How to Join a TikTok Book Club
I’m one of those reader types who always wanted to join in on book clubs, but never has enough willing friends or social energy to actually up and join one. Especially not one in person. What if my thoughts on the book are nonsense? What if no one shows up and it’s just me, sitting […]
What’s an En Dash? (And How to Use it Correctly)
Let’s get to know the en dash . An en dash is one of the special punctuation marks that most people see all the time, but rarely think about how to use correctly. Fun fact : the reason the en and em dashes have those names are because of their lengths. An em dash is […]
Exchange Exemplar: Visiting with the women of the natural world in ‘Writing Wild’
You can probably tick off the names of famous people who got us thinking about nature: John Muir and Aldo Leopold and more. But they’re not all men; Rachel Carson made a huge stir with Silent Spring, and quite possibly changed the course of environmental protection in America. We stick with the women in an […]
New Releases Tuesday: The Best Books Out This Week
It’s Tuesday, which means it’s time for new books! Here are a few of the books out today you should add to your TBR. This is a very small percentage of the new releases this week, as well as a few others you may have missed from recent weeks. Make sure to stick around until […]
New YA Books Perfect for Winter Holiday Reading
Make the harrowing journey home with Queen Bitterblue’s sister and spy, in the fifth novel in the bestselling Graceling Realm series. Hava sails across the sea toward Monsea with her sister, the royal entourage, and the world’s only copies of the formulas for the zilfium weapon she saved at the end of Winterkeep. And while […]
Brian O’Hare: On Self-Actualization Through Fiction
Brian O’Hare, originally from Pittsburgh, is a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, and former U.S. Marine Corps officer, now an award-winning writer and filmmaker living in Los Angeles. Find him on Twitter , Facebook , and Instagram , and at his website BrianOHare.com . In this post, Brian discusses the process of writing his […]
A Marriage as Bleak as a Beach Town in Winter
“The Cape” from The Islands by Dionne Irving, recommended by CJ Hauser Introduction by CJ Hauser I think I have been confused about the nature of limbo. I once thought of it as the place I would go, as a heathen. Which is not to say I’ve done an inadequate amount of lovely things or […]
Berkeley teachers say they need compensation for ‘extra duty’ of writing college rec letters
College students study outside the Bancroft Library on the UC Berkeley campus. File photo: Kelly Sullivan Every fall, as hundreds of Berkeley High seniors rush to apply to college, one of the key steps is acquiring a letter of recommendation, or maybe two. Teachers almost always say yes, writing from 10 to 60 letters each […]
’The Walking Dead’s Danai Gurira Writing Rick/Michonne Spin-Off, Credited as Co-Creator
With AMC’s epic series The Walking Dead coming to its eleventh season finale this November, a lot of fans will be saying goodbye to characters and a universe we’ve known for almost 20 years. The news is bittersweet, as all good things must end, but the network isn’t dropping us cold-turkey. There are a number […]
6 Writing Techniques That Helped Me Shift From Fiction to Memoir
Acclaimed author Elizabeth Winthrop Alsop knew the best way to tell the story of her parents lives was through memoir—a genre she’d never tried. Here, she shares six writing techniques that helped her shift from fiction to memoir. When I first thought of telling the story of my parents’ love affair in London during World […]