neil gaiman

Elmore Leonard’s new book, Djibouti, has arrived!

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Elmore Leonard is pretty much my favorite writer ever (I say that today; tomorrow I might say Neil Gaiman, the next day I might say Walt Whitman but for today let’s stick with Dutch).

Monday was Elmore Leonard’s 85th birthday, his fortieth novel, Djibouti, came out on Tuesday, and the trailer for the second season of the FX series Justified came out Wednesday. Three great reasons to celebrate what a prolific, generous writer has gifted readers like me. Here’s the man, the book, and the video after the jump:

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My Summer Reading List

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I have an ambitious reading list for this summer. Just like my dedication of two hours to write a day (or ten hours per week), I’m challenging myself to read for ninety minutes a day on Monday thru Wednesday plus Friday, or six hour a week. I tend to read 40 pages in an hour, … Read more

Books I gave, books I got

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Merry Christmas, dear reader. Books I received as gifts: Best American Short Stories 2008 guest edited by Salman Rushdie The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien Books I gave as Christmas gifts: Bastard Out of Carolina by Dorothy Allison American Gods by Neil Gaiman The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks 1957 by Pradt & … Read more

Your Friday Recommendation #25

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Due to a hectic schedule this week, I’m only one-third of the way through Neil Gaiman’s latest, The Graveyard Book, yet I feel pretty confident recommending it. A toddler who comes to be named Nobody Owens wanders out of his home and into a graveyard on the night his family is slain by a mysterious … Read more

Your Friday Recommendation #10

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In celebration of his blog’s seventh anniversary, Neil Gaiman has put up one of my favorite novels, American Gods, for free on the internet for the rest of the month. American Gods is one of those sprawling, epic tales that combines characterization, tone, and theme to bring everything together. A young man who goes by … Read more

Your Friday Recommendation #1

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The first recommendation I have for you is the first story which made me sit up and take notice of good writing in a genre where I rarely took notice of the actual writing. I was a big superhero-based comic book fan for my middle school years, my favorite issues populated by gritty guys and … Read more

Discovering niche reading/writing websites: LibraryThing.

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With so many websites out there celebrating reading and writing, two difficulties develop for two distinct groups. For users, it’s time-consuming, daunting, and nigh-impossible to find websites with the content they want / need / enjoy. For site owners, it’s just as difficult to help potential users sift through the sludge pile and discover their … Read more

“You words are dead to me,” I [something besides ‘said’].

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I apparently don’t agree with the North Carolina school systems. Deciding to give stumbleupon a try, I searched for “writing” and found a link to the Iredell-Stateseville school system website’s list of other words for “said.” The list includes words like “acknowledged,” “lectured,” “reassured,” “emphasized,” and “grinned.” Grinned? “Grinned” isn’t a synonym for “said,” it’s … Read more