Hotness. It’s currently a thing in romance novels. Has been for a while. So what I’m saying here isn’t new. It’s rather that the story I’m reading at the moment has prompted some thinking. Hotness: No Escalation I’m talking about stories that start: Boom. First page. Sometimes the first paragraph.... read more
Oina is the traditional national sport of Romania. I’d heard of it but I didn’t understand it until last week, when my Romanian teacher gave me a reading about it. Then all sorts of things started clicking. The title image of the vintage Romanian postage stamp is a big huge... read more
This post on art form was first published on July 16 2014. Here’s a bold thought: the romance novel is an art form. Yes, it’s an art form like any other. It’s a very popular art form. In terms of numbers of practitioners, it’s at a polar opposite from, say,... read more
New Year’s Resolutions, ugh. Lose weight. Join a gym. Straighten out finances. These are worthy resolutions to be sure. But they’re not for me, because they feel punitive. I’d rather give myself goals that feel more like gifts. Trite but true, this time of year is perfect for recalibrating our... read more
Best Gifts for Writers lists abound these days, and I’ve read a bunch of them now. It may well be that some writers want a literary tee-shirt. I do know that some writers have a writing tee, but I don’t know whether they take inspiration from one with a famous... read more
Fiction Writing as a Way of Life was an event sponsored by the Blackburn Series at Duke University on Wednesday, November 7. It featured Maria Kuznetsova and Lucy Corin who are left and right, respectively, in the title image. I love the title of the event: Fiction Writing as a... read more
How does this one go? Let’s see …. High-powered divorce lawyer who doesn’t believe in love meets master carpenter who moonlights as a romance writer, sparks fly …. No, this post isn’t about meet-cute scenarios. It’s about a romance novelist who is also a lawyer. In real life. Seven of... read more
Love and sex. This is a March 2016 blog I am reposting in the context of the Ford-Kavanugh hearings in Washington, DC this week and in response to all the high school “boys will be boys” nonsense some people have been bandying about. There are many disconnects in modern American... read more
If you’re curious why the Empire State Building is the title image for a blog on claustrophobia, read on. Claustrophobia: I suffer from it. I don’t feel it much in movie theaters, and I can tolerate being on planes (just barely – check out these tips), but the image, below,... read more
I’ve done Famous Romanians and Illustrious Romanians. Now it’s time for Infamous Romanians. The inspiration for this blog came from a court ruling earlier this week in Alba Iulia, Romania. For the title image I chose Vlad Țepeș (Vlad the Impaler). He was the model for Dracula. This mural is... read more
