I always hated Shakespeare.

They made me read him. First it was Julius Caesar. Then Romeo & Juliet, which was only cool because we wasted a week watching the movie. Next came Henry IV, Part One. I said, "You've got to be kidding," and scraped by on class discussions. The Bard and I were not friendly.

So how did I end up writing The Master of Verona, a novel based on his works?  Continue reading...

Which beers go best with recent works of fiction? Why not ask the writers themselves? Omnivoracious investigates, here and here.

As a devotee of Chinese martial arts and Chinese culture in general, I've been familiar with martial arts stories since the days of David Carradine's TV Show Kung Fu. What I didn't know until I began to read so-called martial arts stories in novel form is that most of the great literary works of China fit into this category, works ranging back a thousand years or more.  Continue reading...

Does Art imitate Life? When the written word is involved it's not always easy to tell. This month in the Lounge, we examine the curious phenomenon of English word patterns that seem to occur mainly in fiction writing.  Continue reading...

I was sitting on my grandfather's lap. I understood the part about getting the page you're reading done. Getting it done was exactly what I wanted him to do. Seven-year-old boys are not big on patience. Or poetry either. I was about to suggest we do the Three Little Pigs all over again. But when I craned my head to look up at him, I saw a tear forming in the corner of his eye.  Continue reading...

It all started with Erma Bombeck. As a young kid growing up in the Ozarks, most other boys my age were hunting, fishing, or playing baseball. They lined their rooms with posters of George Brett and Joe Montana, or, if they were a bit older, Farrah Fawcett. But I was obsessed with Erma.  Continue reading...