The Miseducation of Cameron Post: Literary Quality YA

The film The Miseducation of Cameron Post based on the  YA novel of the same name won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Festival. I’m naive enough about the judgment of critics to think that this meant they would all … Continued

Fiction and School Libraries: What Happens When We Neglect Story

Schooled An issue that has been on my mind for years. My essay in the Eckleburg Review. We should be encouraging students to read fiction for many reasons. Supporting school libraries helps to ensue that we do. 

Kristen Lamb’s disgust with the F.E.C.A.L matter of publishing

In the following blog post, Kristen Lamb expresses something I’ve thought about for awhile, but about which I don’t have the experience or authority to speak. She certainly doesn’t pull any punches. Thought it might interest other writers. Operation F.E.C.A.L: … Continued

Tim Winton’s “Breath” as exemplary lyricism and storytelling

Because I am something of a media moron, I just found out that Tim Winton’s short novel Breath has been made into a movie directed by Simon Baker and was released on June 1. In an interview for FilmInk Magazine, … Continued

The Value of Mentors: ‘Literature on the Lawn’

Flyer for the teen ‘Literature on the Lawn’ reading. Mentor Through Celebration As all the work and celebration of the teen issue of the Inlandia: A Literary Journey Journal concludes, I want to reflect one more time on the value … Continued

Props for the Teen Issue of Inlandia

Still in the crazy space, but on the upside, there was this fun article about the teen issue of Inlandia Literary Journeys Journal in the Press Enterprise. I was interviewed, as were Cati Porter (executive director of Inlandia Institute) and three … Continued

Louisa May Alcott’s “Little Women”: Tending the Creative Attic

Falling in Love with “Little Women” The first book I fell in love with was written long before the word feminism was in common use. Louisa May Alcott was the daughter of high-minded parents and her novel, Little Women, was … Continued