Reading in America

With the may books published each year in America this particular article provided an interesting insight.  Is this a factor in the way people attack each other on personally held views?  Perhaps a lack of perspective contributes to the knee jerk responses on social media.


NY Times Article

Background Music While Writing

I must say that I am not much for background music.  Some of my friends in high school and college, and many of my students in public school and at the college level, just had to have music going when doing homework.  I can read novels while watching tv and movies, write in grungy diners with people milling about, but I can NOT write with music going.  I wonder why that is.   Perhaps because music overwhelms my emotion input and output, or perhaps it stems from being a music major and band director.  Those led to automatic analysis and critique.  What ever the reason might be, all music does for my writing is to stop the writing - and annoy me.

I offer the very antithesis of my neurosis - an author who uses music as a way to conceptualize character emotions, responses, backstory, or just as background for writing - the whole enchilada.   Roz Morris  has a blog in which she interviews other authors who use music in the writing.  About all I have used was to mention a character's ringtone

If the idea of writers use of music intrigues you, I recommend Roz's Blog:  The Undercover Soundtrack.  

Reflection on Christmas Gifts

It is the time of year when the gifts are given, opened and the paper either smoothed and saved or crumpled and discarded.  The excitement and mystery of the gifts replaced by the assimilation of the gifts into our lives.  It is also the time when "thank yous" are written - the acknowledgement of the given gift and, for the giver, the assurance that the gift was delivered.

While it the process of writing those "thank yous" I remembered a couple of pieces I wrote a couple of years back.  For those who have not seen them I am posting links to the pages here.

A Gift Freely Given

A Gift Freely Received

Happy New Year

Update on Essays about Education

Since my initial post concerning essays regarding education, I have obtained the rights to the original publication.  That work is no longer available but will be revised and included in a larger work containing additional pieces.  The new book will be offered as an electronic book and will target the teacher education market as well as other readers interested in educational philosophy and ethics.  

For those of you who follow the blog, I will post some of the essays periodically to give you an insight in the larger work and to entice you to purchase the finished product.  I plan on a relatively low price at offering.