May 2012
25 posts
May 1, 2012
FINDING THE RIGHT WORD
Schadenfreude is a German word that means: to take joy from another’s adversity. Unlike jealousy which is a dark emotion reserved for those who make us feel small, shadenfreude speaks to the delight we feel when justice falls on the mighty who are corrupt or arrogant. Two examples would be Bernie Madoff, the stock swindler, and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the former head of the...
April 2012
27 posts
April 30, 2012
NO LAUGHING MATTER
One of the most important magazines a person is asked to read also among the dullest. I’m speaking of the voters’ pamphlet. I found one stuffed into my mailbox recently and frankly, I’d rather read the advertisements on my packet of toilet paper than sort through all the political claims.
I feel guilty about my attitude and know that for the love of my country I should give this...
April 27, 2012
INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS
Why can’t computer and software designers learn to be more human? It’s my business they want, isn’t it? Then why don’t they learn to communicate as humans.and in English, preferably. If I were President if the United States, I’d deal with illegal immigration by passing a law making it a crime to write or speak in computer jargon. Those who refused would be deported...
April 26, 2012
SWEET BIRD OF SUCCESS
Yet another book on creativity has broken into print. It’s called “Imagine” and is written by the “Wall Street Journal’s” brain science columnist, Jonah Lehrer. His thesis is one I’ve discussed on this blog before: that creativity serves us best when we are silent and thoughtful.
“When we’re not relaxed—when we’re really vigilant—our attention is focused on the...
April 25, 2012
A LESSON IN VOYEURISM
I don’t read much biography, I admit. My taste in non-fiction runs to science or politics or finance. Those few I have read are eclectic: Count Cagliostro, Rasputin and even the 600 page tome on Emily Post’s life.
Still, I hovered over a puff piece recently about Angela Lansbury (“Angela Lansbury” by Len Cariou, “Vanity Fair,” 4, 2012). I’m old enough to recall her...
April 24, 2012
THE CORSET OF WORD COUNT
In my heart of hearts, I’d like to self-publish my work. I don’t mean wrangling with Amazon or some other self-publishing outfit. I’d like to own a printing press and I’d like to control my distribution. That’s all another way of saying I want the business of publishing to get out of my way and let me write.
I don’t require much.
(courtesy: pittkyle123.wordpress.com)...
April 23, 2012
A GIFT FROM SHAKESPEARE
In 1616, on this day, William Shakespeare died. If, by some miracle he had survived, today he’d be 448 years old. Of course, we all know Shakespeare survives through his art, beautifully written plays and poetry that have become part of western culture’s DNA. I do believe that there have been writers as good as Shakespeare, Marlowe being one, but there is no one whose...
April 20, 2012
WHEN TWO HEADS MIGHT BE BETTER THAN ONE
I just finished “Relic,” a mystery that had once been on the “New York Times” bestseller list. I’d bought it for a dollar at the secondhand bookstore and got my money’s worth. The novel is a page turner.
What intrigues me is that the piece was co-authored. Since I think of creativity as a Tsunamic swell from the unconscious, it is difficult for me to imagine...
VIRTUAL TOUR UPDATE
This nifty banner announces to the world that I’ll soon be discussing my novel, “Gothic Spring” in a special online book tour.
Gothic Spring by Caroline Miller – NURTURE Book Tour Schedule:
May 14th – Jaidis @ Juniper Grove
May 15th – MK @ MK McClintock Blog
May 15th – Mindy Wa. @ Books, Books, and more Books
May 16th – Peggy Ma. @ Book Absorption
May 17th – Grace L. @ ...
April 19, 2012
“IF I COULD TELL YOU, I WOULD LET YOU KNOW…” (W.H. Auden)
Writing letters of condolences to someone who is grieving is difficult, as anyone knows who has lived even a short while. We’ve all had to write such notes at one time or another and know the enormity of the task. What are words — puffs of air or ink scrawled upon a page. Yet we pretend they can ease a mind ravaged with sorrow. We...
April 18, 2012
WHERE WISDOM RESIDES – IN PROVERBS AND FACEBOOK
“All good things come to those who wait,” is an often quoted proverb though its author is unknown. Like most aphorisms, it comes down to us through the ages, a nostrum meant to help us endure life’s vagaries. Unfortunately, I’m not a patient person but even if I wanted to be, life would make it difficult. I may be retired but most of the...
April 17, 2012
WORDS THAT DIMINISH
My telephone rang Friday morning and the voice at the other end was a stranger’s. A social worker from Wisconsin was calling to inform me that my stepmother, Marie Miller, had been moved into a hospice program. Years ago, when Marie had been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, I’d attempted to bring her to Oregon, but the Wisconsin courts barred my effort, arguing I was not a blood...
April 16, 2012
THE FUTURE IS US
Will the country be ruled by a one party system in the future? That’s the question Thomas Frank raises in a recent essay for “Harper’s” magazine, “It’s a Rich Man’s World.” (4/2012, pgs. 22-17) Since the Supreme Court’s decision in “Citizen’s United,” which lifted the ceiling on political contributions, he contends that politics has become the game of...
April 13, 2012
DOUBLE, DOUBLE, TOIL WITHOUT TROUBLE — and happy Friday the 13th
A friend called the other night complaining of an earache and asked if I knew any home remedies. As it was a dark and stormy night, I could understand his unwillingness to venture out in search of a drugstore. Why he turned to me for a solution, I’m not sure. Perhaps knowing I’d been active in the feminist movement, he presumed...
April 12, 2012
WORDS FOR THE IMPATIENT
Waiting to hear from a publisher after a work has been submitted is, like all forms of waiting, difficult. John Milton tried to put a good face on the experience when he wrote, “They also serve who stand and wait.” He meant well, I’m sure. But only those about to be executed welcome delay.
Beginning writers often ask how soon they should receive a reply to their...
April 11, 2012
DYLAN THOMAS GOT IT RIGHT
Roger Rosenblatt has written two books about the death of his daughter. “Making Toast” came soon after she passed away. The writing was an exercise to expatiate his grief, but it didn’t work. Two years later, he’s written another book on loss, this one entitled “Kayak Morning.” He wrote it inresponse to a question his therapist put to him. What...
April 10, 2012
TO THINE OWN SELF BE TRUE
My blog post for St. Patrick’s Day celebrated the work of a friend who just published “A Celtic Yearbook.” The timing seemed right not only because the author is Irish, but also because she had suffered a couple of daunting surgeries, one after the other. I hoped the tribute might cheer her up. Wondering what else I might do, I decided to write a review on...
April 9, 2012
WE, THE PARTY OF THE FIRST PART…
If there is one form of writing that outshines the obscurity of academic writing, it is the legal document. Unfortunately, legal documents are everywhere. One can’t open a page on the Internet without being required to accept one contract or another. Worse are long term service agreements like the one I received in the mail a few days ago.
As I live alone, I’d...
My virtual tour!
Beginning in mid-May I go on on “virtual” tour with “Gothic Spring” from the comfort of my home! Isn’t technology grand?
This online effort is staged by Nurure Virtual Book Tourz. Here’s a link with tour dates: http://nurtureyourbooks.com/vbtblog/2012/03/upcoming-book-tour-gothic-spring-by-caroline-miller/
The schedule is always changing, so you can keep...
Thank you, Oregon Womens Report!
It’s exciting and a little humbling to know when you connect in a meaningful way. That’s my feeling after learning my blog post from April 4 is featured prominently in the emagazine “Oregon Womens Report.” Here’s the link:
The words we use when people pass away
Thank you for noticing.. and for including the generous reference to the positive review I recently...
April 6, 2012
WHEN MEMORY FAILS, THE WRITTEN WORD REMEMBERS
If the memory of our personal histories fail in the minds of others, sometimes our writings live on — if only at the bottom of an attic trunk. That’s what Elizabeth Gilbert, author of “Eat, Pray, Love,” discovered when she came across a book of recipes written by her great, great grandmother, Margaret Yardley Potter, while combing through...
April 3, 2012
JUST AN ORDINARY DAY
Sunday, I decided to take a stroll to one of the local used bookstores in my area. It’s a 50 minute walk round trip and as the previous few days had brought nothing but rain, this warm, Sunday afternoon came as a relief. The washed blossoms of the plum tree outside my window tapped on the pane, inviting me to come outside. In preparation for my stroll, I shed my bathrobe,...
April 4, 2012
CARPE DIEM (seize the day)
My alumni news magazine reported recently that two classmates from my under graduate days had died. They were my age, naturally, so I was brought up short.
75 is a respectable age for dying. Most of life’s experiences have been sampled: a career, marriage, family and friends. Still, it is unsettling to read about the lives of acquaintances written in the past tense....
April 5, 2012
OF MICE AND MEN
As I write these words, I am in mourning for a mouse. In part, I blame my upbringing — all those childhood stories where animals behaved like people. Every month, when I was old enough to read, a comic book arrived at my house filled with stories about a girl and her two friends: a pink pony and a tiny field mouse named Sniffles. I still recall the heroine’s magic chant to...
Good News!
Book reviewer Alan Caruba added GOTHIC SPRING to his Picks of the Month for April.
http://bookviewsbyalancaruba.blogspot.com/2012/03/bookviews-april-2012.html
Alan is a founding member of the National Book Critics Circle.
Thanks, Alan! Every good notice helps.
GOTHIC SPRING has a new cover.. renewed energy.. and it’s now widely available in print and digital formats.
April 2, 2012
WHEN WORDS FAIL
On a warm afternoon, not long ago, I found myself near an Indian restaurant that perfumed with exotic aromas. I love Indian dishes but to my great sorrow, few of my friends do, so I often find myself eating alone. Lunch on that day was no exception and as I’d spent the morning running errands it was late, nearly 2 p.m.
After ordering a curry, I waited for my meal to arrive by...
March 30, 2012
ALWAYS ON A SUNDAY
For me, the “S” in Sunday stands for sloth; so after a breakfast of bananas and oatmeal, I remained in my fleecy robe and crossed into the living room to read. On the opposite wall, the computer screen glared accusingly.
“Shouldn’t you be writing?” it seemed to say.
“It’s Sunday,’ I replied, clinging to the latest edition of “Vanity Fair.”
The...
March 29, 2012
SOLVING THE MYSTERY OF A BEGUILING TALE
In the investment world, corporations are described as vertical or horizontal entities. A vertical business is one that deals with a narrow range of products, like a tire company or cheese factory. A horizontal business is one that engages in numerous ventures. General Electric is a typical example of a horizontal enterprise, selling anything from power, to...
