Tag: had

Novelist Ian McEwan: Writing is “a way of being”

“A secret, I think, can be fatal,” said acclaimed novelist Ian McEwan. “She died with her secret intact.” That secret McEwan is talking about was a personal one held by his mother: “She would give birth to a baby boy, and she gave that child away. The moment she gave that child away, I think […]

Kirk Thatcher Talks ‘Star Trek IV,’ Working With Leonard Nimoy, and Getting to Write Scotty’s Computer Joke

Multihyphenate Kirk Thatcher has been involved with a vast range of iconic movies and television over the past 40 years. From his first job, on Star Wars: Return of the Jedi no less, Thatcher has been crafting beloved stories that reach into all corners of fandom as a writer, director, producer, actor, and visual effects […]

YouTuber Explains Hugh Jackman Returning For ‘Deadpool 3’ Doesn’t Matter Because Marvel No Longer Has The Writing Chops For Good Storytelling

YouTuber A Drink With Crazy recently argued that Marvel Studios bringing in Hugh Jackman to reprise his role as Wolverine doesn’t matter because their writing talent has significantly declined over the last half-decade. James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, and Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr in X-Men: First Class (2011), Marvel Entertainment. […]

Nick Martell: On Flawed Characters in Fantasy Fiction

Author Nick Martell discusses the process of writing his new fantasy fiction novel, The Voyage of the Forgotten. Nick Martell was born in Ontario, Canada, before moving to the United States at age 7. He started writing novels regularly in fifth grade, and his debut novel, The Kingdom of Liars , sold when he was […]

Julie Powell Took Food Writing to a Franker, Darker Place

At the end of the year that Julie Powell spent cooking every recipe (more or less) from Julia Child’s “Mastering the Art of French Cooking,” she came to mayonnaise collée. It is a hand-whisked mayonnaise thickened with gelatin — a kind of stiff, salty garnish that was piped decoratively over aspics and the like in […]

An Excerpt From Emerson Whitney’s Heaven

This excerpt was first published May 20, 2021. We’re-posting it to celebrate the release of the paperback version . Natasha Marin follows-up her acclaimed Black Imagination with a brilliant new collection of sharply-rendered, breathtaking reflections from more than two dozen Black voices. I used to watch Mom on TV, would pull the videos out of […]

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 […]

Siddhartha Mukherjee: ‘I don’t like writing as if I don’t exist’

Physician, biologist and author Siddhartha Mukherjee, New York City, October 2022. The Pulitzer-winning science author on combining the history of cell biology with personal stories, the influence of Salman Rushdie and why he likes to write in bed Siddhartha Mukherjee is the author of four science books, including The Emperor of All Maladies , which […]

Bettie Boswell has faith in her book-writing talent

Betties Boswell at Novel Blends for a book signing. BG Independent News Bettie Boswell grew up reading voraciously and making up stories as she sat in the back seat of her family’s car. For most of her adult life as a school music teacher and church music director, the long-time Bowling Green resident has continued […]