Between a rider and a horse, the rider doesn’t have to think of the horse, but the horse probably spends an awful lot of time thinking about the rider. Sometimes I felt that way about Japan; I spent quite a lot of time thinking about it, but doubt it spent more than a moment considering… Continue reading Japan Memoir Part 2: Streets that Live
It’s Thanksgiving Day, when someone says: “Before we eat, let’s take a moment to go around the table and say what we’re thankful for,” why is it never acceptable to reply, “Can we just mumble stuff with our mouths full of mashed potatoes instead?”
As a writer, I am keenly aware of the words I use, especially when typing things others will read. Not only am I careful of what I say, I watch how I say it, all the better to analyze, and improve. It’s a constant struggle. And that is why, on Sunday morning, I nearly spit… Continue reading Watch Your Words: The Un-sexy Side of Double Entendres
The Halloween I was in sixth grade, we had to defend our pumpkins. That was the year my family hosted an exchange student from France. He was, well. He was the kid who wore a Kamikaze headband to school September 12th, 2001, let’s put it that way. Not exactly the kind who stops fights, or keeps… Continue reading Smashing Pumpkins For the Glory of Halloween
Your character is visiting a land where they do not speak the language, but they still need to communicate with the locals. In week one’s post, we talked about how much they will have trouble learning the language. Week two was all about the differences between languages and why one language might be easier to… Continue reading Sometimes It Pays To Be Silent: Language Is Not Always Helpful
Welcome to week three of my ongoing feature on writing characters dealing with a foreign language. Week one was what being plopped in the middle of a foreign language feels like, week two we talked about how languages differ. Today we’re going to talk about culture as it meets language. The fact is, if your… Continue reading Culture: Can’t Live With It, Can’t Pry It From Language’s Cold Dead Hands
This is part two in a weekly series on writing characters in a foreign language scenario. Your character is visiting somewhere that speaks a new language: what happens next? Last week was a general overview of the sheer difficultly of learning languages in Your Character Arrives in a Foreign Land: What Happens Next; this week,… Continue reading Not All Languages Are Created Equal (Not Like That, Just Listen)
********SO YOU KNOW! This story is now available on my website, right here, for free! Please feel free to read it!********* Exciting news! Yours truly has sold a short story. That’s right, Solarwyrm Press out of New Zealand is publishing “The Foreigner’s Loneliness” in Latchkey Tale’s October 2015 edition: Clockwise (The Darkest Hour). “The Foreigner’s Loneliness” is a… Continue reading Announcing the Publication of “The Foreigner’s Loneliness”
Under-Paid, Over-Enthused 