Just finished MARY BARTON, by Elizabeth Gaskell, first published in 1848 based on events in 1837-42 in Manchester, England. I have the Norton Critical edition (2008), but before I wander through its learned criticism, here are a few thoughts. Wow, what a difference from SHIRLEY. Though both Bronte and Gaskell use a chatty omniscient first-person [...]
I just finished Charlotte Bronte’s SHIRLEY, which makes reference to mills, their owners and workers and strikers, in 1811-1812. I started it to learn about the history and thinking of that time, to use as reference for my new story, but ended up caught up in the story and the original yet universal characters. At [...]
Someday, socially engaging robots that provide an individualized curriculum for every student could transform the future of education, Terrence J. Sejnowski tells the Dana Foundation in an interview this week. Sejnowski founded Neural Computation, the top journal in neural networks and computational neuroscience, and has developed pioneering algorithms for decades. In this Q&A, he talks [...]
On Wednesday, the Romance Writers of America national conference opens its doors to the public from 5:30 to 7:30 pm for its annual “Readers for Life” mega-autographing session. Buy books! Get them signed by one of 500 romance-loving authors! The money goes to ProLiteracy Worldwide. It is free (except for the books you buy, of [...]
This year, the Romance Writers of America holds its national convention in my own back yard. In less than two weeks, July 15 through 18, the happy horde will land in Washington at the Wardman Marriott Park Hotel for workshops, parties, industry panels and the big awards ceremony. First, there’s a huge public booksigning event, [...]
Over at the Dana Foundation site, there’s a package of news and commentaries (with more coming) on “neuro-education,” the effects of arts training on the brain and the use of what we know about the brain to improve how we teach. Stories include: NEWS: Attention May Link Arts and Intelligence Arts education causes “profound changes” [...]
Just got back from the busy, very friendly writer’s retreat with the Washington Romance Writers, this year in Leesburg, Va. Won second runner-up in the historical category in the Marlene contest, and pitched my manuscript to two agents, who both asked to see the first 3 chapters (a “partial”). Hung out with friends old and [...]
Heading to a romance-writers’ retreat in Virginia this weekend (not a writing-retreat, more an info- and inspiration-retreat). I am of at least two minds on these things; it’s so great to talk with other crazy writers about the details of what we do (really, who else cares about “compared with” v. “compared to”?) and to [...]
This week, I posted three sets of things important to me: An online piece on cutting-edge neuroscience research, e-mails to corporate people of importance and a snail-mail letter to my grandma. Only one of the three had the benefit of editing—and the other two show it. Rereading some of the e-mails I’ve sent, I find [...]
The month and next, I’m walking through my current WIP (work-in-progress), scene by scene, and then line by line and, ideally, word by word. The story is set in England in 1815, and I need to rein in my modern-English tendencies. “Felicitations” is OK (first used in 1628), but not “sugarcoat” (1858), though it is [...]
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November is National Novel Writing Month! More at nanowrimo.org
