problem, sees the past in new light. Hard reading does that, which […]
