I think it’s fairly clear by now that I have a low tolerance for poor grammar and spelling from those who should know better. I try not to make people feel dumb when I point out mistakes because I do not expect everyone to write a sonnet or masterpiece...
Reading
Spargefaction
When in the blue hell am I EVER going to use “spargefaction” in a sentence? spargefaction Definitions from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License n. The act of sprinkling. from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English n. The act of sprinkling. from The Century Dictionary and...
“The Incident at Methodist Station”- a Mythic Indy story
I am honoured to have a short story showcased in Punchnel’s Mythic Indy series. The stories attempt to take real, historical, or otherworldly tales of the Indianapolis that you think you know and turn them on their heads. A printed anthology will be published in 2014 collecting all of...
Banned Books Awareness: Louisiana Lawmaker Says to Defund Libraries and ‘Send Users Back to Mexico’
This column has discussed book after book that has been banned and/or challenged for various reasons. Most incidents are the result of ignorance and intolerance, others may even be innocently well-intentioned; but what happens when entire libraries are threatened in order to serve the arrogant hatred of racism from...
Banned Books Awareness: “Lord of the Flies”
William Golding’s debut novel follows a group of British schoolboys whose plane crashes on the shore of an uninhabited island. As well intentioned their attempt to cope with the situation and govern themselves may have been they instead regress to primal instincts and the mentality of humanity’s earliest hunter...
Banned Books Awareness: “Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret”
To join the elite group known as American Mensa a person must score among the top 2% of an “accepted standardized intelligence test”. To put it mildly, the members of Mensa are some of the smartest humans alive; so when it comes to all things academic they know what...
Hash tags
For a while now I’ve read rants, seen graphics on Facebook, and shared personal conversations with people complaining about the use of the hash symbol (#) on the internet. To be honest, I think some of the complaints are well warranted- the use of it, like everything else in...
Banned Books Awareness: “Neverwhere”
English author Neil Gaiman’s fan base spread worldwide with his critically acclaimed Sandman graphic novel series in the 1990s. Since then he has solidified his literary mark with equally-impressive and award-winning novels. Last week, however, his novel, Neverwhere, became the target of contention that has engulfed a New Mexico...
Banned Books Awareness: “The Invisible Man”
Another Banned Books Week has come and gone here in the “Land of the Free”. It comes with a mix of emotions for those at the center of the stand against censorship because this is an issue that exists 365 days a year, not just 7. While it is...
Banned books week: How the blacklist can goose a book’s sales
News Flash: It’s Banned Books Week here in the United States, you know: the land of the free- at least on paper. As usual, there is plenty of media attention on the American Library Association’s annual event to highlight censorship efforts and I take bittersweet pride in reporting on...