For more on researching for fiction, go to the main research page. (UPDATED with new links!) As I said in the first post of this series, there’s a lot of advice out there. I’ve just hit some highlights that have intrigued me over the years, but if you want to push further and see whatContinue reading “Research wrap-up: More resources than you ever wanted (but not nearly as many as you’ll need)”
Category Archives: reading
On a life, our liberty, and the pursuit of reading: a reflection on the life and work of Judith Krug
Two years ago, I had the great privilege of eating dinner with Judith Krug. My wife was giving a two-hour presentation on librarians in film at the annual conference of the Wisconsin Library Association, and as a member of WLA’s Intellectual Freedom Roundtable, she also got to meet and work briefly with Judith Krug, theContinue reading “On a life, our liberty, and the pursuit of reading: a reflection on the life and work of Judith Krug”
A writer is a writer: on understanding and humility
Today my university hosted a panel discussion with the six authors who were shortlisted for this year’s International Prize for Arabic Fiction (IPAF). I’ve long hungered for the kind of “visiting writer” experiences I used to enjoy in grad school at University of North Texas, and with this I had a chance to meet andContinue reading “A writer is a writer: on understanding and humility”
Judy Blume
Last night I drove with my wife and another university librarian (our education librarian, who oversees our children and young-adult literature collection on campus) to Madison to attend a lecture by Judy Blume. Blume’s speech was part of the larger Wisconsin Literary Festival underway this week, but her specific appearance was at the invitation ofContinue reading “Judy Blume”
I’m watching The Watchmen, that’s who!
Thanks to a generous loan from a former student/current fraternity advisee, I’m reading The Watchmen. I’d long heard of the book, but back in the apex of my high-school comic nerdism, my tastes tended more toward the X-Men, a healthy dose of Spidey and the Punisher, and a handful of mainstream DarkHorse titles (if thereContinue reading “I’m watching The Watchmen, that’s who!”
Lost won; Fringe is frayed: a study of character vs. plot
Okay, lame title for a comparison of JJ Abrams series. For the past several weeks I’ve been embroiled in an on-and-off argument with a friend of mine. It relates to how we define quality writing and how we use the terms “literary” and “genre,” among other things. (I use “literary” in a positive way andContinue reading “Lost won; Fringe is frayed: a study of character vs. plot”
Books meme
How can I resist? Some friends of mine in another blog site have been passing this around, and though it’s nothing new, I can’t help but participate: 1) Look at the list and bold those you have read. 2) Italicise those you intend to read (as in the book is bought and sitting on myContinue reading “Books meme”
My eyes, they are strained
I’ve been going through my students’ online discussion posts this semester, looking at the statistics, and I think I’m about ready to collapse. So far this semester, I’ve written 276 discussion posts. Many of them are short replies to questions or comments on other posts, but several have been lengthy essays. But that’s not theContinue reading “My eyes, they are strained”
Typos
I ought to put this on a stamp and keep it on my desk, so I can just slap it on a paper whenever I find cause: “Typos are very important to all written form. It gives the reader something to look for so they aren’t distracted by the total lack of content in yourContinue reading “Typos”
Spider-Man becomes Single-Man?
This semester, as we study pop culture and critical interaction with a “text” (really, any medium), I’m making my students write a series of short, informal response essays. And I figured, what’s good for the goose…. So, this is the “sample response” I’ve written for them, in all its shabby inglory: Last fall, I readContinue reading “Spider-Man becomes Single-Man?”
Samuel Snoek-Brown 