Welcome to Hollywood
An article I wrote for my hometown paper, because who doesn't love the theatre? Shakespeare's famous fairies Oberon and Puck return from A Midsummer Night's Dream to terrorize Hollywood in Ken Ludwig's madcap comedy, Shakespeare in Hollywood (premiering next week at KU).
Read MoreThe Patron Saint of Readers
A few weeks ago, my friend Mark Petterson gave me a medal engraved with the likeness of St. Francis de Sales, the patron saint of writers. Now, though, a different saint needs the help of readers: St. Mark's Bookshop in New York City.
Read MoreBanned Books Week
Stand up and read a book. September 24−October 1, 2011 Banned Books Week (BBW) is an annual event celebrating the freedom to read and the importance of the First Amendment. Held during the last week of September, Banned Books Week highlights the benefits of free and open access to information while drawing attention to the harms of censorship by spotlighting actual or attempted bannings of books across the United States. Intellectual freedom—the freedom to access information and express ideas, even if the information and ideas might be considered unorthodox or...
Read MoreWhen the Heavens Are Bright
My short story, "When the Heavens Are Bright," follows a single night on a farm in Western Kansas, when an elderly doctor, Old Jack, is forced to test his unique theory that death is a process, that death can even be slowed down or reversed in some circumstances.
Read MoreAnton Chekhov’s Rules for Writing
On May 10, 1889, Anton Chekhov (already an influential literary figure in Russia) wrote a letter to his older brother, Alexander. His brother had taken up writing years before, too, but only with inconsistent success. In the letter, quoted by the translators in Anton Chekhov: Stories, the famous author laid down six principles that “make for a good story”: Absence of lengthy verbiage of a political-social-economic nature; Total objectivity; Truthful descriptions of persons and objects; Extreme brevity; Audacity and originality (flee the stereotype); Compassion “It is a...
Read MoreKC is #2: Top 10 Cities for Book Lovers
Kansas City is the #2 place for book lovers to live in the nation according to Livability. I was surprised to see that we beat out Iowa City, IA (#5; home to the Iowa Writers’ Workshop). Also, I was shocked the writers didn’t put San Francisco on the list, despite its rich literary tradition (City Lights Bookstore, Mark Twain, the Beat poets, Robert Louis Stevenson, etc.). Still, I’ve always suspected I lived in a city friendly to book lovers, and I’m glad Kansas City’s literary chops are getting noticed. From the article: “Kansas City gave...
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