Poetry Review: Before the Big Bang Makes A Sound
by Carolynn KingyensPublisher: Kelsay Books ISBN: 978-1-950462-69-8In a stunning debut Before the Big Bang Makes a Sound, Carolynn Kingyens unravels a modern day dialogue between those things we savor and those things we despise in ourselves. The collection of poetry is all at once a still life to understanding the complexity of the past and present…
Pride of Eden by Taylor Brown / Book Review
What happens when environmental activism and the passion of a group of outsiders come together? Taylor Brown explores this idea in his book Pride of Eden, as we move closer and closer to the cataclysm that is our natural disaster. It is clear that not only is this a political and social issue, but is now…
How to Get the Most Out of A Writers Conference
Check out my quick guide to attending a writers conference. If you are serious about writing, then you will be serious about attending. Use these skills at Hollihock Writers Conference 2019 or at your next event. Writing conferences bring together like-minded, creative people who are seeking inspiration, education, and community. While all these readings, workshops,…
What Is A Writing Journal?
New Writing for the Hollihock Writer’s Conference “Your writing journal is a record of your thought process through time. It will evolve as the months and years pass, and it will become a powerful tool. Not only can you think and process your ability on the page, you can also see the history and the arc of…
In the Oven / Fictional Story via Technology
I teach a Digital Ethics and Citizenship course and some of the things we talk about is the automation of apps and the story they tell us even is it is merely to keep us busy. Tracking pizza is one of the apps we discuss. This came about as a writing piece but then with…
The Hawkman – A Fairy Tale of the Great War
Jane Rosenberg LaForgeAmberJack Pub.ISBN: 978-1944995676 (paperback)280pReleased: June 5, 2018The Hawkman: A Fairy Tale of the Great War by Jane Rosenberg LaForge is a re-telling of several Grimm’s fairy tales against the backdrop of World War I. As a fan of World War I literature, this captures the desperation of trench warfare, the aftermath of war, and…
Book Review: Paris in the Present Tense
Mark HelprinOverlook Press / 2017ISBN: 978-1468314762400 PagesIt has been awhile since a novel has changed the way I think about the novel. But Paris in the Present Tense is a lyrical novel that has empowered my faith in the contemporary novel. Let’s face it, it has been awhile since A Winter’s Tale, when we first fell…
Poetry Review / Body Politic by Rich Murphy
Body Politic by Rich Murphy Prolific Press Inc. / 2016 ISBN: 978-1632750846Language and politics have a symbiotic relationship in strange and creative ways. George Orwell knew this when he wrote about the language of politics and what that language does for our society. In Orwell’s Politics and the English Language, he spoke about dead metaphors, pretentious diction, and meaningless words.…
Book Review – A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing: Stories by Tim Weed
A Field Guide to Murder & Fly Fishing: Stories by Tim Weed. Green Writers Press. 2017. 978-0-9974528-7-7 ($24.95) Hardcover. Diving into this collection of short stories by writer and travel expert Tim Weed, you might want to pack your bags and roam the continent in search of great harrowing adventures. And in some ways, this…
Ron Samul / Author / Educator 